How to Prepare for a Product Manager Interview

The Ultimate List of Product Manager Interview Questions to Help You Succeed!

This post is designed to help you prepare for your next interview in the most professional way possible. We spoke with and researched 12 VPs of Product at various tech companies, and the result is the most complete and ultimate list of product manager interview questions.

As the saying goes, “Hard in training, easy in interviews.” Good preparation will dramatically improve your chances of landing your dream job.

So what are companies looking for in a new product manager?

Before we dive into the questions, it’s important to get into your interviewer’s mindset. What are they looking for?

They want someone curious, a quick learner, and up-to-date with different fields. They’re looking for someone with high motivation, strong communication skills, the ability to work with different teams, and the ability to distinguish between what’s important and what’s not. A product manager should be able to see the big picture from 40,000 feet and also zoom in on how a feature works and what needs to be done today to move it forward. A product manager must be attentive and sensitive to customers, and maintain a sense of humility to be open to hidden needs and continuous product improvement.

Here is the ultimate list of product management interview questions:

Product Questions

Product questions are perhaps the most common in interviews. Even if you’re not very technical, the best way to prepare is to thoroughly read the job description and look for resources (developer blogs, Facebook groups, articles, etc.) about the products you want to discuss. Demonstrating your previous experience or product management education will be important here.

• How would you prioritize resources when you have two important things to do but can’t do both?
• Describe a scenario where you had to say no to an idea or feature.
• What is a product you use daily, and how would you improve it?
• How would you improve a feature’s functionality by 10x?
• What is the key to a good user interface?
• While we’re building product X for the mass market (B2C), we also have a B2B division. What is your experience in both markets?
• What made product X successful?
• How do you know if a product is well-designed?
• Are you familiar with our product?
• How would you describe our product to someone?
• What do you dislike about our product?
• Name one improvement you would implement for our product.
• Propose a new feature for Amazon. What metrics would you use to measure its success?
• How do you think we arrived at the price for product X?
• Tell me about a company with excellent customer service. What do they do, and why do they do it well?
• Homework: Propose a feature to improve the user experience and increase conversion to paying customers. Specify the feature at the wireframe + PRD or Stories level.
• Homework: Propose a feature to improve the user experience and increase retention. Specify the feature at the wireframe + PRD or Stories level.

Product Management Questions

Companies differ greatly in their organizational culture and products, so the product management role is defined differently everywhere. You can expect questions like:

• Which aspects of product management excite you the most?
• Tell me about a time you had to build or motivate a team.
• What do you think a typical day looks like for a product manager?
• How do you think product managers communicate with development teams?
• How would you explain product management to a five-year-old?
• Which aspects of product management are least interesting to you?
• Tell me about your role in your team, who else you work with, and how you work together.

Technical Questions

Rarely will you be asked highly technical questions in a product manager interview. Generally, technical/technology questions are meant to gauge your experience working with development teams and your familiarity with the company’s technology.

• Our engineering teams are used to working with methodology X. What do you think about it? Have you used it before?
• Describe a product/feature development and its technical challenges.
• Give an example of a technical solution you or your team proposed that was successful.
• How do you ensure market-oriented teams fully understand technical challenges?

Analytical Questions

One of the most important traits for a successful product manager is analytical thinking. Some companies may ask questions designed to reveal how you think and how you would approach a problem.

Tip: When asked such questions, don’t rush your answers. Take a few seconds, breathe, and formulate a quality response.

• How many people are currently online in Europe?
• How many windows are there in New York?
• How many iPads are sold in the US each year?
• How much money is spent on gas in the US annually?
• How would you find out the number of red cars in China?
• If you want to build the world’s most popular mobile messaging product and need to estimate the network bandwidth used in a year, how would you approach it?
• The conversion rate has dropped. How would you determine the root cause?

Behavioral Questions

Reviewing a list of skills is great, but an interview gives the company a chance to assess how you behave day-to-day. They want to know you work well under pressure, can influence without authority, and manage stakeholder expectations.

• Tell me about a challenging issue or challenge you took on.
• Tell me how you communicate with customers/users.
• Share how you overcame failures/challenges in a product or dealt with negative feedback.
• Tell me about a time you had to influence someone.
• Tell me about a mistake you made and how you handled it.
• One manager says feature A is more important, another says feature B is more important. How do you decide which to implement?
• Tell me about a time you used data to make a decision.

Leadership & Communication Questions

Even at a junior level, a product manager is a kind of leader. So even if the role isn’t very senior, you’ll be asked about leadership. Don’t worry, these won’t be too high-level or philosophical unless you’re interviewing for a senior role. They’ll be similar to behavioral questions, and the goal is to see your approach and how you communicate with your teams.

• What’s the best way to work with your direct managers?
• Is consensus always good?
• What’s the best way to work with customers and users?
• What type of people do you like to work with?
• What type of people do you find it hard to work with?
• What would you do to ensure your team meets deadlines?
• Have you always agreed with your direct manager? What did you do when you didn’t?
• What’s the difference between leadership and management?

General / Personal / Basic Questions

Sometimes the simplest questions are the most important. Don’t neglect to prepare for the more generic questions as well.

• Why should we hire you?
• What do you do in your free time?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make?
• What do you need from your manager to succeed?
• How do you say no to people?
• What’s one of the best ideas you’ve ever had?
• What’s one of the worst ideas you’ve ever had?
• Why do you want to work at our company?

Remote Product Management Questions

In 2022, it’s very likely the company you’re applying to offers some remote/flexible work options. Even if you disliked remote work, don’t use it as an excuse to vent! If asked, be honest about the challenges it posed, but try to keep a positive attitude.

• Do you have experience working remotely?
• How did you handle communication breakdowns in a remote environment?
• How would you handle the challenge of managing a team across time zones?
• What challenges have you faced working remotely, and how did you overcome them?
• How would you approach building a team that has never met in person?

A Few Final Words

A job interview is undoubtedly a stressful situation, where you have to showcase your knowledge, professionalism, and personality in a short meeting.

Competition for product management roles is fierce, with dozens of candidates vying for a single coveted position. We recommend printing this list of questions and actually writing out your answers to each one. This preparation process will certainly help you get ready for a high-quality interview and increase your chances of landing your dream job. Good luck!