What Google Asks: Product Manager Interview Guide
A friend shared this with me, but I didnât quite get to the readings. Maybe you can and then tell me about it.Â
âInterviewing @ Google:
Interviewing for a new job can be scary and intimidating. At Google, we hope theyâll be challenging and enjoyable. As we aim to hire generalists, you can expect to interview with PM's working on any number of our products - our PM's are centered on problem solving ability so there wonât be many questions about specific experiences or domains.
In preparation, you can expect discussions around the following:
*Product design - Thinking creatively/critically about products - eg. how to monetize twitter, how to change Gmail, design an app for the Louvre. Give feedback and analysis on features (think of how to best delight the user), technical design, UI design.
*Product strategy - Understand Googleâs competitive landscape and discuss the vision for Google, the mobile market, the ad market, the internet, and technology in general. Discuss long term product roadmaps & strategies to increase market share.
*Analytical - May be a market analysis, problem solving or brain teaser question, eg. How would you store all the phone calls in the world? Most important is attention to detail and communication of how youâd break the problem into smaller nuggets to reach an overall solution.
*Technical - You could be asked architecture/design (eg. multi-tiered web apps, data storage in databases) or conceptual questions (eg. internet technologies and protocols). Possibly even an algorithm/coding question or two.
How can I prepare for interviews?
- Listen and view Cracking the PM Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
- Read and study the following books: Cracking the PM Interview , Business Model Generation, The Algorithm Design Manual, Escape Velocity, and The Design of Everyday Things
- Familiarize yourself with all of Google â not just web search (Hint: http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/)
- Research our industry dynamics and current/recent industry events (hint: use Google News)
- Visit these links:   What did you do at work today?  |  Fortune magazine ranks Google the #1 Best Company to work for in America  |  âWe want to do things that will motivate the most amazing people in the world to want to work on them.â  |  Life at Google  |   YouTube - Product Management @ Googleâ