These are some of the most common PM interview questions and answers.
Top Product Manager Interview Questions
Let's cut to the chase.
These are the ten most frequently asked PM interview questions.
- What's your favorite product and why? Watch a Google PM answer.
- Tell me about a time you made short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. Watch a healthcare PM answer.
- How would you improve [Spotify]? Watch an IBM PM answer.
- What goals would you set for [Facebook Marketplace]? Watch a Meta PM answer.
- Design a fire alarm for the deaf.
- Tell me about a time you handled a difficult stakeholder.
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
- Estimate the number of restaurants in San Francisco.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone.
- Tell me about a project you worked on with a tight deadline.
These questions fall into these categories. Below, we explore each type.
Sneak peek:
- Watch a Google PM answer, “What’s your favorite product?”
- Watch a Google PM answer, “How can Airbnb increase bookings?”
- Watch a Meta PM answer, “Design Facebook Movies.”
Product Design
Product design is about one-third of the PM interview process. During the interview, you'll develop a product that solves a problem in a way that makes sense for the company and that users will like.
Some common product design interview questions include:
- What's your favorite product and why? Watch a Google PM answer.
- How would you improve our product?
- Design a product for drivers during rush hour.
- How would you improve Instagram Stories? Watch a Microsoft PM answer.
- How would you improve Spotify as a podcast application?
These questions are centered on your product thinking skills like:
- User empathy and user-centered design,
- Feature prioritization,
- and changing products for better product-market fit.
💬 Sample Product Design Answer
Question: What's your favorite product and why?
Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers for computers and phones. There are many types of users, and I consider myself a power user.
Users who browse the Internet are mainly looking for a quick and efficient web browser. Finding relevant content and a smooth experience is critical to any web browser's success. Before Chrome, the most-used browser options were Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer (IE). These browsers had basic features but weren't customizable or advanced enough to satisfy users' needs.
Chrome added three things that created a better experience: Profiles, Quick searching, and a powerful homepage.
Chrome users could log in to their Gmail accounts to quickly collect relevant data on their usage behavior. This allows Chrome to create a more personalized experience by recommending sites based on past behaviors.
Another great feature they added was a quick search on the URL bar. Google leveraged its core product, the Google Search engine, to allow Chrome users to search the web directly from the URL search box. This lowered the friction to search—one of the core functions of Internet users. Lastly, they added a personalized home page with your most visited sites already on their homepage. This feature saves users time by increasing navigational efficiency.
Chrome is fantastic, but I'd add vertical tab displays to improve it. Similar to how Slack has channels listed vertically, adding this feature would improve the multi-tab experience.
Specifically, it would allow for clearer distinguishing between tabs at high volumes rather than squishing the width of each tab where they're no longer distinguishable.
My favorite product is Google Chrome, Google's web browser. Before Chrome, web browsers only fulfilled one function: searching the web. Chrome created a more personalized experience that enhanced web viewing. If I could improve it, I'd add vertical tab displays."
Behavioral
Your success as a product manager hinges on your ability to work well with others. Interviewers will assess your attitude, behavior, and thought processes as thoroughly as your product design, strategic thinking, and analytical skills. The most common way to do this is with behavioral interviews.
Some common behavioral interview questions include:
- Tell me about yourself. View expert answer.
- Tell me about a time you handled a difficult stakeholder.
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
- Tell me about a time one of your products failed.
- How would you handle negative user feedback for your product?
- Why do you want to work as a product manager?
💬 Sample Behavioral Answer
Question: Tell me about when you made short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.
Option 1: I could automate part of a process that would reduce a client's nine hours of manual work to one hour.
Option 2: I could fully automate the end-to-end process, which would take four weeks to develop but could be used for everyone moving forward.
The process was to change a bank customer's contact preferences to paper mailings if their emails bounced more than three times. Currently, the process is manual.
It includes extracting bounced emails from a reporting tool, tracking the customers, changing their paperless preferences, and creating a notice with a given message.
This process takes an entire day, so the operations team asked me to prioritize automating it.
I discussed the requirements with the lead developers and operations manager. After some effort versus impact analysis or return on investment (ROI), I found two options.
Option 1 was a short-term solution. It involved less effort but would take a week to develop. This option would continue the organization's existing practices, save development time, and let us continue rolling out mobile app improvements.
However, our email marketing team wanted to start sending more emails to customers this year. Naturally, that would increase the bounce rate of emails and put more customers at risk of not receiving our emails.
Option 2 was a long-term solution with higher impact and scalability, but it took more effort and four weeks of development.
Option 2 had a higher ROI, so it was the winner. I ensured it met the operations team's objectives and got their go-ahead.
Option 2 delayed updates to our mobile application, which prevented other product marketing and marketing teams from getting the data they needed for future campaigns.
However, the upside of fixing this process allowed us to run campaigns more smoothly."
Product Strategy
Most of a PM's job involves making strategic product decisions in a constantly evolving marketplace. Product strategy interviews test your ability to think about products competitively, set goals, and develop a strategy.
Some common product strategy interview questions include:
- Should Samsung build a video game console? Watch Microsoft PM answer.
- How would you increase the number of YouTube users?
- How would you react to a product competing with Gmail?
- How would you increase the adoption of Microsoft Edge?
- What's the biggest threat to YouTube? Watch Google PM answer.
Generally, there are four types of product strategy questions:
- Differentiation: What unique value does the product offer to customers?
- Go-to-Market: How will the product be introduced to the marketplace?
- Pricing: How much should this product cost?
- Growth: What strategies can increase the user base of this product?
💬 Sample Product Strategy Answer
Question: How would you react to a product competing with Gmail? A competitor is charging $5/month for email service.
Mission: Google aims to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and helpful. Gmail embodies this by delivering a free, intuitive, seamless email experience.
Goals: Gmail aims to make email accessible for all users and integrate within Google's ecosystem to boost productivity.
Revenue Model: Google generates over 60% of its revenue from online ads. Gmail contributes significantly, with over 1.5 billion active users providing substantial ad impressions.
Customer Profiles:
- Enterprise Users: These customers pay $25+ monthly for Google Workspace, which includes Gmail without ads.
- Free Users: They access Gmail at no cost but see ads integrated into the experience.
Solutions:
1. Focus on Acquiring More Users
This is a key opportunity to grow the user base, particularly among free users. Launch targeted campaigns aimed at competitors’ user bases, highlighting Gmail’s seamless integration with other Google products.
2. Improve Ads for Better Revenue
Enhancing ad personalization can significantly improve click-through rates (CTR) and impressions. For example:
- Optimize UX to display ads more intuitively.
- Integrate ads into Gmail’s search bar—when users search for keywords like "flights" or "shopping," they receive relevant sponsored results.
- A 10% boost in ad engagement could generate millions in additional revenue.
3. Introduce Personalized Bots
Deploy bots through Google Hangouts for a tailored experience.
- Bots can assist with common tasks like booking rides (Uber, Lyft) or placing shopping orders (Amazon).
- Google could charge a small referral fee per transaction, opening a new revenue stream.
Tradeoffs
- User Acquisition: Aggressive campaigns could be perceived as opportunistic, leading to potential backlash.
- Improving Ads: Personalization requires more user data, which risks privacy concerns if not handled carefully.
- Bots: While efficient, adoption may be slow due to user unfamiliarity or lack of discoverability.
Success Metrics: Growth in DAU/WAU/MAU, Revenue per user (ARPU), and higher ad CTR and impressions.
By balancing user growth, ad enhancements, and innovative features like bots, Gmail can continue to deliver value while staying competitive—all while keeping the service free for users."
Analytics and Metrics
Can you reason with metrics? Can you think critically about user feedback and bugs?
Some analytics interview questions include:
- How do you determine success for Instagram Reels?
- What metrics would you focus on as the PM for Netflix?
- What metrics would you focus on as the PM for Alibaba?
- Devise an A/B test to improve Google Maps.
- What should Airbnb's north star metric be?
💬 Sample Analytics Answer
Question: How would you determine success for Instagram Reels?
Product Overview: IG Reels is a platform for short-form video content within Instagram. It empowers creators to produce engaging videos using built-in editing tools and share them with followers or the broader IG network. Reels allow users to create, engage, and potentially build a following.
Goals: IG Reels was designed with two key objectives:
- Community Building: Provide creators with a platform to reach Instagram’s massive audience and grow their influence.
- Competitive Advantage: Address the rise of TikTok by capturing younger demographics through short-form, highly engaging video content.
Given these goals, the product's success depends on rapid growth in usage and engagement and its ability to nurture a thriving creator community.
Business Goals
- Increase the number of Reels users.
- Drive more video uploads.
- Boost time spent engaging with Reels.
- Foster strong creator networks and habit formation.
- Compete effectively with TikTok to reduce churn and retain users.
User Goals
- Creators want to share their creativity, grow a following, and establish a revenue stream.
- Consumers aim to discover compelling content and interact with their favorite creators.
User Actions
Breaking this into two groups:
1. Content Creators
- Create and edit videos
- Post videos to IG Reels
- Grow their followers
- Engage with their audience
2. Content Consumers
- Browse and watch videos
- Like, comment, and share
- Follow creators for updates
Metrics: The primary focus should be increasing product usage and engagement while fostering a robust creator ecosystem. Here are the key metrics:
- Usage Metric: Daily Active Users (DAUs) on IG Reels—Are we consistently growing the user base?
- Engagement Metric: Average time spent on IG Reels per week—How are Reels contributing to the total time spent on Instagram?
- Community Metric: Number of creators with over 200K followers—Are we building a vibrant community of influencers?
Counter Metrics: To avoid unintended consequences, I’d also monitor time spent on other Instagram features (e.g., Stories, Newsfeed) to ensure Reels doesn’t cannibalize engagement elsewhere.
Summary: IG Reels' success hinges on driving user and engagement growth while cultivating a thriving creator community. By tracking DAUs, engagement time, and creator metrics, we can measure its impact on Instagram’s ecosystem and its ability to compete effectively in the short-form video space."
Estimation
Product managers need to be able to make decisions with incomplete information. This could involve estimating the market size for a potential opportunity or assessing user interest in a feature. Your ability to do this is evaluated through estimation questions.
Some common estimation interview questions include:
- Estimate the number of Uber drivers in San Francisco. Watch a Google PM answer.
- Estimate the number of videos watched on YouTube per day.
- Estimate the total dollar amount of online sales for fruits and vegetables per year in New York City.
- How many quarters do you need to reach the height of the Empire State Building?
- Estimate the total Internet bandwidth needed for a campus of 1,000 graduate students.
Execution
Execution questions test your ability to make sense of a situation, set goals, and make decisions.
- How would you reduce fake news on social media?
- YouTube comments are up, but watch time is down. What do you do?
- If you were the PM of eBay, what goals would you set?
- Daily active users have gone down on our application. How would you find the root cause?
- Should Uber Eats be a different app from regular Uber?
Google assesses execution skills through broader hypothetical questions during Cross-Functional Collaboration rounds, such as "When do you consider a design review completed?"
Technical
Technical questions are not common in PM interviews unless the position is explicitly technical.
For instance, technical product managers at Amazon should know how to code.
Your recruiter will tell you if you will face a technical round.
There are three types of technical PM questions:
- Communicating Technical Concepts: “Explain DNS to a 12-year-old.”
- Explaining Technical Decisions: “Tell me about a time you made a technical trade-off."
- System Design: “Design the architecture for Instagram’s Home Feed”
Dobri Dobrev—CTO co-founder with a decade of PM experience at Google and Yahoo.
Perfect PM Interview Answers
Every great answer in the PM interview will follow the same general format, regardless of the question.
Use a simple framework to keep your ideas organized during PM interviews.
- Listen: Actively listen and take notes as your interviewer talks.
- Clarify: Ask questions to better understand the problem.
- Pause: Stop and think before blurting out an answer.
- Structure: Tell your interviewer how you'll structure your answers.
- Explain: Give your answer and explain your reasoning at each step.
- Check-in: Ask your interviewer if they want to hear more details.
- Summarize: Reiterate your main points and takeaways.
Step 1: Listen and Take Notes
Listen attentively to the question, take notes, and make eye contact.
Step 2: Ask Clarifying Questions
Ask your interviewer clarifying questions, even if the question appears simple or straightforward.
You could ask:
- Is this product targeting a specific set of users or customers?
- Which platforms are our target users using?
- Is this product being released on a global or domestic scale?
If you can't think of anything, you can always ask, "So, you're asking me to...?" Is that correct?"
Step 3: Stop and Think
You would be surprised at the impact an extra 10–20 seconds of reflection can have on the quality of your interview answer.
Interviewers prefer that you organize your thoughts so that your answer is coherent and easy to follow.
Step 4: Structure Your Answers
Provide a structure to your answer. Present this structure to your interviewer or hiring manager before diving in.
“Alright, I’m going to explore three possible products that fit your question and cover the tradeoffs of each. These three products are X, Y, and Z."
Giving your interviewer a structure beforehand lets them redirect you if necessary.
Step 5: Explain with Confidence
Use the whiteboard as much as possible. Every good PM has a whiteboard, right?
Step 6: Check In and Pivot
Checking in with the interviewer and pivoting wherever necessary is always a good idea.
Here's when to pivot:
- The interviewer's body language indicates concern. If your interviewer changes posture or makes gestures, it can indicate that you're off track. "I’ll now move on to the next portion of my answer. Is that okay?”
- You realize your answer is wrong. "Let me rephrase that," or "Let me clarify my answer."
- You forget your point. "Can I have a moment to think through the rest of my answer?" This shows that you take the interview seriously and want to answer best.
Step 7. Review and Summarize
Summarize your answer in 30 seconds. Structure this brief summary the same way you did your original answer.
Tip: Go Slowly
Pretend that your interviewer is a complete stranger. Break down complex topics into easily digestible pieces.
Talk about things like:
- What successful products have you launched as a PM?
- How do you talk to users and conduct user research?
- How would you implement and plan for new features in a product's roadmap?
- How do you define a successful product launch?
- What metrics do you use to determine if a product is working well?
- How do you work with other PMs on your teams?
Tip: Common Pitfalls
Your PM interview is emotional. Your head is probably buzzing with excitement and nervousness.
Don't forget these basics:
- KPIs. Identify the KPIs that revolve around the business. If you don’t know how the company measures success, how will you know what's best for the product?
- Use the Product. Before the interview, use the company’s product. Ask your interviewer for a free trial or beta access if it's behind a paywall. You may be asked how the user interface or experience can be improved.
PM Interview FAQs
How do I prepare for a PM interview?
- Step 1: Research the company you're applying to. Learn the PM interview loop for that company. Read our PM company guides.
- Step 2: Choose one type of PM interview question for that role, such as product sense, behavioral, analytical, strategy, execution, technical, or estimation.
- Step 3: Review the most common interview questions of that type. Based on your resume, create stories to answer the questions.
- Step 4: Compare your answers to answers from other candidates and expert coaches.
- Step 5: Move between interview question categories and repeat.
What makes a good PM interview?
Your PM interview comes down to three things:
- Product vision and sense: How well can you envision future products to solve user pain points and needs?
- Communication: Can you communicate your product ideas and vision to a product team and engineering team to execute?
- Culture fit: Do you align with the company's vision and the ethos of its workers?
Is product management a technical role?
Your product management role may be technical, depending on the company. Companies like Google encourage a solid technical and coding background to succeed in product management positions.
However, many companies don't require a technical background to lead technical teams.
Questions to Ask Your Interviewer
Ask your interviewer these thoughtful questions about their role or the company.
- What's a technology that excites you?
- Where do you think this company is headed?
- What's the process for developing new products here?
- What's your management or leadership style?
- How does this company stay ahead of trends?
Junior vs. Senior PM Candidates
What are the differences between junior and senior product managers?
Leadership
Junior PMs focus on tactical work like market research, competitive analysis, and cross-functional collaboration.
Senior PMs take on leadership roles, managing team dynamics and organizational responsibilities like compensation and conflict resolution.
Output
Junior PMs prioritize immediate deliverables, while Senior PMs focus on long-term impact.
Senior PMs shape product strategy and work directly with users to drive meaningful improvements.
Experience
Seniority typically comes from experience across different roles and projects, not just years in one industry.
While technical backgrounds can be valuable for Senior Technical PM roles, there's no single ideal path. Many successful PMs come from non-technical backgrounds.
Industry expertise matters less than demonstrated ability to drive results - a healthcare PM could excel in SaaS if they have the right product skills.
Influencing Outcomes
Junior PMs must influence their teams without direct authority, building trust through relationships and data-driven decisions.
These leadership skills become natural with experience.
Senior PMs leverage this experience to guide teams and delegate work across data, product, and engineering functions to execute their vision.
Learn everything you need to ace your product management interviews.
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