Rubric for Technical Interviews

Note: For more detail on how Exponent's interview rubrics work, check out this lesson.

Now that you know how to answer technical questions, let's look at how they're scored.

Core Skills to Show in Technical Interviews

Note: Most junior-to-mid-level PM interviews don't include technical rounds. If you have specific domain knowledge, you may be asked questions about your experience, but know that most of you probably won't encounter these questions. Still, if you're interviewing at a tech-heavy company or for a technical PM role, you can't go wrong brushing up on the basics of software implementation and technical communication.

Technical questions for PMs generally assess analytical skills, critical thinking and domain knowledge. Companies often use a scoring system with five options ranging from "missing" or "very weak" to "very strong." Interviewers score core qualities on this five-point scale during each round, and take turns sharing their feedback during the hiring discussion.

Analytical skills include data literacy (can you work with data?) and comfort with metrics (can you choose and interpret the right metrics for a given problem?)

Critical thinking skills include asking clarifying questions, discussing tradeoffs, and identifying possible errors.

Signals for domain knowledge include discussing the basics of software implementation and technical communication.

Let's dive into each.

Data Literacy

Data literacy in PM interviews may come up in the form of questions on the performance of one component / approach / architecture versus another. Be sure you can respond in a data-driven way.

• Very Weak or Missing: Failed to use data to answer the question.
• Weak: Failed to identify obvious patterns in data.
• Neutral: Fair ability to reason with data, but missed key points.
• Strong: Used data effectively; asked good questions, made solid assumptions, formed logical conclusions.
• Very Strong: Extracted valuable insights from data; identified key patterns, suggested reports/tests to run, made logical arguments.

Comfort With Metrics

Lean on your execution interview skills and experience here. Which metrics are appropriate for the given technical question?

• Very Weak or Missing: Failed to show a basic understanding of relevant metrics.
• Weak: Struggled to define metrics for given problems and/or compare different metrics.
• Neutral: Reasonable knowledge, but missed "best fit" metrics for a given problem.
• Strong: Clearly discussed pros and cons of various metrics, made a solid argument for choice(s).
• Very Strong: Metrics thoroughly and accurately discussed, recommended ways to streamline analytical processes.

Clarifying Questions

Technical questions may seem straightforward, but it's easy to get stumped. By asking clarifying questions upfront, you can scope down the prompt and eventually steer the interview in a direction that's most comfortable for you. This is valid on-the-job as well; you'd never attempt to solve a technical challenge without gathering as much context as you can.

• Very Weak or Missing: Failed to ask questions and/or interact with the interviewer.
• Weak: Struggled to ask the right questions and/or made assumptions without clarifying.
• Neutral: Asked good clarifying questions, but missed key points.
• Strong: Asked insightful questions, adapted answer to fit.
• Very Strong: Asked surprising and insightful questions, came up with a clear, accurate summary for the problem statement.

Ability to Discuss Tradeoffs and Possible Errors

There are many possible components, architectures, and solutions to any given technical question. It's up to you to make the right calls based on your understanding of the tradeoffs of each. This is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself as a PM; no one expects you to have an engineering-level knowledge of components. However -- if you can make good decisions based on accurate tradeoffs, you'll win respect from both interviewers and your team.

• Very Weak or Missing: Failed to mention tradeoffs and possible errors.
• Weak: Mentioned tradeoffs, but failed to justify decisions when pressed and/or made incorrect judgment calls.
• Neutral: Covered possible errors and tradeoffs, but could have made better choices.
• Strong: Logical tradeoff discussion, correctly identified possible errors.
• Very Strong: Deep knowledge and intuition around tradeoffs; alternatives offered, pros and cons neatly summarized.

Basic knowledge of software implementation

Knowing the very basics of software implementation will get you through most junior-level technical interviews (if you encounter these at all.) We recommend reading through your target company's engineering blog to get a sense of how the company rolls out software.

• Very Weak or Missing: Failed to show basic knowledge of how software is implemented.
• Weak: Unable to dive deep into implementation processes.
• Neutral: Understands basic software implementation.
• Strong: Solid understanding of technical processes underlying software products.
• Very Strong: Deep, engineering-level understanding of software.

Technical Communication

If you're asked a technical question, it's likely that you'll work closely with engineers in your PM role. You'll need to be able to communicate with engineers, so interviewers want to see whether you can translate your "PM speak" into a language engineers can easily work with and vice versa.

• Very Weak or Missing: Failed to communicate with technical team members.
• Weak: Struggled to translate "PM-speak" into technical terms; needed significant clarification.
• Neutral: Effective at translating requirements into technical terms.
• Strong: Accurately communicates requirements / requests in technical terms; can actively participate in a "live" technical discussion.
• Very Strong: Matches technical team in ability to communicate technically.