As a PM at Twitter (more officially referred to as a “tweep”) you’ll be shaping the way people discover and consume information. You’ll collaborate with engineering, design, and user research teams to solve high-impact customer issues, and you’ll communicate your product vision to all stakeholders -- ensuring at every stage that your work aligns with Twitter’s values around health, privacy, and security.

Twitter is known as a particularly good choice for PMs who value work-life balance. The company’s Glassdoor reviews are full of love for its “amazing culture, true work life balance, and unlimited PTO.” PM’s with hobbies: this could be the place for you.

Background: While Twitter doesn’t require a technical background (i.e. a CS degree), you’ll be expected to have:

• A solid product background.
• A thorough understanding of engineering concepts and a level of technical depth that will allow you to connect with the engineering team.
• A passion for developing fair algorithms.

Twitter also offers a program for recent grads who may not yet have the requisite experience to become a full-fledged PM, so if you’re willing to take an internship, you’ll have ample opportunity to prove yourself. Read on to get a complete picture of the Twitter PM interview from start to finish.

Interview Stages

Typically, there are 3 rounds of interviews: recruiter screening, phone interviews, and onsite.

On average, the entire process will take about 4-6 weeks, but this can vary significantly depending on roles available. Twitter is unique in that once you receive an offer, you get to choose the team you’d like to work with (given openings), so hang in there.

Recruiter

After you submit your application, a recruiter will call you. As with many other tech phone screens, they want to understand why you want to work at Twitter. Be prepared to talk about your past experiences, but a recruiter won’t go very deep with you technically. This call is mainly to ensure you’re a clear communicator, that you’re decent to work with, and you’re at least a marginal fit culture-wise.

To prepare for culture-fit questions, we recommend you take a look at their About, Company, and Values pages before crafting your answers. Make sure you can seamlessly blend their values into your responses and you’re golden.

Hiring Manager Phone Interview

Next, you will have a ~30 minute phone interview with your potential hiring manager. Expect a greater variety of questions during this call. The hiring manager will want to get to know you (behavioral questions) but you’ll be asked some product design questions as well.

Product design questions (as opposed to product strategy) at this stage are meant to gauge how you think; make sure you take the time to methodologically answer questions and don’t make assumptions without sound reasoning.

Peer Product Manager Phone Interview

Your second call will be with a peer. This product manager will ask you questions meant to gauge your ability to execute on-the-job. Are you able to analyze a situation quickly? navigate ambiguity with grace? A recent Twitter PM hire reported that a favorite question at this stage is “What would you do if a key metric declined?”

As you’re speaking with a potential peer, be sure to use the time to ask questions you may have about company culture and expectations – you’re getting an early peek behind the curtain. Finally, it should go without saying but be friendly. Twitter employees work hard to maintain a welcoming and collaborative environment, so be personable.

On-site

Following the phone interviews is an onsite interview. A typical on-site interview consists of 5 rounds in which you’re meeting with 2 Twitter employees each. There will be a different task during each round, so you’ll need to practice switching gears quickly. Exponent members have reported that they’re often tested in multiple dimensions through the interview, but were able to give us a breakdown:

• Round 1: “Facilitate for the engineering team.” Your first round will revolve around product design, but with a heavily technical bent. Your panel will likely include an engineer, so this is the time to prove you can keep up with him/her.
• Round 2: “Deliver for the customer.” Again, product design emphasis but this round focuses on customer understanding and UX. In general, Twitter expects its PMs to be very user-centric, so be sure to begin by putting yourself in your users’ shoes.
• Round 3: “Build a better company.” After spending some time on the details, you’ll zoom out to discuss product strategy. If you’re not already an avid Twitter user, make sure to familiarize yourself with their offerings and understand how the infrastructure works at a general level.
• Round 4: “Topgrading.” Twitter uses an interviewing methodology called Topgrading to identify top talent. Interviewees are categorized as high-performing “A-players”, or “B or C-players” who will likely need more coaching to be successful. The topgrading interview will be an exhaustive review of your past experience. You’ll be asked not only to describe your successes, but your mistakes, key decisions, and your reasons for leaving past employers, so be sure you can explain your career history honestly, concisely, and positively.
• Round 5: “Leadership.” This round features behavioral questions around leadership including executive presence and ability to inspire. Tweak your material from your phone screen with the recruiter & be sure to check your experience against Twitter’s core values (with an emphasis on leadership) to prepare.

Each interview will take 30 minutes to an hour, with allowances for you to ask questions. You’ll be allotted time to use the restroom or get water if needed, and it’s likely that you’ll have a lunch break.

Research Top grading Methodology. You’re probably not familiar with it, and if you don’t know what your interviewers are getting at you may get intimidated at what may seem like aggressive questioning. Be honest, be open, and be prepared. Read the wikipedia page, and reach out to current APMs/PMs at Twitter and ask them about their experiences. They’ve either gone through the process recently or understand what it takes to pass the interview, and they can reassure you that what you’re going through is normal.

Don’t be afraid to go into product strategy from product design questions. A recent Twitter PM hire reported that they won’t ask you specific questions about product features, but you should know the basics, and you’ll score points if you can draw strategic conclusions. Don’t be afraid, and don’t limit yourself.

Try to get to know your interviewers and ask lots of questions. Once you get an offer, you’ve got a unique opportunity at Twitter to choose the team you’ll work with. Get to know your interviewers, and once you’re in, reach out to different managers to get a sense of where you belong.