Hey Fam, welcome back!
If you are preparing or going through Product Manager interviews and you struggle coming
up with good questions to ask at the end of the interview, then this video is for you!
In today’s video I will cover why it’s important to ask great questions and cover
five strong examples that you can use at the end of your next interview.
Asking meaningful questions can be the deciding factor between which candidate gets the job
offer, so make sure you are setting yourself up for success and have a list of questions
ready to end your interview on a high note.
At the end of the video I’ll also share more than 15 bonus questions you can ask,
so make sure to stick around!
Now, I’d like to welcome those who are new to our channel
My name is Dante, I’m a Product Manager and I have experience working at Facebook,
Airbnb, Accenture, and WePay.
If you are interested in working in the tech industry and are looking for career guidance
this is the channel for you.
Our goal is to provide you with practical advice and knowledge to help you enter and
thrive in the tech industry.
Let’s jump right in!
Why should you ask meaningful questions?
Every interview is a two-way street, not only is the company interviewing you, you are also
evaluating whether the company is a good fit for you.
Some of the questions I ask myself during the interview process are:
1.
Will I be excited to work in this company 5 days a week?
2.
Does the direction of the company align with my career aspirations?
3.
Will I enjoy working and problem-solving with the people who are interviewing me?
Why or why not?
Preparing the right questions to ask your interviewers will help you answer these 3
questions, which will help you decide if you really see yourself at that company.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in an interview is not having any questions to
ask, or not asking any meaningful questions.
This will hurt your chances of moving on to the next stage of the process.
So, plan the questions you are going to ask ahead of time, don't think of them on the
spot.
After delivering your elevator pitch, answering several problem-solving questions, and running
through hypothetical scenarios,
there is always one question you can expect from your interviewer, that is:
“Do you have any questions for me?”
This is an opportunity for you to show the interviewer that you came prepared,
you did your homework about the company and are interested in working there.
By asking great questions, it will demonstrate to your interviewer that
you have a strong interest in the company and the product, show that you are curious
about the role, and most importantly,
that you can ask the right questions as a Product Manager if given the opportunity to
join the company.
Now let’s go through a few examples.
One thing worth pointing out is that this is not a “one size fits all” video.
The example questions we will cover next are simply a starting point for you.
I highly encourage you to expand upon these examples, and craft your own list of questions
tailored to the role and company you are interviewing for.
Question #1: What are the top 2 challenges that the company is facing right now? and
how is your team working on solving them?
One thing that makes this question unique is that it’s specific and structured
you are asking about the top two challenges and not just about any problem or issue the
company is facing.
By asking this question, it will provide you with insights into how transparent employees
are about the current state of the company, and how they go about solving problems.
Pay close attention to how the interviewer reacts to this question,
for example do they have a positive outlook on the challenge,
or does it seem like the challenge is not being addressed.
This question will also give you information about whether the work that lies ahead for
the company will be of interest to you.
Question #2: What is the last thing you shipped?
This question will reveal a lot about the product culture at the company,
and it's a great one to ask members of the engineering, product, and design teams.
If the team has not shipped anything recently that should be a warning sign for you that
the company may not be great at getting things done,
but remain curious and try to understand why.
Now, If they provide you with a detailed answer and go into the ins and outs of the product
or feature that was shipped,
try to learn more about how this came about, how it was prioritized,
how the team went about collecting requirements and executing on the project,
how did they measure success, and how the rollout went.
As a future member of the product team, this question will give you an insight into what
you can expect from the company’s product development lifecycle
If you are learning something new, don’t forget to subscribe and this video a thumbs
up!
Question #3: How are product decisions made at the company?
This question will help you understand how the company prioritizes projects and how they
make trade-offs.
For example, do they follow a top-down approach where senior leadership determines what will
be worked on during a quarter,
or is it more of a bottoms-up approach where you are empowered to decide in which direction
the product should be headed.
This question will also give you insight into how data-driven the company is.
Here are some questions that I follow-up with in case the interviewer does not address them
in their response:
Does the team use analytics tools to understand the performance of their products?
Do they conduct user interviews and research to inform product decisions?
What type of data is a bigger driver in decisions, quantitative or qualitative data?
Knowing this information will help you determine if the decision-making process at the company
aligns well with your working style.
I personally enjoy working at companies that follow a data-driven decision-making process,
so that is something that I like to confirm with this question
Question #4: If you could change one thing about the company, what would it be and why?
I like to ask this question because it gives me the opportunity to get to know the interviewer
on a more personal level.
Every employee will have a different opinion about what the company can improve on.
This question gives you insight into the pain points your potential manager or teammates
may be facing, and what they care about.
With this question, you show the interviewer that you are a problem solver at heart and
that you are interested in your team’s well-being.
When you ask this question make sure to follow up with,
how can a new hire help to bring about change and move the company forward?
If the company is facing a problem that you’ve experienced before at another company, share
insights into what steps were taken to resolve that.
Maybe the company doesn’t do a good job at implementing customer feedback on their
products
If you've encountered this before, share what previous teams did to resolve that, what worked
and didn’t work well.
Question #5: Tell me about the most successful hire you made recently
why has that person been very successful in their role?
With this question, you are setting yourself up for success because you are getting an
insight into what it takes to be a high performer in the organization.
It also shows that you are driven and curious about what the company values in terms of
skill set, behaviors, and expectations.
To recap, these are the top 5 questions I have asked in past interviews that have helped
me land job offers
and have provided me with the right information to decide whether a company is a good fit
for me.
Because I believe in the value of community and sharing as many experiences as possible
to help the most people,
I’d love to hear what other questions you ask at the end of your interviews.
So please share them in the comments down below
Remember for your next interview that it is as important to have your elevator pitch memorized
and to prepare for problem-solving questions,
as it is to have a list of insightful and robust questions to ask at the end of the
interview.
I usually prepare 5 questions ahead of time
in the case that some of my questions are answered throughout the course of the interview.
Remember that asking great questions at the end of the interview will set you apart from
other candidates and leave a lasting impression on your interviewers.
I’d love to hear what you learned from today’s video, so please let me know in the comments!
If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs-up, subscribe, and please share
it with someone whom you think can benefit from it.
As promised, here is a list of additional questions you can ask at the end of your interviews
that will make you stand out:
Questions for your interviewer:
When the interviewer asks do you have any questions for me, you can say
I do have a few questions but before getting into them, I was wondering if I’ve sufficiently
answered all your questions?
Is there anything I can explain further or provide examples?
How did you end up in your current position?
What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on?
What has kept you at the company?
This applies to employees that have been at a company for more than 2 years
What challenges do you expect to see in the next 5 to 10 years and what challenges are
you facing now?
How does your team plan to address them?
This one applies to higher-ups such as directors, VPs, or executives
What is it that you would like someone in this position to accomplish in the first 90
days?
Is there a system in place that allows employees to recognize and acknowledge teammates?
As a manager, how do you go about helping your team grow professionally?
This one applies to the hiring manager(s) How do you evaluate success and performance
at XYZ company?
Where do we hope the product to be in 3 years, and how will this role contribute to helping
us get there?
What does a typical week look like for someone in this role?
What percentage of your time is spent in meetings vs. doing actual work?
What tools does the team use on a daily basis to get work done?
i.e. project tracking, communication, scheduling tools, etc.
What system does the company have in place to provide feedback?
If you had an idea for a product or organizational improvement, what would it take to make it
happen?
What inputs does your team use to build the roadmap?
How often are new features launched?
Where do ideas for new features come from at your company?
How does the team decide which ideas to prioritize and build?
and lastly Can you share a lesson from your most recent
product launch?
Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you in our next video!