Fun Questions
- What makes you really angry?
- If I spoke to your best friend, what is one word they would use to describe you?
- If you had to ride an animal into the Battle of Helm's Deep, what animal would you ride and why?
- If you were an action figure, what two items would you come with?
- How much sawdust can you put into a rice krispy square before people start to notice? How would you figure this out?
- What are the top 5 websites you visit every day? What is your favourite way to gather information? What subreddits or blogs or instagram accounts or TikTok stars do you follow?
- Who is your professional role model, and what do you like about them?
- If you could choose one fictional character to be your mentor, who would it be and why?
- Why did you choose this university? Why did you choose this program?
- What is your secret to productivity?
- What advice would you give to yourself graduating high school?
- What was your first job, and what was the most important lesson you learned from it?
- You are unexpectedly gifted a day off in the middle of the week. What do you do with it?
- Your house is on fire (animals and people are safe) but you can grab 3 items. What do you grab?
- What is the best gift you've ever received?
- What is your favourite quote?
- What are the last 5 books you read?
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What are the open tabs on your computer right now?
- Describe your day up to this point.
- What's something weird or unusual you did early on in life?
- What important truth do very few people agree wtih you on?
- If you were a product, what would your value proposition be?
- How did you prepare for this interview?
- What's a conspiracy theory you believe? What makes it interesting?
Product Questions
- You've just been hired as the first PM at [well-known product, like Instagram]. There are no metrics of any kind yet. What sort of data would help you determine the health of this feature?
- Tell me about a time you advocated for somethign that others did not believe in. How did you develop convinction even when others didn't have it? How did you get enough organizational buy-in to allow you to move forward with the initiative?
- Why did you choose to work at the last company? Why did you choose to leave?
- Tell me about a time when you were certain about a product or feature and you turned out to be wrong.
- Tell me about a project you worked on in the last two years that you are most proud of. Provide the context, actions you took, results, and learnings.
- How would you explain product management to a stranger?
- A customer tells you they want a new feature. How do you decide whether it is worth building or not?
- What was your most successful product as a Product Manager?
- What makes a successful launch?
- What are the qualities that differentiate a good product manager from a great product manager?
- Do you have any technical skills that set you apart from other applicants?
- Is consensus always your goal? When should you strive for consensus and when should you not?
- How do you make decisions with data? How do you make decisions without data? In what contexts?
- Tell me about a product you used today. What did you like about using it? What would you change?
- Think of a product you hate to use. How would you improve it?
- What are the trends you're paying attention to? What excites you about them?
- Give me a prediction about this trend 10 years from now. What do you think will happen? Why?
- Tell me about a time you failed professionally. What happened, where did you go wrong, and what did you learn?
- Is Facebook succeeding? Why or why not?
- Our indoor camera is not selling very well. What is one change you would make to improve sales?
- Will OpenAI surpass Google in terms of daily searches? If so, when?
- Pick a product you love and use often - what is their secret sauce? Why do you think they are so much more successful than competitive products?
- How do you gather and prioritize customer feedback?
- Can you describe a time when you had to pivot or change direction of a project?
- How do you stay updated on industry trends and emerging technologies relevant to product management?
- How do you practice your craft in a similar way to how a musician practices scales? What do you do regularly to get better?
Soft Skill Questions
- How do you communicate with executive leadership?
- Who do you respect most for their leadership ability and why?
- What do you look for in a manager?
- Should engineers speak with customers? Why or why not? In what circumstances?
- Why do you want this job?
- Why should we hire you?
- What does success at the end of this co-op term look like for you?
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague. How did you resolve the conflict?
- Who is the best manager you've ever had? What made them successful?
- What's the most important factor for you in looking for a co-op?
- What's the question you wish I asked?
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What is your strategy to accomplish great things? Do you work every day? Extra hard during the week? What does your weekly cycle look like?
- How important is charisma for a product manager?
- If you were hired and then we get to the end of your co-op and it does not go well, why would that be?
- What are 3 words your best friend would use to describe you?
- How ambitious are you?
- Can you give me an instance where you perceived a team problem at work and stepped in to fix it? What exactly was your remedy?
- Would your previous boss say you were so good they would work for you?
- What is the most important trait of high performer?
- Out of what I see on your LinkedIn and your resume, what are the things you are trying to emphasize? What are the things you are trying to hide?