how to get a product manager job: january 28, 2014
DESCRIPTION
Slides from How to Get a Product Manager Job talk for MBA studentsTRANSCRIPT
How to Get a Job Product Manager
Introduction
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My new book on product management (PM) interviews
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Agenda
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Agenda Role & responsibilities Hiring process PM Interview What I’ve assumed You’re looking to transition into PM This class is not for Experienced PM professionals Resources Decode and Conquer – world’s first book on PM interviews Quicksheet.co – class videos on preparing for specific PM roles
The Role
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What Product Managers “Can” Do
Marketing PM 1 2
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Product Managers “Could” Do it All
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What Product Managers “Typically” Do
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Understand the customer
Develop requirements
Prioritize resources
Serve as launch lead
Collect feedback
Understanding the customer
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1. Name and alias 2. Problem quotes 3. Age, day in the life,
thoughts & feelings 4. Goals 5. Behavioral variables
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Personas
Understand the customer
Develop requirements
Prioritize resources
Primary POC for launch
Collect feedback
Developing requirements
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Understand the customer
Develop requirements
Prioritize resources
Primary POC for launch
Collect feedback
As a <role>, I want <goal/desire> so that <benefit>. Examples As an administrator, I want to be able to add/delete/change
my boss’s schedule so that I don’t have to use his password. As a Facebook user, I want to see out-of-town friends who
send status messages in my hometown first, so that I can send them a note.
User stories
Prioritizing resources
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Understand the customer
Develop requirements
Prioritize resources
Primary POC for launch
Collect feedback
User Story Revenue Customer Satisfaction
Implementation Difficulty
Overall
Story A 3 3 1 9
Story B 2 2 2 6
Story C 1 1 3 3
Prioritization matrix
Serving as launch owner
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Responsibilities Manage project execution Primary exec contact Primary product contact Primary press contact
Key documents Product FAQ
Understand the customer
Develop requirements
Prioritize resources
Primary POC for launch
Collect feedback
Evaluating customer feedback
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Lift P-Value
# of users completing signup -13.21% 0.02
Profile completeness +1.65% 0.01
# of users the posted +2.11% 0.05
# posts +4.85% 0.01
# of invites sent +2.36% 0.02
1 day retention +2.12% 0.07
7 day retention +1.08% 0.20
30 day retention N/A N/A
Understand the customer
Develop requirements
Prioritize resources
Primary POC for launch
Collect feedback
A/B test: Adding “upload photo” to social network sign-up flow
Day-in-the-life of a PM
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8:15a Go through emails
8:45a Read TC; check out Nest UI
9a Review mock-ups with designer
10a Lead daily stand-up meeting
10:30a Check email
11:30a Customer call with sales team
12p Lunch meeting with market research team
1p Last minute prep for product roadmap review
2p Product roadmap preso to executives
3p Send out meeting notes to team
3:30p Lead eng. call with Google to discuss API implementation
4:30p Review A/B test results
5:30p Work on product roadmap & tweak product backlog
Hiring Process
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Most hiring managers scan resumes in 6 seconds
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Resume advice
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BE RELEVANT
If you really want the PM job…
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How one person’s design project turned into a job
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Top tier press mentions
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Good news
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Winning the Interview
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Google PM role
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Top 3 skills • Product design (& development) • Technical skills • Analytical skills
Example Google PM interview questions
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Area Example
Product design You are the PM for Google+. What killer feature would you build?
Analytical How many queries per second does Gmail get?
Strategy Why is Google Trusted Stores strategically important?
Technical Write an algorithm that detects meeting conflicts.
Behavioral Tell me a time when you influenced engineering
Warm-Up Tell me about yourself. Why Google? Why PM?
Reasons why PM candidates get dinged
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General No structure / plan Poor judgment Not composed
Product design Limited creativity
Analytical Can’t crunch numbers
CIRCLES method™
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C omprehend the Situation
I dentify the Customer
R eport the Customer’s Needs
C ut, Through Prioritization
L ist Solutions
E valuate Tradeoffs
S ummarize Your Recommendation
How to prepare
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Managing your PM Career
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The product manager career path
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Q&A
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Where to Find Me
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lewislin
@lewis_lin
Class videos
QuickSheet.co
1:1 coaching
ImpactInterview.com
PM Book
Decode and Conquer
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