I have no meetings! I thought the interview was fair and really embodied what the role of product manager is like at Microsoft, which is what I was unfamiliar with. What is one functionality you would love to have in a tech device (phone/laptop etc)? Google Product Manager interviewers are relying more on behavioral interview questions in the recent months. Sometimes I’ll block my calendar for an entire week with back to back interviews or focus groups with customers. 5 Product Marketing Manager Interview Questions and Answers . Asked me about overcoming a challenge that I learned a lot from. The process took 1 day. Interview with a Product Manager at Microsoft. I did my first round interview on campus. If you’re a hiring manager, select the interview questions based on the competencies you’re evaluating. Tell me about a time you had to influence someone. Talk to a representative customer, discover their needs. He’s got a very cool background: he’s started his own company and gone to business school amongst a lot of other things. I applied through college or university. Our best selling resources to help you ace the product manager interview. One phone interview for fit, then onsite for a day to Seattle. Absolutely! He’s got a very cool background: he’s started his own company and has gone to business school amongst a lot of other things. I set up a working session for later in the day to clarify what needs to be done. I interviewed at Microsoft. 13 % In-Person. As the name suggests, link task in MS project is … The questions I was asked are below. Prepare your resume with results-based bullet points about your experience. Follow standard interview best practices: eat at lunch, drink liquids throughout the day, don't be offensive, try to be personable, etc. What caught me off guard was the extent of the technical questions. Getting a job at Microsoft is highly competitive, which means that the interview process can be long, taking up to two months and involving several rounds. Here is the ultimate list of Problem Solving product manager interview questions and answers to prepare you for your PM job interview. I use these skills daily to be effective as a PM and an MBA is just one way to gain them. Check out my website CareerFair where you can learn about jobs by people who've done them. I would say make sure to give them time to ask you technical questions. Post a Job. I interviewed for a senior Product role in Bellevue a few years back, where the corresponding senior Program Manager explained this very issue to me in our interview. Microsoft — or — Pick a company ... Advanced The ultimate guide to the Facebook product manager interview. 4 % Getting an Interview. My technical background is important to the extent that it is a part of me. The process took 6 days. Your response will be removed from the review – this cannot be undone. --Jason Shah, former Product Manager at Yammer/Microsoft & instructor of How to Get a Job in Product Management "Impressed by Jackie and Gayle's thorough interview walkthrough, from defining your skills, to resumes and all the way to product questions. What is your approach for sizing a market to see if it might be profitable for the company? Talk about how you overcame product failures/challenges or poor feedback. While I don’t love this part of the job, I appreciate the value it provides in keeping the team on target and communicating our progress. Lewis holds a B.S. My vision document includes details on what I think are the biggest opportunities for my team to improve our product for customers. How you will develop a coffee machine product, What is the difference between C++ and Java. The process took 4 weeks. Interviews at Microsoft. Glassdoor will not work properly unless browser cookie support is enabled.Learn how to enable cookies. I enjoy when I can take that feedback along with product data to create alignment on what my team should build. PG Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning , Statistics for Data Science and Business Analysis, The elegant import button, built for your web app, The Essential Guide to Software Maintenance, 16 Valuable Lessons From My Career Transition To Product Management. Your trust is our top concern, so companies can't alter or remove reviews. What's the Microsoft PM interview process and timeline? Intellect, ability to adapt, strategy and knowledge of tech and product is all you need to become a product manager. Don't forget to connect with Felix on LinkedIn. The process took 3 weeks. This is great news! As a founder, I spent a lot of time researching, speaking to, and using products of competitors. Microsoft PM (Program Manager) Interview Guide. Lewis has a BS in Computer Science from Stanford and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Lifers are pretty … Asked me about what I was interested in. Felix is a Product Manager at Microsoft in the Azure cloud services organization. One phone interview for fit, then onsite for a day to Seattle. Create your free account to unlock your custom reading experience. The interview ended with a technical one: write a compression algorithm. But cracking product manager interviews can be tricky. More recently, Lewis was Microsoft’s director of product management. As a product manager, I don’t often get to speak to competitors or use their products directly, but I leverage any online resources I can find to learn about their products and what customers like about them. Lewis is the instructor for the class. I end the day noting my thoughts on how the data highlights the problem we are trying to solve. I interviewed at Microsoft. And at some point, you’ll need the help of others to be successful. An experienced product manager will be exploring different opportunities to … The interviewer will want to understand how your past product management experience will translate into the new position. Interview. And these things are not the essence of PM - the essence of PM is solving problems in a way that creates value for both customers and the business. The PM role provides great experience in discovering, prioritizing, and solving problems for customers. 7 Job Hunting Tips For When Businesses Aren’t Hiring, How to Write a Great Job Application Email, 4 Great Personal Statement Examples for Your CV, 6 Great Jobs You Can Get With the Help of Retraining Courses. Everyone you meet is very smart and love the work they are doing. They seemed more focused on my reasoning and process, then my actual answers. Then use your network (or build one) to get referrals into your target companies. I got an email from them about 3 days later. Going through this process will give you experience with the essence of product management. Go build something! Campus Recruiting. My MBA was extremely helpful in helping me transition from engineering, while providing a foundation of business knowledge to complement my technical background. Expect to discuss common product management topics, such as setting strategy, creating product roadmaps, managing releases, gathering ideas, and defining features. Then he asked me a product question and did a few rounds of follow-up on that. I asked the difference between pm and sde interview, interviewee said that both had the same interview in previous one or two rounds. This list is crowdsourced with interview questions submitted from the Exponent community. It’s also great to look back after a feature has been shipped and recognize the impact that has been made for customers. I reply to a few emails before my next meeting: a 15 minute stand up with the engineering team. I applied through college or university. Here’s what it looks like: At the start, I meet with my Engineering Manager (EM) counterpart for an hour. I applied through college or university. Free interview details posted anonymously by Microsoft interview candidates. They give a lot of money when you are there to enjoy yourself. What is the next number in this series? Microsoft Product Manager Interview Questions. Felix is a Product Manager at Microsoft in the Azure cloud services organization. I write a status update, include screenshots of the report, and send it to my manager and our engineering team. PMs and entrepreneurs both need to understand who their customers are. This will replace the current featured interview for this targeted profile. It's almost like a college town, but with Microsoft. Attended a Microsoft Career Event then was contacted by the recruiter after about a week. Holding a meeting with multiple stakeholders and getting to see the nods of agreement as we develop a collective vision of success is energizing. The process took 2+ months. In the hour before my next meeting, I continue my work on a new feature. We recommend using this list to prepare. September 19th 2020 403 reads @shikharfromcareerfairShikhar Sachdev. Check out: Hacking the Product Manager Interview with fmr Amazon Senior PM I contact the customer via email to provide a workaround and add a task to our team’s backlog. Read the book, “Crack the PM Interview”, and practice interview questions with an experienced product manager. I applied through college or university. Asked about my familiarity with agile frameworks. Left 10 mins to answer questions. Are you sure you want to replace it? Post a Job. The process took 1 day. Microsoft has changed how it interviews developers and engineers, and you should really hope it’s the start of a broader trend.. With what it calls an ‘alternative interview framework,’ Microsoft hopes to solve three issues with tech interviews: Tech interview questions are outdated. We review our backlog and discuss potential features to cut. Make sure you know your past projects and microsoft products. I applied through an employee referral. So you’ll have much to learn, but being a PM will definitely provide you with useful skills. I interviewed at Microsoft. Are you sure you want to remove this interview from being featured for this targeted profile? Why do you want this job and how does it fit into your overall career trajectory? Implement BFS and explain it to someone who is not familiar with the algorithm? Google is a very professional company, and as a Product Manager, you are expected to explain how you work with engineers and other kinds of technical stakeholders. Make sure you know your past projects and microsoft products. Batman. From Windows to Office to Azure to Xbox, program managers at Microsoft drive technologies that impact our everyday lives. Above average difficulty phone screening. Interview. After a mid-day break, I met with the senior hiring manager and the recruiter followed up within a few days with an offer. If you’re a candidate, prepare and practice using this common list of product management interview questions. The process took 5 weeks. The Microsoft PM interview steps: Resume, cover letter, and referrals; Phone screen (one interview) On-site (four to five interviews) Hiring committee review; You get an offer! The process took about 2-3 weeks. The MBA provided me with tools to pitch my transferable skills and a network to help me land and succeed in interviews. A definite handbook for hopeful product managers." I spoke with a manager and an employee, both of which were able to answer specific questions about the job and asked good thought provoking questions. Starting a company also requires hiring and - potentially - fundraising. I develop a combination of questions, design mocks, prototypes, and surveys, then partner with User Research, Design, Engineering, and PM peers to execute a research study. Then I got an email that I would be flown out to Seattle about 2 weeks later. The process took 2+ months. They invited me to get lunch two weeks later. I use the results of these various activities to discover the biggest challenges my customers face and add new ideas to my product roadmap and vision document. Make sure you know your past projects and microsoft products. If it is your first time in settle, you are going to be shocked by how much influence Microsoft has in the area. The company needs to know whether … In particular, I found the technical exercises to be of immense value. The recruiter was an engineer who first thought I was interviewing for the engineer position. Before Impact Interview, he led new AdWords product launches at Google. I interviewed at Microsoft. List of Product Manager Interview Questions: Behavioral Tell me about a challenging issue or challenge you took on Tell me about how you interact with customers/users? I need to provide feedback on mock-ups from our designer. ; Candidates don’t thrive in fast-paced, high-pressure scenarios. Experience 65 Ratings. Before Impact Interview, Lewis was Microsoft's Director of Product Management. Experience. 19 reviews Enroll. How would you describe our product to someone who wanted something similar, only $20 cheaper? How Are Businesses Really Treating Employees During COVID-19? I applied online. 31 % Negative. Here are our favorite product manager interview questions. One engineer has a question about a feature and I realize the requirements could use a bit more detail. Find out in this expert talk by a Microsoft Senior Product Manager. Felix is a Product Manager at Microsoft in the Azure cloud services organization. Typical behavioral questions were asked in addition to design questions and light technical questions. Couple phone screening calls, the interviewer was nice and engaging. Continue Reading. This question checks that the candidate has researched your products and knows enough to speak about them with familiarity. With close observation, you will note … He’s got a very cool background: he’s started his own company and has gone to business school amongst a lot of other things. That being said, a product manager who builds machine learning models for a social media application may need more technical skills than a product manager who builds the web interface for an e-commerce application. 22 % Employee Referral. Nov. 7 -- Former Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer gives "Bloomberg Studio 1.0" host Emily Chang one of his brain teaser interview questions. On average it takes four to eight weeks to get an offer, but it can sometimes take longer. Copyright © 2008–2020, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. The phone interview asked a variety of behavioral questions/projects, and then technical and product questions. I applied through college or university. I had the chance to ask him some questions about his job. Everyone was friendly and nice. SEE ALSO: Product Manager Interview Questions & Answers. That interview was behavioral as well. Your feedback has been sent to the team and we'll look into it. On a typical day, I communicate with both technical and non-technical teammates, go deep on technical discussions to unblock my team, and perform data analysis to measure success. We decide on a new timeline and agree that the project is not significantly at risk. The Interview Process. Make sure you know something about Microsoft and the PM role, and ideally something about the product you're interviewing for. Gave a good description of the role and what is expected from the individual hired. And before you start building, think carefully about how you’ll measure success. I leave some comments and set up a meeting with the designer to review the final decision. You can also read case studies about tech careers. 20 % More. I may spend the day refining my specs, scheduling talks with customers and planning our roadmap. Project management! As a PM you’ll need to work with them all at some point. The phone interview asked a variety of behavioral questions/projects, and then technical and product questions. They described a theoretical marketing situation that a person in the position might actually face and asked how I would approach handling the situation. Series of one on one interview, starting with the recruiter. I also schedule a meeting for the following week to get feedback from engineers and other PMs on the team. 52 % Neutral. I interviewed at Microsoft (La Jolla, CA (US)) in January 2019. Prior to Microsoft, he worked at Google, leading new AdWords product launches. Positive. It feels good when I’m reviewing customer feedback and the comments express gratitude for my feature and how it helped them. He started by asking me about my previous experience and a few questions about how I led the team/communicated with engineers, etc. Did not ask anything about resume or projects. Your product marketing manager will be in charge of really understanding the products that your company has to offer and how they can be most effectively sold to customers. I applied online. Had the first interview with an Assistant Manager then had the second interview with the Store Manager. Core Product Questions: 1. It feels good when I get to talk to customers and we reach an understanding about how my product can serve them better. Microsoft Product Management Interview Questions Premium Content. I applied online. This often involves tracking bugs, and features in backlog management software as well as writing status reports for my team and partners. I love working with people and building consensus. As a founder you’ll need to perform some if not all of these functions yourself, especially in the early stages. Recruiter. I had the chance to ask him some questions about his job. Additionally, the MBA taught me how to analyze business opportunities, develop business strategies, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams. The program management team bridges the technical and business worlds, as they guide ideas from conception to launch. I had my first experience running focus groups for my startup and I’ve executed several more since becoming a product manager. I interviewed at Microsoft (Princeton, NJ (US)) in October 2018. one technical design question. I hope you enjoyed reading this interview. Product Management Exercises played a crucial role in I finding my dream job as a Principal PM with Microsoft. It was very fun! Our target is 50% adoption within 3 months and 90% ratings of at least 4 star ratings. To wrap up my day, I review a PowerBI dashboard that displays usage data for a feature we released 3 weeks ago. I agree to get customer feedback to revise our prioritized list of work if necessary. My MBA program helped guide me through the resume preparation, interview practice, and networking process. ... How to Ace the Microsoft Program Manager Interview (First Edition) $79 Technical Concepts for Non-Technical Product Management & Marketing Candidates (First Edition) $79 Sold Out. I would recommend PME to anyone preparing for their product management interview. I had mostly been studying for design at this point. 39 % Applied Online. I interviewed at Microsoft. 69 Interview Reviews. Please describe the problem with this {0} and we will look into it. Without an MBA program, all these things are possible, it will just take some persistence. ... Microsoft Product Manager Interview Questions. Product Manager Interview Questions; 7 Product Manager Interview Questions and Answers . Every day is different, but I generally spend my time doing one of three things: The role is highly collaborative so I’m constantly partnering with Engineering, Design, and PM colleagues. Another common question that is frequently asked during product manager interviews is “How would you improve X product? Had one on Campus at my university and another one in person in Settle. After I finish the meeting to clarify the work discussed during standup, I write some SQL queries to gather data to support another feature I’ve been working on. A lot of behavioral questions. Interview. The more you know the better. An experienced product manager will recognize early that the are not going to meet their deadlines. I interviewed at Microsoft (Seattle, WA (US)) in November 2018. Use this curated list of questions to help you prepare for PM interviews, and to maximize your chances of earning a job offer. Previously published at https://www.careerfair.io/reviews/interview-with-a-product-manager-at-microsoft. The other team explains that there will be a two week delay because some higher priority work came up. Finally, both require effective communication with various disciplines. As you're building it, resist the urge to start with the end product. 17 % Getting an Interview 69 Interview Reviews. Also read: Top 7 Ways to Discover a Great Place to Work. Over 50 common product manager interview questions from top tech companies, like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft. Uber Product Manager Interview Questions. 10 reviews Enroll. Continue Reading. Explain what is link task in MS project used for? A business exists to create value for customers. I interviewed at Microsoft (Seattle, WA (US)) in March 2020. Overview Interview Stages Sample Questions Hiring Decision Tips and Strategies. On days like this I like to do big picture thinking and develop the vision for my feature area based on new market research or customer feedback. I met with them a recruiting event on campus. The phone interview asked a variety of behavioral questions/projects, and then technical and product questions. If someone is comfortable learning from and communicating with the technical stakeholders involved in product development, they can succeed. Would you like us to review something? Asked algorithm question. It might be apparent when testing is failing, when sprints are not completing on time, or when UX design is falling behind. she would always follow up with deeper questions. 1.1 What interviews to expect Here's a list of common product management (PM) interview questions asked by Microsoft. Instead, focus on what problem you are solving and why. Both also need to understand the market and the competition. in computer science from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Lyft Product Manager Interview Questions. One phone interview for fit, then onsite for a day to Seattle. The recruiter did not give me feedback at the end and seemed to want to grill me very hard on my technical knowledge. Got an email about a week and a half later saying I have been picked up by a team to be interviewed. We discuss our roadmap and realize we may need to cut a couple features because some work took longer than we planned. He asked some basic questions relate to my work history, background, and the reasoning for my interest in this role. All behavioral questions. 40 Microsoft Senior Product Manager interview questions and 35 interview reviews. In a big company there are many specialized roles: design, engineering, marketing, sales, legal, research. Next, my EM and I meet with a team we are partnering with to deliver a feature in a couple months. Straightforward and transparent. Each PM has a different style and mine is based on my blend of technical and business experience. Here are 34 Product manager interview questions to prepare you for your next interview. Intermediate Amazon interview course: from A to Z. 40% of users have adopted the feature and 95% of user surveys are at least 4 out of 5 stars. Good communication and scheduling. We discuss the current status of work in progress. Without this work it would be difficult to manage all of my responsibilities. 4, 6, 12, 18, 30, 42, 60, ? This is obvious, right? Glassdoor has millions of jobs plus salary information, company reviews, and interview questions from people on the inside making it easy to find a job that’s right for you. The options look great! Advanced The ultimate guide to the Google product manager interview. Before my next meeting, I review customer feedback and notice there’s a bug in one of my features. What It’s Really Like to Work at Some of the World’s Most Iconic Brands, 8 Companies Offering Seriously Good Financial Benefits, Product Manager Salaries in City of London, 10 UK Jobs Where You Can Earn More Than £65,000, The 25 Highest Paying Companies in the UK for 2019, 10 Highest Paying Entry-Level Jobs in the UK, The Best Questions to Ask at an Interview, According to a Hiring Manager, 5 Keys to Preparing for a Competency-Based Interview, Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET), Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) II. I had a couple of initial screening interviews, followed by a long day of on campus interviews. If you already have experience like this, great! On an average day, I’ll have at least 3 meetings. Took 30 mins in all. Product management is one of those things you have to learn by doing, so go build something, anything, for someone else. How to output a tree in column sequence from left to right. Assessing Your Fitness For the Role.