3 Ways to differentiate from other PM interview candidates ?

One of the questions that I was asked recently in regards to interview training I have been conducting is around differentiating yourself from other candidates in an interview. In my opinion, this is requires minimum efforts but pays dividends beyond your interview.

Prepare on a problem

This has a simple starting point. If you are lets say applying as a Product Manager for LinkedIn and if you are familiar with the product, you can easily come up with one or two things that should be improved. For e.g. Linkedin's Feed. You could explore a few ways Linkedin's feed could be improved. Ideas you explore could be from other social networking app or something specific that adds value to a small segment of users. For e.g. linkedin feed for sales or recruiters could be very different from the rest of the users. Brainstorming, wireframing and building a few prototypes to test out the features would set you apart in the interview discussion. During interviews, you can walk through either your presentation or prototypes would definitely set you apart from others who either did not spend time on the product have relatively little understanding of the product compared to you!

Become a Subject Matter Expert through conference presentations, papers or blogs.

Nothing gives you more credibility than having a presence online and you have users that are already reviewing your site/blog or have attended your event. I recently presented at Google IO and IoT World in Amsterdam. Both gave me exposure to companies/people in this field as well as connect me to future opportunities.

Website/Personal projects

Website or personal projects helps interviewer see your past projects, interests as well as areas you are excited about. This helps build a 360 view of your experience and accomplishments. You could gets started on this using webflow.com or https://www.squarespace.com/ within 1 to 2 days.

Give this is a try on your next interview. Signup at www.pmacademy.co