Behavioural Questions - [Product Manager Interview]

Article Highlights

• Use stories to connect and influence your interviewer
• When answering behavioral questions use the STAR format to tell your story
• Have a story prepared ahead of any interview for the most common behavioral questions

One of the hardest things about interviewing is balancing a need to show off your qualifications and make a connection with your interviewer. The best way to accomplish both is to tell a story.

Especially for behavioral questions, a story is a powerful device that gives your interviewer greater context and understanding of a situation. They’re also more memorable and meaningful than generic statements.

Common PM Behavioural Questions

I recommend the STAR format as an effective structure for answering these types of questions. STAR stands for:

• Situation?—?Set the scene and give necessary context to your example
• Task?—?Describe what your responsibility was in that situation
• Action?—?Explain exactly what steps you took to solve the problem
• Result?—?Share quantifiable and qualitative outcomes your actions achieved. Supplement this with learnings you’ve realized.

Behavioral Scenario and Questions:

• Success Story?—?Tell me about the most successful project you’ve done
• Failure Story?—?Have you ever worked on something really hard and then failed?
• Meeting Requirements Story?—?How do you ensure standards are met when delivering projects?
• User Empathy Story?—?How do you show your customer obsession? How do you understand the customer’s needs?
• User Delight Story?—?How do you wow your customers?
• Overcoming a Challenge Story?—?Talk about how you overcame product failures/challenges or poor feedback.
• Conflict Story?—?One executive says that Feature A is more important and another executive says Feature B is more important. How do you choose which one to implement?
• Influence Story?—?Tell me about a time you had to influence someone. Tell me about a time when you had to build or motivate a team. How do you handle underperforming employees?
• Complex Project Story?—?Tell me about your most complex project and how you managed to deliver it on time and budget.
• Product Launch Story?—?Tell me how you brought a product to market, give specific details.
• Innovation Story?—?What is the most innovative idea you’ve ever had?
• Using Data Story?—?Tell me about a time you used data to make a decision.
• Using Qualitative Analysis Story?—?Tell me about a time you didn’t have quantifiable data and had to make a decision.
• Goals Story?—?How do you set and meet goals?

The 4-step process for being prepared for any behavior interview

1. Know the 14 most common behavior interview scenarios
2. Think of a past experience that addresses each scenario
3. Draft a write-up of a past experience for each of these scenarios using the STAR format
4. Rehearse for sharpness and posterity

Sample Questions

• Tell me about a time you had a major disagreement with your manager/employee and how you overcame it.
• How do you set and meet goals?
• What is your leadership style?
• What leadership style do you prefer in your leader?
• What skills were missing in your team that you helped develop?
• What leadership skills did you develop in the past year?
• Tell me about a time when you had to persuade other leaders towards a goal/project.
• How do you handle underperforming employees?
• What was a difficult decision you had to make as a leader, and how did you arrive at that decision?
• Tell me about your most complex project and how you managed to deliver it on time and budget.
• What’s more important, consensus or doing things your style?
• How do you stay informed of all your products and customers?