Bootstrap your PM job search with this guide
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After being laid off earlier this year, I spent April and May in full job search mode. Many interviews later, I recently joined Facebook as a product manager. With 42 million Americans filing for unemployment over the last few months, I thought it might be good to share some tips and tools I used during my job search while it's all fresh in my mind. I hope this is helpful and good luck with your search!
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How to use this doc
I recommend using this document as a resource. It's not a guide that guarantees any kind of outcome. My hope is that this helps you create a basic working mental model of one way to structure your job search. I encourage you to use what resonates and discard the rest.
The sections in this doc roughly follow the chronological "happy path" of a full job search cycle: preparing → finding roles → getting in the door → phone screens → onsites → meeting hiring manager → offer. Each section in this doc will include relevant tips and tools that I found helpful for that stage.
Over the two months of my search, I went through the full cycle continuously; I was interviewing with 3-5 companies at any given point in my search. I was always engaged in a mixture of preparation, discovery, seeking intros, having phone screens, etc.
Rather than seeing my search as a linear progression from one step to the next, I treated it as a collection of individual processes with companies, each of which followed a linear progression.
Some caveats
- Everything in this doc is solely based on my own personal experience. What worked for me might not work for you. Treat my experience as simply one more data point.
- Since I only interviewed for product manager roles, this document is heavily skewed towards the product management job search. That said, I hope much of this doc will be useful for people interviewing for other positions as well.
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Table of Contents
I. Before you start ?????♂?
II. Identifying Roles ?????♂?
III. Getting in the Door ????
IV. Phone Screens ??
V. Onsites ??
VI. Meeting Hiring Managers ??
VII. Offer ??
Appendix: PM Question Bank ??
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I. Before you start ?????♂?
This section is all about setting up your environment and tooling for the search, as well as getting your head right. Job searching is like a marathon or a long backcountry hiking trip. The more you prepare, the better the outcome.
A. Tools
1) Create a Tracker
To keep track of all the opportunities in one place, I created a global search tracker in Google Sheets. My search sheet had two sections:
- In progress
- Not good fit
Each row within a section represented an opportunity and had three columns:
- Company Name
- Role
- Status
The Status column had multiple lines, one for each step in the process. I used the following emoji system to visually represent the status of each step:
- ?? = step pending
- ? = step complete
- ?? = step when I or the company passed
- ?? = step when offer came in
The benefit of this system is that I always had a “source of truth” overview of all the companies I was talking to, progress so far, and next steps. Each time a process would end, I moved the row for that opportunity to the Not good fit section. As a result, I always had a live view of the opportunities in progress.
B. Tips
1) Resume
No surprise here... you'll need to get your resume in order to apply for jobs! I recommend keeping it to one page. Mine has the following:
- Header: name, phone, email, city
- About: 2 line summary
- Work: each role I list has company name, city, dates, bullet points with highlights (past tense)
- Side project: share any key side projects that highlight your love for building products
- Education: degree, school, graduation year
- Interests & Hobbies: I listed a series of emojis that represent things I like (good for convo starters in an interview)
If you want to take a look at my resume, I shared it in the original post in Notion.
2) Social Links
Beyond your resume, you'll also want to get your social links cleaned up and ready to share. I had the following lined up for all my applications:
- LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/benerez
- Personal Site: www.benerez.com (created using https://carrd.co)
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/viableben
- Newsletter: https://benerez.substack.com (created using https://substack.com)
3) Compensation Research
Before you start your search, I recommend doing some online research on various sites including Glassdoor and Levels.fyi to see what a reasonable compensation package might look like for the roles you're interviewing for. For PM roles, there's a large variation in what you can expect based on the stage of the company and their financial position. More on how to respond to comp questions in section IV: Phone Screens.
4) Timeframe
I went into the search with a target timeframe of starting my job within a couple months. I wasn't going to rush into the wrong job but I also didn't want to spend six months looking for a job. Having a 2-3 month timeframe in mind helped me put each interview in the perspective of my broader search. It's good to have an idea for how fast you're looking to make a decision.
5) Mindset
Getting your head right going into a job search - and keeping your head right throughout the search - is key to success. Being in a good headspace will make people want to spend more time with you.
Some thoughts on this:
- If you haven't interviewed in a while, I suggest getting the rust off early by interviewing for some roles you might not be super excited about. Once the rust is off, walk away from an opportunity as soon as you know it won’t be a good fit. Invest all your energy into the companies you're actually interested in joining.
- Rejection is hard. I was able to keep my morale high by keeping 3-5 companies in my pipeline at any given time. This made dealing with rejection easier because I always had another interview coming up. If I didn't have interviews coming up, my morale would go down. Opening doors always made me feel better. I also reminded myself constantly: success isn't getting an offer - success is finding good fit! Rejection is simply a sign of poor mutual fit.
- Since the goal is finding mutual fit, it's important to be authentic and honest throughout the search. Misrepresenting my experience, interest, or skills throughout the process would only interfere with my ability to find mutual fit that will set me up for success.
- Many startups didn't know exactly what they're looking for. I was one of the people who helped them figure out what they wanted. Their lack of clarity was on them. I didn't take it personally.
- A company’s recruitment process is a glimpse into how the company operates internally. Keep an eye out for red flags throughout.
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II. Identifying Roles ?????♂?
With resume and social links in good shape, a sense for a competitive target compensation package, an ideal timeframe, a healthy mindset, and a global tracker - you’re ready to start identifying roles!
A. Tools
1) Ben Jackson's tips for leveraging Google to find roles
Ben Jackson from FTW wrote a great post with tips for finding roles through Google search. I believe this is the search query I pasted in the search bar in Google to find some PM openings in SF/remote which were posted after March 1st.
("Product Manager" OR "Senior Product Manager") (site:boards.greenhouse.io OR "gh_jid" OR site:jobs.lever.co) ("San Francisco" OR "Remote") after:2020-03-01
2) AngelList Jobs & A-List
I was looking for roles on AngelList throughout my search and also enrolled in A-List, which introduced me to some companies along the way.
3) Hired
I published my profile on Hired, which meant that dozens of companies saw my information and decided whether they wanted to meet me or not.
4) LinkedIn Jobs
LinkedIn has a ton of jobs in the job search portal. I set up alerts and would get a daily digest of all Product Manager and Senior Product Manager roles available on the platform. Was a great way to keep a passive pulse on new jobs.
B. Tips
1) Ask VCs & Investors about their portfolio co's
Investors have portfolios of companies and sometimes the timing lines up that one of their companies is looking for a PM right when I'm looking to make a move. It's a good avenue to explore in tandem with the other streams of work.
2) Look at the careers page of every company or product you like
I looked through my iPhone, iPad and Mac and wrote down every app I like using. I then went to their websites and looked for jobs/careers that matched my interests and skills.
3) Re-connect with your network
Put feelers out in your network and catch up with people you've worked with in the past. Let them know your situation and give them a summary of the kind of role that would be ideal for you. Doing this will open some doors because every person you talk to is also constantly hearing about other roles in their network.
4) Choose roles that play to your strength
There are a lot of interesting roles out there. In my experience, you'll have more success with roles that leverage your unique background and skills. For example, if you've worked on software for automotive tech companies for the last few years, you'll likely see better results with automotive tech companies.
5) Pick companies based on the type of PM they need
If you're joining a brand new startup that's hiring their 1st PM, that'll be very different than joining an established company with dozens - or hundreds - of PMs. When evaluating roles, keep in mind the likely day-to-day expectations of the role and figure out if that's aligned with what you want to be doing.
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III. Getting in the Door ????
When you find a role you’re interested in, the next step is figuring out how to get in the door. You can always cold-apply for jobs, but with the large amount of job applicants today, you'll need a way to have your resume stand out from the pile. The best way to do that is to have someone on the inside be on the lookout for your application.
A. Tools
1) LinkedIn Connections
If there's a role you're interested in, go to the company's LinkedIn page and then go to Employees. See if you have any 1st or 2nd degree connections. For 1st degree, you can message them directly with a link to the opening and ask if they'd be willing to chat with you about the company more before putting in a referral. For 2nd degree, you can browse the mutual connection and see if any are close enough to pass along a note.
2) Have an email draft for asking people to pass along a note
Some of the people who helped me the most were those who passed along a note to someone who was in a position to help me. To make this easy, I had an email template that I would personalize for each of these.
B. Tips
1) Leverage 1st and 2nd degree connections
See #1 point in section above this one.
2) Have a clear ask
Always have a clear ask. If you want a referral for a job - say it. If you want an introduction to a recruiter - say it. They're not obligated to help, but if they do want to help, make sure they're clear on how they can help. Asking people to catch up if you already know how they can help is taking the long route. This isn't the same as the my earlier catch up advice when you're looking to source opportunities in general.
3) Thank people and keep them in the loop
If anyone helps me, I make it a point to keep them in the loop throughout the process. Similarly, when I help people I start to feel invested in their journey and it means a lot when they let me know how things go. We all like to know where a story ends up!
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IV. Phone Screens ??
If there's potentially a match with a company, they'll schedule an initial introduction call. In my experience, these are usually simple 15-30 minute calls with a recruiter or sourcer at the company. These calls generally start with the recruiter wanting to hear about your story and what you're looking for next.
A. Tools
1) Blurb
Practice a 2 minutes blurb about your career journey that covers the main highlights and rationale for making moves (they can dig more if they're interested).
2) What you're looking for
Write down 3 bullet points for what you’re looking for next (mission, career growth, exciting day-to-day work). Be clear with what you’re looking for. Sounding lost is worse than sounding opinionated. Be prepared to personalize every bullet point to tie it to the company you're speaking with.
Example: I'm looking for (1) impact (2) career growth (3) interesting day-to-day work.
3) Questions for company
Write down a couple high-level questions that you think the recruiter might enjoy answering.
Examples:
- What's your favorite part of working at ___ ?
- What does ____ do as a company that is entirely unique to your culture?
- What surprised you the most about joining ____ ?
B. Tips
1) Smile
Be personable and smile while you're on the call, even if there's no video. They'll hear it in your voice and it'll make the conversation smoother. Recruiters are usually very talkative and social so they'll appreciate your energy. If the interview starts feeling like a casual conversation, that's a good sign.
2) Ask the recruiter about the role
Most of the time when I asked recruiters "do you know what the roadmap looks like for the next six months?" or something like that, they'd say they don't know. I would ask a similar question in several different ways to make sure I get all the context the recruiter has around the opening.
3) Be yourself
In my experience, this round is fairly straightforward. it's just a preliminary gate for people who can't hold on a simple conversation. Keep it simple and don't try to be overly impressive. Just be authentic and natural.
4) Don't provide a salary range
If they ask about compensation expectation, don't say a number. Say you'll consider all reasonable offers. If they insist on a number, tell them that they can name a number and you'll be happy to let them know if it's within your range. The main rationale for this is that you don't want to negotiate against yourself. Let them name the first number. They'll be very persistent so you'll need to stay strong on this one.
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V. Onsites ??
Once you pass the phone screen you'll usually have another call with someone (for me 2nd rounds were mostly with PMs or hiring managers). After the 2nd round, the next step will likely be a virtual onsite. For me, these were anywhere from 4-6 calls with people who are each covering different areas.
I'm combining the 2nd round into this section of the doc because I believe the advice from onsite applies to 2nd round calls too. If your 2nd round is with a hiring manager, the tips in section VI will apply to that call.
Typically, the people you meet in PM onsites will be from engineering, design, management, product and often also include stakeholders like marketing or customer support. Here's an example onsite schedule with one of the startups I interviewed with:
A. Tools
1) Prepare with YouTube videos
I watched lots of YouTube interviews by Exponent and took notes to develop the muscle of answering questions in real time (scroll to the PM Question Bank appendix at the bottom of the doc for more info). I highly recommend doing this.
2) Stick to frameworks
Have a framework for each type of question you can encounter and create interview templates on a notepad that you’ll then use during the interview. It'll help you focus on the content without worrying about the structure. Watching 5-6 of the YouTube interviews by Exponent will definitely help you put together a structured answer for questions. Hint: most questions have a recipe you can follow.
3) What you're looking for
You'll be asked what you're looking for in your next role. Write down 3 bullet points for what you’re looking for next (mission, career growth, exciting day-to-day work). Be clear with what you’re looking for. Sounding lost is worse than sounding opinionated. Be prepared to personalize every bullet point to this company.
B. Tips
1) Try to split up the onsite
If possible, split up the onsite into multiple days. Some onsite are 4-5 hours long and exhausting. I wrote about how to split up the onsite interview here in a separate essay.
2) Ask clarifying questions
The first thing I recommend doing when getting asked a question is to ask thoughtful clarifying questions.
For example, if I asked you how would you improve Notion? you'd be wise to start by asking me whether we have any specific goals and user segments in mind. Once you've asked clarifying questions, take time to gather your thoughts and drive onwards. Again, the best tips for how to do this is to watch the YouTube interviews by Exponent. I can't recommend those videos enough.
3) State your assumptions
State any assumptions you make as you go. Ideally, list them and gauge the response from the interviewer as you make each assumption. Think out loud as you list these and share rationale for each one. If an interviewer digs into an assumption, don't just skip over it. They might be trying to signal to you that an assumption might be off the mark. Spend time to get the interviewer to agree with the assumptions you make.
4) Check in
Check in with interviewer throughout the interview to confirm they’re onboard with where you’re going. The interviewer will appreciate that you're keeping the conversation interactive and will be more likely to help you reach the desired outcome. The key here is not to ask the interviewer where to go next, but rather to tell them where you want to go next and ask if that sounds good to them.
5) Nudging is normal
If you have 45 minutes together to cover 2 questions, you don't want to be at the 35 minute mark and not finished with the first question. Really good interviewers will nudge you along to get the signal they need. Don't take it as a sign that you're doing poorly if the interviewer keeps you on track and interrupts you. The right response to a nudge is "thank you".
6) Have a quiet environment with good lighting
I took all audio and video calls from a quiet room in my apartment. For video calls, it's also important to have good lighting. You want the interviewer to see you clearly. It makes it easier to relate. Being a blurry shadow makes it harder for nonverbal cues to come through.
7) Ask non-Google-able questions
When asking an interviewer a question, I only asked questions I couldn't Google with a criteria that this person would be uniquely positioned to answer it. For example, how a PM likes to involve their design and engineering partners in roadmapping is something that can probably be best answered by them specifically. Or "what are you most excited about in the next quarter?"
8) Probe the recruiter beforehand
I highly recommend asking the recruiter before the onsite for a full rundown of the schedule, what you'll speak with each person about, how they like to communicate, etc. The goal is not being surprised by anything during the interviews. This isn't cheating, it's proactive preparation.
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VI. Meeting Hiring Managers ??
Hiring managers generally have the ultimate decision in who to hire. They're usually - but not always - the person who will be directly managing you once you fill the role. So these conversations are important two-way interviews where you really want to get a good feel for the working dynamic before starting to work for this person.
A. Tools
No new tools I can think of for this round.
All prior tools should be kept in mind, especially this one: write down 3 bullet points for what you’re looking for next (mission, career growth, exciting day-to-day work). Be clear with what you’re looking for. Sounding lost is worse than sounding opinionated. Be prepared to personalize every bullet point to this company.
B. Tips
1) Don't ask intentionally tough questions
If you have "tough" questions, don't ask them until you have an offer. Meeting a hiring manager is like a first date. You want to make them feel positively when they talk to you. You can still learn a lot about the role without asking extra hard questions. Once you have an offer, you can ask to schedule a follow up and pose any questions you held back in the intro call.
2) Ask these three questions
When meeting a hiring manager, have three questions ready.
- A question that makes them smile. Example: "can you tell me about something you're super excited about in the next few months?"
- A question about how you’ll work together to get onboarded. This will already start to get you talking like colleagues. Example: "can you give me a sense for how we'll work together during the first few weeks after I join?"
- A question about the role's expectations. Example: "what would insane success in this role look like?"
3) Be genuinely interested
You've made it this far in the process for a reason. It could actually be a good fit! Show up with genuine excitement and interest in the role. Imagine working together. Be vulnerable and authentic. The goal is to be real, humble and impressive.
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VII. Offer ??
Congratulations! You made it to the offer stage. The end of the search is near. But this is no time to become complacent. The last mile of the marathon is critical. You need to finish strong because the end of the interview process is the beginning of the new employee onboarding process. How you finish one part will set the tone for how you start the next.
A. Tools
The offer stage should be mostly covered by the Tips section below ????
B. Tips
1) Ask for their best offer up front
Generally speaking, companies will not lead with their best offer. If you like the company, ask for their best offer and tell them you're excited to join and want to move fast. This should save unnecessary back and forth.
2) Clarify unknowns in the offer
You need to understand the offer fully. Know the salary, bonuses and the value of the equity package. If you're joining a startup that is offering you options, ask what % of the outstanding shares the grant represents. 10k options out of 1mm outstanding shares gives you a very different ownership stake than 10k options out of 10mm outstanding shares.
3) Think on it for 24 hours
Sleep on it at least one night after receiving the final offer. In the past I've responded to offers the same day or even on the same call. I've learned that it's better to take at least 24 hours to think about it before responding. This reduces the risk that emotion will cloud your judgement and choice of words.
4) Talk to your prospective manager
Set up time with your prospective manager to ask any burning questions you might have. If your manager is the same person you met during the hiring manager interview, you'll most likely not need this step. Sometimes the hiring manager is different than the person you'll be reporting to. In those cases, I'd strongly suggest meeting your direct manager before accepting an offer.
5) Share any competing offers
If you have multiple competing offers, let both companies know. This will move the process along and potentially play to your benefit if it creates a competitive bidding dynamic.
6) Be decisive
Once you have all the necessary information and have answered all of your questions, make a decision. Don't drag it out unnecessarily. It's the professional and respectful thing to do.
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???? Major thanks to Sean Linehan, Maoz Friedman, Clint Masterson, and Charlie Horton for reviewing drafts of this post.
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Appendix: PM Question Bank ??
Getting ready for interviews is a lot about practice. Journaling responses to the behavioral questions and working through the estimation, execution, technical and product sense questions on paper is highly recommended.
A. Estimation
There are a couple good mock interviews on YouTube you can watch for the below links.
- How many hours do people spend stopped at traffic lights per year?
- Let's say Google gives everyone who buys a Pixel phone free photo storage for one year. How much money will that cost?
B. Product Sense
There are some good mock interviews on YouTube you can watch for the below links.
C. Execution
- What are three technologies that will make a big impact on humanity in the next 10 years? Pick one and talk about how you would price it, bring it to market, etc.
- Let’s say you’re the PM for Google Street View. Which geo would you expand to? And what product changes would be needed to do that?
- Let's say you're the PM responsible for account creation at a large social network. You see the largest drop-off in your funnel on the mandatory profile photo upload step. Should you keep it mandatory?
D. Technical
There's a good mock interviews on YouTube you can watch for the below link.
- Let's say you're working with schools to write software that determines when to suspend a student. If suspension can be caused by either (1) 3 days in a row of being late to class or (2) 2 total instances of being absent from class, write a function that determines whether a student should be suspended.
- How does Google Docs work?
E. Behavioral
- Tell me about a time you had to make a technical tradeoff and how you decided.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with an executive.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with an engineer.
- Tell me about a time when you had to earn the trust of your team and how you did so?
- Tell me about one of your biggest failures and what you learned from it.
- Tell me about some tough feedback you’ve received.
- What’s a time when you had to give tough feedback to someone? How’d you handle it?
- What’s a project you’re really proud of?
- Is consensus a good thing?
- What's the difference between leadership and management?
F. Lots more
This website has a ton of great PM interview questions and written responses from the community along with critiques and feedback from fellow PMs: https://www.productmanagementexercises.com
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