Google PM Leader
“ I’ll be honest: I’ve seen a lot of product management interviews where things went south, not because the candidate lacked skills, but because of subtle but critical mistakes. These mistakes can happen to the best of us, even with plenty of experience. ”
Let’s be real.
The Product Management job market can feel like a brutal battleground, especially with the volatility we’ve seen recently.
You’re not just competing against a few people; you’re up against hundreds of candidates for a single role.
Just to give you an idea, one person shared their experience going through 61 different interviews across 20 companies in just six weeks.
That’s intense!
So, how do you cut through the noise and stand out?
So let’s first discuss Mistakes to avoid, and then we will see the step-by-step method of how to prepare and the resource you can follow for the same.
Mistakes to Avoid
1. Missing the Big Picture & Strategic Thinking
Imagine you get a question like — How would you improve Spotify
Questions by Rest 99%
What is the Goal of Improving Spotify? What are we trying to achieve from this?
Are we improving Spotify for a particular type of Device like Mobile or Desktop? Any specific geography?
Is there any Resource Constraint in terms of Technology / Monetary or any Time Constraint I should be aware of?
Questions by the top 1%
What is the goal of Improving Spotify, as Spotify is a very big Product having verticals like Music, Podcast etc? So Are we trying to improve any specific vertical maybe podcast, given the rising popularity of podcasts across the Globe? Is it about improving Discoverability, improving user retention etc?
Is there any particular Customer Segment are targeting like (Audio) Content Creators or Content Consumers? Given the rise of Generative AI, it has become more easy to produce content. So Are we thinking of improving from Creator’s Perspective or Consumers’ Perspective or may be advertisers?
See the depth of questions and strategic thinking ( not asking questions just for the sake of asking it ) — If you want to check the Proven method of how to ask questions like the Top 1%, you can follow this
If you want to learn step by step method to crack this — Download this
2. Rambling Without a Clear Point
Ever been halfway through explaining a solution only to realize you’re lost in your own explanation?
It happens a lot in interviews.
You get excited, launch into a stream of thoughts, and before you know it, you’ve spent five minutes talking without landing on a clear point.
It’s frustrating for you — and for the interviewer, who might be wondering if you can present your ideas concisely.
Practice the “STARL” (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Learning) method. Structure your answer by first explaining the context (Situation), then what needed to be done (Task), followed by what you actually did (Action), and finally, the outcome (Result). Also, finally end the answer with what you learn.
3. Not using FIRST Principle Thinking and using Old Age Frameworks
Imagine a simple-looking question — Improve Twitter for Blind People
Candidate 1 — Why do we want to improve? What metrics are we optimising for, etc, etc?
These are surface-level questions that you might have seen in some YouTube video.
The world has moved beyond that, it’s 2025 — It’s time for First Principle thinking and Critical Problem solving thinking and First
First it’s important to see Why People even use Twitter ? If we have to improve Twitter for Blind People, what aspect we need to take care of ?
Another Example
Imagine a simple-looking question — Design a Birthday app
This looks like an easy question, but many people freeze while answering this question.
They just start rambling and not thinking from the first principle
The top 1% of the Candidates will think this way
First Principle Breakdown of the problem
You need to break down the problem using first-principle thinking.
If you don’t do it, you might miss a lot of important points like employers celebrating employee birthdays, and the Brand celebrating customers’ birthdays, correct? If you don’t break it down, it will be really difficult to answer like the top 1%
How to Prepare?
1. The 15 Product Exercise
Pick 15 diverse products (media, e-commerce, etc.) and spend 4–6 hours writing about each.
Imagine you’re the PM — what would you build? This helps you develop mental models for different markets.
Share your work with friends and get their input.
2. Sharpen Your Analytical Thinking
Measure Success: How would you measure the success of Reddit or Google Search?
Decision-Making with Data: Practice different types of analytical questions. What if a key metric is down? What option do you choose based on the data?
Write It Down: Focus on writing out your answers, not just saying them.
3. Master Interview Communication
Think, Then Speak: Separate thinking time from speaking time. Take a moment to gather your thoughts before launching into an answer.
Interlace Thinking and Speaking: “I’m going to think about the target audience… [pause] …Okay, the target audience is…”. This makes it easier for the interviewer to follow your thought process.
Practice Under Pressure: Shrink those 4-hour exercises into 30-minute sprints to simulate interview conditions. Introduce “antagonistic behaviour” — ask friends to push you with tough follow-up questions.
4. Doing the “Homework”
So, you’re doing your 4-hour deep dive into Uber, but how do you know if you’re on the right track?
Read Company Investor Report: Uber’s Investor Report is “fantastic” for understanding their strategy, use cases and challenges.
Listen to Founder/CEO Interviews: Hear how leaders like Zuckerberg and Amazon’s CEO think about their businesses.
Remember: Frameworks are just checklists. The real value lies in understanding the business.
Resources
Crack PM Interview Like top 1% ( Top Rated PM Interview Prep Course ) — Download Here
About Me
Hey, I’m Shailesh Sharma! I help PMs and business leaders excel in Product, Strategy, and AI using First Principles Thinking.
For more, check out my Live cohort course, PM Interview Mastery Course, Cracking Strategy, and other Resources
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