I'm in no way an expert on this subject, so consider these notes to myself. If I ever decide to take a new job, these are some of the things I'd like to discuss before saying "yes" to new adventures. Maybe you as a reader can benefit from some of them 🙌
Why You Should "Interview Up" As A Product Manager
Interviewing up allows you to uncover things you wouldn't have uncovered until you started the job. That's not ideal.
The opportunity cost - the cost of taking a wrong job over a better one - is simply too high to not ask at least a handful of these questions before signing any contract.
Interviewing up is not just for Product Managers. It's something everyone should do. But since I've worked as a PM (Product Manager) and Ecommerce Manager, this post zooms in on things you need to uncover in those roles.
Uncovering these things is not only for the sake of the PM. It also shows that you come prepared and interested in succeeding in the position.
I've had a horrible, a mediocre, and a great manager at the 3 places I've worked (not in that order). The things I mention below are 1) things I've learned during the different jobs that I should've asked beforehand and 2) things that my managers asked me that I didn't think of myself.
Finding The Right Manager
Unless you're the first product hire, you'll likely be hired by the person you'll report to. Before applying for a job, do yourself the favour and research your (potential) future manager.
During that research, you should be able to answer questions like:
Have they had previous roles where they also led product or some part of a product?
Have they managed other people before or is this their first leadership position?
How many people have they managed before?
Do the products they've managed seem to have been successful?
Hopefully, you get the point.
You can research plenty of things before applying for a job and I'd argue that finding a manager who's done what you intend to do, will fast-track you to a lot more (useful) experience than just applying to whatever job listings mention Product Management.
Finding The Right Product Team
To succeed in a product role you'll need a stellar team. Some of the crucial things are:
Focus: Ability to execute independently on projects
Speed: Full ownership and accountability for the product
Competence: The right mix of business and user-focused members and deeply technical members
The absence of these 3 leads to slow product delivery, unclear prioritization, and build-up of tech debt.
Clearly Uncovering Goals And Responsibilities For The Job
When you read the job listing, it should be clear to you what the main goals for the role are. If not, that's a red flag.
If the hiring company is a startup, maybe this hire will be the first to run product. In that case, I'd make sure to consider two things:
Do I want to take part in shaping the product function at this startup?
Do any of the founders have previous product management experience?
If you can't answer "yes" to both of these, I'd make an effort to do extra research to make sure the company is actually interested in running a product company and not just hiring a project manager.
Aligning On Day-To-Day Work Processes
The day-to-day processes are some of the things that have taken very little time to discuss during my previous interviews. Yet, it's the things that take up the most time once I've actually started the job.
Here are some of the things I'd like to uncover during the interview process:
Standups: Are these done? How often? What's the agenda typically like?
1-1's: How are leader-contributor conversations carried out?
Goal reviews: How do you usually review goals and set new ones?
Team synchronization: Are people expected to work during the same hours, or is it allowed to work asynchronously?
Work location: What are the company's thoughts on working from home and working from abroad?
Sometimes companies answer these questions directly in their listings or on company pages. Either way, I'd make sure to know the answer to these during the interview at the latest.
Aligning Personal Development And Goals
The last thing I'd touch on is how I can make sure to also evolve as the company grows and goals are achieved. Saying your personal goals out loud makes it much much easier for your manager to consider them when organizing things.
Stating the goals out loud also helps people around you help you achieve them. Let's say I wanted to learn more about defining a product strategy. Simply saying that would allow my manager to let me in on some of the ways they think about that and perhaps assign me some of the tasks in that process.
Defining these personal goals upfront also helps your potential manager assess whether you're aspiring to move in a professional direction that fits the company. Again, alignment is never bad.