17 product manager interview questions from FAANG PMs

12 ex-interviewers from top companies (Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.) told us which are their favorite product manager interview questions to ask in 2024, and why.

You’ll find the list below. Further on, you’ll discover the main types of product manager interview questions, and find links to deep-dive resources to prepare for each.

1. Top 17 product manager interview questions (chosen by FAANG PMs)

2. Every type of product manager interview question (and how to prepare)

3. PM interview preparation plan

Let's go!

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1. Top 17 product manager interview questions (chosen by FAANG PMs)

This list of questions has been chosen by ex-interviewers from FAANG companies.

Not only have they all been through the PM interview process themselves as candidates, but they’ve conducted countless interviews themselves and helped hire PMs for very competitive positions.

Suffice to say, they’re experts on product manager interviews.

Let’s see which questions they most like to ask (in no particular order).

#1 You're a PM at Uber and your manager tells you that ridership is down 10%. You have a Data Analyst assigned to you that can help answer any questions. What questions would you ask to identify the root cause?

Chosen by: Hussain (ex-Capital One, Shopify)
Type of question: Analytical thinking (metric change)

"I like this question because it tests a candidate's thoroughness and organization in thinking” says Hussain, a senior product manager who has run PM interviews at Shopify and Capital One.

"If they are thorough, they’ll ask me questions like 'What does 10% drop mean? Is it 10% WoW, or MoM ?' The set of questions they ask me to try to get to the root cause also gives me a good sense of how organized their thinking is.”

Watch: a Meta PM answers a similar metric change question ("engagement drops 10%, what do you do?)

#2 Pick a product that you usually use but don't like a lot. What don't you like about it?

Chosen by: Jatin (Google, Microsoft)
Type of question: product sense

“Usually candidates prepare for questions about products that they love, so this is slightly different from that” says Jatin, senior product manager at Microsoft and formerly of Google.

“It tries to showcase how the candidate is choosing products to use in their life. Are they looking at products generally from an end-user POV? And do they follow the industry trends to know about other similar products?”

#3 Tell me about a time a project that failed

Chosen by: Alan (Uber, Amazon), Jay (Microsoft)
Type of question: behavioral

“I'm looking for the candidate to be thoughtful and vocally self-critical about the project and their performance. Ideally, I’d like to see that it was a growth moment for them and they walked away with life-changing learnings" says Alan, ex director of product at Uber. "Those learnings are what I hope they bring to their next employer as superpowers or strengths”.

“Since almost all products deviate from the original plan, this question helps assess candidates' adaptability, ownership attitude, and learning attitude when faced with deviations or failures,” says Jay, PM manager at Microsoft.

Click here to see 5 different ways to answer "tell me about a time you failed"

#4 Imagine you are on the Google India / Africa strategy team, what would be the 10x bet that you'd put the resources on for Google to focus in the upcoming years?

Chosen by: Jatin (Google, Microsoft)
Type of question: strategy

“It helps me learn how much the candidate understands the market and how the candidate is able to define the strengths of a company. Can they focus on the right problems to solve in a market (greenfield or brownfield)?” says Jatin.

Read: How to answer product strategy questions

#5 How do you gather and incorporate user feedback into the product development process? Can you give an example of a time when user feedback significantly influenced a product decision you made?

Chosen by: Ino (Palo Alto Networks)
Type of question: behavioral (customer-centricity)

“Understanding how a candidate integrates user feedback demonstrates their customer-centric approach to product management” says Ino, principal product manager at Palo Alto Networks.

“It assesses their empathy for users, proficiency in user research methodologies, and ability to translate insights into actionable product improvements. It's crucial for evaluating their commitment to iterative improvement and their effectiveness in delivering value to users.”

#6. Imagine you’re a PM at Meta. How would you design a product around sports?

Chosen by: Philip (Meta)
Type of question: product design/ sense

"I like asking this kind of open-ended question because it forces MECE (mutually exclusive collectively exhaustive) thinking.” says Philip, ex product lead at Meta.

“The candidate needs to clarifify what “product around sports” means. They are forced to sharpen and narrow down a nebulous problem, just as they’ll need to do in real life if they get the job.”

Watch: An ex-Meta PM answers a similar product design question ("design a fitness app for Meta")

#7 How do you deal with conflict?

Chosen by: Jessica (Amazon)
Type of question: behavioral

“This question reveals the interviewees' communication style and how they work through stakeholder management” says Jessica, ex product marketing manager at Amazon.

“Who do they center on when working through conflict? The answer should be the consumer.”

Click here for our specific guide to answering the conflict question

#8 Can you give an example of a time when close collaboration with engineers led to a successful outcome?

Chosen by: Irit (Red Hat)
Type of question: behavioral (cross-functional collaboration)

“This question helps understanding how the PM works with engineering, how they communicate requirements and being able to understand the technical constraints while making product decisions” says Irit, engienering group manager at Red Hat in Boston. “It also helps learning about the candidate's collaboration skills.”

#9 Can you describe a situation where you had to advocate for a significant change in a product or project strategy? How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?

Chosen by: Ino (Palo Alto Networks)
Type of question: behavioral

“This question helps gauge a candidate's influence and persuasion skills. It reveals their ability to articulate a clear vision, negotiate stakeholder buy-in, and drive consensus around strategic decisions.” says Ino.

“It also provides insight into their resilience and adaptability in navigating organizational challenges.”

Read: 5 ways to answer "Tell me a time you handled a difficult stakeholder"

#10 What's your favorite product and why? How would you improve it?

Chosen by: Jessica (Amazon), Jay (Microsoft)
Type of question: product sense

“The 'favorite product' and 'why' questions can help assess whether candidates demonstrate a strong product sense in their daily lives” says Jay. “When asking about 'how to improve it,' I seek both personal preferences and recommendations from the perspective of a product owner. Different decision factors come into play depending on the role, influencing their suggestions.”

“I like this question because it shows if the interviewee has genuine passion for the space, and it's a good question for them to show industry expertise in” says Jessica.

Read: How to answer the favorite product interview question

#11 If you were tasked with designing a competitor to ChatGPT, what unique features would you implement to differentiate it, and how would you validate the need for these features?

Chosen by: Suhel (Microsoft)
Type of question: product sense (AI)

“This question challenges the candidate to think critically about current AI technologies and encourages them to consider innovation beyond existing capabilities” says Suhel, principal product manager at Microsoft.

“It reveals their ability to identify market gaps, strategize feature sets, and their approach to user research and validation.”

#12 Tell me about a time when you had to prioritize multiple competing projects or features. How did you approach it?

Chosen by: Jessica (Amazon), Ino (Palo Alto Networks)
Type of question: prioritization

“This question tests how the interviewee thinks through competing priorities. Do they have an organized system for evaluating when they need to complete different tasks/deliverables?” says Jessica. “The interviewee should not rely on their manager to organize their tasks for them.”

“It’s excellent for revealing a candidate's ability to prioritize effectively, manage competing demands, and make strategic decisions.” says Ino. “It assesses their organizational skills, understanding of business priorities, and their approach to balancing short-term goals with long-term objectives in a dynamic environment.”

Read: How to answer prioritization questions in PM interviews

#13 How would you handle a situation where a new feature negatively impacts user productivity?

Chosen by: Javaid
Type of question: behavioral

“This question helps me evaluate problem-solving skills, user-centric thinking, analytical approach, and adaptability/resilience.” says Javaid, formely Amazon and now product TPM at Microsoft.

Watch: how to answer hypothetical / scenario questions

#14 What goals and metrics would you set for Instagram Shopping?

Chosen by:  Philip (Meta), Jessica (Amazon),
Type of question: analytical thinking (metric definition)

“I like using Instagram Shopping for this metrics definition question because there are multiple similar products, like Instagram Shopping, Facebook Pages and Facebok Marketplace, which have similar goals but are definitely different in the value chain” says Philip.

Facebook Marketplace is more transactional and local, Instagram Shopping is about an experience and need not be local.  The candidate needs to show deep product understanding which should be translated to metrics and goals.”

“Product managers need to be able to quantify the success/failure of their products. Not all metrics are useful” says Jessica. “This question tests if they can identify the right metrics for evaluating the success of their product at the stage they're in.”

#15 Imagine you have built the first communication technology for communicating between Earth and Mars. How will you design the user experience for this?

Chosen by: Jatin (Google, Microsoft)
Type of question: product sense

“This question helps me learn how a candidate is able to scope a problem down and handle a vague and broad problem statement” says Jatin. “It also shows whether they can prioritize the right use cases to solve for.”

#16 A group of student researchers have invented shoes that can change colors. They've hired you to bring this to market. What are three questions to you ask, and then what's your plan?

Chosen by: Gaurav (Paypal, Spotify)
Type of question: product sense

“I ask this to see how they break down a problem” says Gaurav, senior product manager for PayPal, previously at Grab and Spotify.  “Will they prioritize the questions that will give them the most footprint to answer future questions?”

Read: How to demonstrate product sense

#17 Describe a situation where you had to make a product decision without all the data you wanted. What was the decision, and how did you arrive at it?

Chosen by: Suhel (Microsoft)
Type of question: behavioral

“This question uncovers how a candidate deals with uncertainty and limited information, which is a common scenario in product management” says Suhel. “It shows their problem-solving skills, ability to prioritize, and risk assessment capabilities.”

2. Every type of product manager interview question (and how to prepare)↑

Now you've seen a selection of typical questions that interviewers like to ask, let's go through every type of PM question.

Product manager interview questions can generally be divided into 5 types:

• Behavioral
• Product sense / design
• Analytical thinking
• Strategy
• Technical

Let's start with the most common, behavioral questions.

2.1 Behavioral interview questions↑

Tech companies use behavioral interview questions to assess candidates based on their past experiences, their motivations for applying, and their understanding of what makes a good PM.

Remember, you'll probably be asked more behavioral questions than any other type, so it's worth preparing thoroughly. Here's our guide to answering behavioral questions. This guide primarily focuses on Meta interview questions but can apply to any company.

2.2 Product sense & design interview questions↑

There are three types of product sense questions: Product design questions, Product improvement questions and Favorite product questions.

Each of these sub-types assess your creativity, customer empathy, and your ability to use a structured approach to design products in different ways. Prior to the interview, be sure to familiarize yourself with the company’s products to best answer this type of question.

Consult our guides to answering product design, product improvement, and favorite product interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category.

2.3 Analytical thinking interview questions↑

There are two types of analytical thinking questions, both based on metrics: Metric definition questions and Metric change questions. 

Metric definition questions focus on your ability to define metrics that provide clarity on the health of a product or feature, and  metric change questions test whether you know what to do when a key product metric (e.g. traffic, revenue, engagement, etc.) is going up or down without a clear cause.

Consult our guide to answering product metric interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category.

2.3 Strategy interview questions↑

There are three types of strategy questions: Product strategy, estimation, and prioritization questions. 

Product strategy questions test your ability to develop a product vision and roadmap, while estimation questions require you to assess market sizes, revenue potential, the number of customers, etc., and prioritization questions assess if you can do it all in a logical order.

For each of these subcategories, it's not so much about getting to a specific answer; what’s more important is how you think through the problem, making assumptions and calculations.

Consult our guides to answering product strategy, prioritization and estimation interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category.

14.5 Technical interview questions↑

There are two types of technical questions: Technical explanation questions and Algorithm questions. Note that not all companies ask technical questions, or may only ask technical explanation questions. If you are unsure of what to expect, check in with your recruiter. 

Technical explanation questions assess the extent of your technical knowledge, and your ability to communicate that knowledge, while algorithm questions test your problem solving skills and ability to solve engineering problems with pseudocode (typically not production-level code).

Consult our guide to answering technical interview questions to best prepare yourself for this category.

3. How to prepare for product management interviews↑

With a lot to cover, it’s best to take a systematic approach to make the most of your practice time. 

Below you’ll find links to free resources and three introductory steps that you can take to prepare your answers to typical PM interview questions.

You may also be able to find a specific interview guide for the company you're targeting in the list below:

• Google product manager interview guide
• Google APM interview guide
• Facebook / Meta product manager interview guide
• Facebook / Meta RPM interview guide
• Amazon product manager interview guide
• Microsoft product manager interview guide
• LinkedIn product manager interview guide
• Uber product manager interview guide
• Stripe product manager interview guide
• Lyft product manager interview guide
• Apple product manager interview guide
• TikTok product manager interview guide
• Coinbase product manager interview guide
• Airbnb product manager interview guide
• DoorDash product manager interview guide
• Netflix product manager interview guide

For more interview prep, check out the rest of our product manager interview prep guide.

If you're going for a very senior PM role or one that could be described as a product leader or product owner, you might want to check out our guide to product owner interview questions.

If you want to develop your product management skills, better tackle problems at work, or work out your next career step, consider booking a 1-to-1 product management coaching session with one of our expert PMs.

3.1 Learn a consistent method for answering each type of question

In this article, we’ve provided a huge list of example questions that you can use to prepare for the main question types used in product manager interviews.

For each type of question, we've linked our guides which cover the basic steps for solving them as well as giving a detailed answer for one of the questions. We'd recommend that you begin by memorizing the method for solving a question type. 

After learning the basic method for a question type, you should try answering several sample questions on your own. This will help you to understand the structure of a good answer. 

Once you've learned the method for one question type, and after you've practiced with a few examples, then you should move onto the next type of question. Repeat this process until you've covered each question type that's used at your target company.

3.2 Practice by yourself or with peers

In our experience, practicing by yourself is a great way to prepare for PM interviews. You can start practicing alone, asking and answering questions out loud, to help you get a feel for the different types of PM interview questions. It will help you perfect your step-by-step approach for each question type. And it also gives you time to correct your early mistakes.

You can find free practice questions on articles like this one or on YouTube.

If you have friends or peers who can do mock interviews with you, that's a great option too. This can be especially helpful if your friend has experience with PM interviews, or is at least familiar with the process.

3.3 Practice with experienced PM interviewers

Finally, you should also try to practice product manager mock interviews with expert ex-interviewers, as they’ll be able to give you much more accurate feedback than friends and peers. If you know a Product Manager who can help you, that's fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can practice 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from Google, Amazon, Uber, and other leading tech companies. Learn more and start scheduling sessions today.