Benjamin got an offer as a Product manager at Google
Name Benjamin S
New Position Product manager L4
at
Google
Location Boston, Massachusetts (USA)
Date of Offer September 2021
Coaching Sessions 1
What most excites you about your new job?
That I'm working at the highest echelon of product management methodology.
Where were you previously?
I was product manager at Wayfair.
What was your preparation strategy?
I'd say I did about 50 hours of prep overall, with a large bulk of that being peer-to-peer mock interviews.
First I concentrated my prep on the first-round interview question categories, and not until I'd passed that did I expand into the categories relevant for the onsite.
Initially I researched the general question categories by reading the IGAO blog articles and watching some YouTube videos.
Then I started to write down a general framework I saw across the board of how to respond. I created my own google doc with an answer framework, expectations, questions, links to resources, etc - it ended up being a 15 page document. I also got hold of a crowdsourced question spreadsheet shared by PMs.
When I did mock interviews, I wrote down the feedback and went over it before I did another one. I soon had action items under each topic in my prep document detailing how I could improve.
I also went updating the answer framework with things I noticed as I practiced interviews, so the framework evolved and gradually became truly mine.
When I thought I was close, I hired a coach to see where I was at - they gave me some good feedback and I was ready to go.
What was the hardest part of the whole interview process?
During the prep stage, my learning definitely followed a curve. I was seeing huge improvements in the beginning, but there was a point of deterioration. It's easy to start over-studying, over-analyzing, and I was starting to get stuck in the frameworks.
Then at interview stage, the lack of time was hard. The interviewers would drill down on a particular question, before suddenly pivoting into a whole different category. If it wasn't for the coaching session, I wouldn't have been prepared for that rapid-fire situation.
What advice would you give to other candidates?
Prepare answer frameworks that work for you but don't let them become a box you get stuck in.
Oh, and put the hours in!
What coaches would you recommend working with?
Greg R.
supercoach
Supercoaches have great ratings and cancel sessions booked with them only extremely rarely.
Manager of PMs
Product manager
Google
North America
59 clients (13% rebook rate)
5.0 (14 reviews)
Greg R. can’t be booked for the next 4 weeks. We recommend looking for another coach.