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(Not the OP) One thing I always ask about but find to be especially helpful with less technical roles is to go into the whole process. Start with what they acc

(Not the OP) One thing I always ask about but find to be especially helpful with less technical roles is to go into the whole process. Start with what they accomplished but keep digging. What other options did you consider? What were the trade offs? How did you decide your approach was best? What lessons did you learn and how did you apply them in the future? Those questions can all be BSed but at a certain point if you have good answers for them then you at least know what you’re talking about even if it’s all made up. Then I usually combine with some kind of concrete exercise that relates to the actual job. For product managers I like to give some kind of product strategy (either something we’ve done or something we’d never do to avoid people feeling like they are doing free work) and have them put together a product proposal. The more junior they are the more guidance they get and the more it’s a test of turning a discussion of features into clear requirement. If they’re more senior it’s about turning strategy into a clear product. The second part has caught a number of people who said the right things but couldn’t execute, or at least not in a way that was compatible with our culture.

kritiko 5y ago
This is really insightful. Is the product strategy problem typically a take home? In my experience, “product whiteboard” exercises have always felt like a bit of a party trick when I’ve encountered them. The discovery phase gets so truncated in order to get to cover design/implementation etc. Basically a Fermi problem but “show me your framework.”
- mason55 5y ago
  Oh yeah, definitely take home. After we’ve made it pretty far so that the candidate doesn’t feel like we’re just asking them to do an exercise as a form of screening. I also try to frame it as the exercise is instead of two more interviews where people would ask the same questions, and tell them not to spend more than a couple hours, although there’s no time limit. Trying to be really conscious of all the limitations and asks of “take home work” for an interview. I will say, especially as they get more senior, I tell them to make assumptions and document the assumptions they made. It’s part of the job (making good assumptions and communicating them to everyone) and I think it fits well into the framework of a take home product strategy exercise.

kritiko 5y ago

This is really insightful. Is the product strategy problem typically a take home? In my experience, “product whiteboard” exercises have always felt like a bit of a party trick when I’ve encountered them. The discovery phase gets so truncated in order to get to cover design/implementation etc. Basically a Fermi problem but “show me your framework.”

mason55 5y ago
Oh yeah, definitely take home. After we’ve made it pretty far so that the candidate doesn’t feel like we’re just asking them to do an exercise as a form of screening. I also try to frame it as the exercise is instead of two more interviews where people would ask the same questions, and tell them not to spend more than a couple hours, although there’s no time limit. Trying to be really conscious of all the limitations and asks of “take home work” for an interview. I will say, especially as they get more senior, I tell them to make assumptions and document the assumptions they made. It’s part of the job (making good assumptions and communicating them to everyone) and I think it fits well into the framework of a take home product strategy exercise.