Top Questions to Ask During a Product Manager Interview

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As a product manager candidate, a big part of the interview preparation process is becoming familiar with common questions and the best way to approach them. For example, if you’re interviewing at Google, expect questions spanning product design, product strategy, estimation, and more.

While it’s critical to prepare for any and every question that could come your way, it’s also good practice to have a clear vision of what you want to ask. There’s no requirement to ask questions during a PM interview, but there are two primary benefits of doing so:

• It shows your passion for product management and the company.
• It allows you to learn more about the position and your fit at the company.

You don’t want to be that person who says, “I don’t have any questions, you covered everything.” This comes across as disinterested and even lazy. 

With all this in mind, here are five questions to consider asking during a product manager interview.

1. What is your product development process?

The purpose of this question is to decide if the current process is one that you’re comfortable with. If it isn’t, you’ll need to personally determine if you’re able to and okay with adapting to meet the process that’s already in place. 

The goal of this question is to gather information. It’s okay to ask follow-up questions, just make sure you don’t make it sound like their process is wrong. 

And remember, just because you don’t agree with the product development process doesn’t mean it’s a bad fit. You now know how they develop, what sorts of challenges they may face, and where/if you fit in. 

2. What is the highest priority for the person you hire for this position?

The answer will vary greatly from one person and one company to the next.  

Ask another product manager this question and they may dive right into tasks related to product features and capabilities. Conversely, if you pose this question to another employee, they may describe the need for a person to monitor the market and develop competitive analysis. 

Another thing to consider is the company you’re interviewing with. You can be rest assured that priorities for PMs in a startup won’t be the same as PMs at a large tech company like Google, Facebook, or Microsoft. 

3. What is the biggest challenge the company is facing right now?

In many ways, this question is related to the #2 above. When you ask the interviewer about their highest priority items, expect them to provide information related to the top challenges the company is facing.

Examples include:

• Our product development process is slow.
• There is no leadership on [x].
• Our user experience is outdated. 
• We need to sell more units. 

Every person you ask this question to will answer it differently, so don’t be afraid to throw it out there every chance you get. And of course, if you come to realize a common theme — such as challenges related to organizational communication — you can be confident that it’s bogging the company down. 

Once you learn more about the challenges the company is facing, you can position yourself accordingly. You can talk about how you’ve dealt with similar challenges in the past and the approach you would take if hired. 

4. What is the biggest opportunity in front of the company?

This shows the interviewer that you’re thinking about the future and interested in where the company is headed. It also allows you to share input on this opportunity. 

Understanding the biggest opportunity in front of the company — from its perspective — also tells you a lot about where things are moving in regards to the product. If you don’t agree with chasing a specific opportunity, it could be best to cut ties and set your sights elsewhere. 

5. Any question related to the product (examples below)

Don’t just tell the interviewer that you’re familiar with the company’s product or products. Show them by asking a question directly related to it. This can come in many forms, including:

• Why did you take [x] approach with [feature]?
• Why do you think [feature] was such a big hit with users? 
• Is [feature] being used by a lot of users?

Your goal is to show that you’ve used the product and have taken time to think about the good and the bad. For example, you can follow up on the question above — why do you think [feature] was such a big hit with users — with your personal experience with the feature. 

Other questions to ask in a PM Interview

There’s no shortage of questions to ask during a product manager interview. The five above are a good jumping-off point, but they’re just that. Here are five others to consider asking should they fit in:

• How much communication and collaboration is there between departments?
• What types of tools and software do your company’s PMs currently use?
• How many product managers currently work for the company?
• How are resources allocated at the company?
• What does the product manager career path look like? Will I have the opportunity to move up the ladder?

Keep in mind that the answer to one question has the potential to lead you to another one. For instance, once you know how many product managers work at the company, you may have questions about specific products and how the teams working on them are developed. 

Final thoughts

These are just some of the many questions you can ask during a product manager interview. The nice thing about these is that you can ask them to anyone you’re interviewing with, regardless of position, company, or industry. They’re applicable across the board.

Want to learn more about which questions to ask during a PM job interview? Our interview course is a good place to start. You can also use our mock practice service to connect with interview partners. This allows you to experiment with a variety of questions, thus providing clarity as to which ones are best.