Preparing for your round 1 & 2 interviews (Product Management)

Overview

In this part of our interview process, we’re looking to understand how well your capabilities match our needs for the position. We’re looking for product managers who can:

  • Demonstrate exceptional product intuition Visor is a technical product, and there’s a deep nuance to understanding how customers experience it. To succeed in this role, you’ll need to have well-developed intuition that can help you understand why users may be struggling or where there are opportunities for us to deliver more value. Could you watch a soundless session replay of a new user experiencing our product and intuit what they’re looking for if they seem to get stuck? If you’re the type of person who quickly understands how to use new products (with no manual) and have experience building software products, then you likely have this intuition.
  • Empathize deeply with customers It’s tough being able to design solutions for a customer with problems we don’t know firsthand. That’s why it’s crucial to have empathy — to really understand the root drivers and problems in the day-to-day of our customers.
  • Build deep, personal relationships with customers While data is a crucial part of our product management practice, that data is a tool to help inform the understanding you’ll gain by deeply connecting with our customers. We want to bring product managers onto our team who are able to be professional but also establish authentic, personal relationships with our customers that will help the customers open up and share information you could never obtain with a weaker or more transactional relationship.
  • Collect and analyze data to make decisions We’re big fans of data. We’re frequently looking for ways to improve how we can (ethically) collect more information on which to make decisions. And we’re also constantly considering ways to leverage the data we already have. We’re looking for someone who can crunch the numbers and say what they mean.
  • Organize information exceptionally well Further to the above points, product management involves lots of moving pieces — customer relationships, feedback items, projects, PRDs, and more. To succeed in this role, you’ll need to be really good at organization. You’ll need to be comfortable sitting for long periods of time with deep focus, categorizing feedback. And you’ll need to be proactive about how you manage your time.
  • Communicate thoughtfully and effectively Product managers trade in ideas. And ideas can be squishy and fuzzy and hard to communicate. That’s why it’s important that you do it well — both to internal audiences (e.g. while drafting PRDs) and external ones (e.g. when conducting customer interviews).

Our interviews will feature questions about your past accomplishments and career experiences. Please come ready to talk about specific examples from your past. We’ll also ask you to role play in certain business scenarios. And in certain cases, we may conduct a basic skills assessment live on the call.

We don’t expect any one candidate to be perfect. Rather, each person has a unique set of strengths and areas to be developed further. Our goal is to determine your unique combination and see how well that fits the role we have.

Please bring your authentic self to the meeting; be the “self” you plan to bring to work every day. We’re looking to learn about you in a personal capacity, too. What are your passions and interests? What drives you? Show us how Visor can be the right place to further your career.

How we conduct the interview

We’ll conduct the interview over Zoom. To facilitate a free and flowing conversation, we’ll ask that you be situated somewhere in a quiet room, by yourself, with a strong internet connection so that we can both take the meeting with our cameras on and remain unmuted. For parts of our interview process where skills are being assessed, it’s important that we maintain the integrity of this being an individual assessment. We will record the call for review by additional Visor team members.

Round 1 (60 minutes): Your knowledge and philosophy

The first interview focuses on what you’ve accomplished and what you already know. During this interview, your interviewer will ask you to describe times from your past professional experiences. We’ll also ask you questions to confirm your understanding of certain product management skills and tactics. Be ready to talk about big-picture ideas pertinent to product management. Also be ready to share knowledge about key terms.

Round 2 (60 minutes): Hands-on exercises

Your second interview will be oriented around how well you can complete some of the day-to-day responsibilities of a product manager. Be ready to receive and analyze data. Also be ready to demonstrate your empathy and product intuition.

How you should prepare

Have a computer with a webcam and microphone
Ensure you have a strong internet to keep your camera on at all times
Be in a quiet location by yourself where you can focus and keep your microphone unmuted
Re-review your resume and past career accomplishments; consider which specific scenarios demonstrate information about who you are
Ensure you’re refreshed on some of the key principles of acquisition marketing

How you’ll be evaluated

  1. How well we communicate together during the interviews
  2. How well you can think and learn
  3. How well you understand general product management principles
  4. How developed your skills are in the areas necessary to carry out your responsibilities (see the “What you’ll be doing” section of the job description for your role)
  5. How aligned we are on the product strategy for Visor
  6. How well can you analytically break down complex problems