How to Nail the Product Interview with Whiteboarding

Transcript

1. Nailing The Product Interview With Whiteboarding How to be a Whiteboard Master !
3. My Start-ups ProductHired (Cofounder; VP, Product) Kredya (Cofounder; CPO) My Day Job Broadway Technology (Dir. of Knowledge Program) Experience 19+ years of Experience Experience in both Looking and Hiring Product Talent Organizer ProductTank Austin Austin Christian Technologists and Entrepreneurs Texas Crypto Meetup Product Jobs Meetup?? (Ask me) My Articles medium.com/@mstephan Hiring and Interviewing Articles medium.com/open-product-management Mark Stephan Product, Serial Entrepreneur & Advisor mark@producthired.com
4. Austin’s Product Community Join Us on Slack: http://ProductInAustin.com
5. Network LinkedIn Nearby 1 2 3 4
6. What We’ll Hopefully Cover • Why Whiteboarding is Important • Things to Remember • Product Design Template • Estimation/Analytical Template • Prioritization Template • Resources
7. Why Whiteboarding is Important
8. How Whiteboarding Helps • Demonstrates Communication skills • Visualizes Your Thoughts • Gives You Time to Think • Helps you Organize Thoughts • Helps Create Structure in Brainstorming • Helps you Not get Lost • Helps the Interviewer not get lost
9. Things to Remember
10. Brain-Dead Tips • Write Clearly • Rewrite questions in your words, confirm • Write the goal, and confirm • Write your structure for answering • Draw, illustrate, diagram • Don’t Stop Talking (when thinking or writing) • Don’t be defensive, Interviewers will ask questions to see how you pivot OR stand your ground • Don’t talk to much, get the interviewer to engage • Diverge in Brainstorming, Converge to prioritize • Use the entire whiteboard • Demand to use a whiteboard • Bring dry erase markers • Buy a BIG whiteboard • Do video interviews
11. Rule of Three • People Easily Compare things in Threes • Our Brain Easily Remembers Three things • Always set-up your three comparisons to make it easy to prioritize
12. Estimation/ Analytical Whiteboard Template
13. Estimation/ Analytical Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words
14. Estimation/ Analytical Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Goal: Write the End Goal
15. Estimation/ Analytical Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words What I Know Assumptions Edge Cases Unknowns Goal: Write the End Goal
16. Estimation/ Analytical Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Word Equation What I Know Assumptions Edge Cases Unknowns Do your Math Goal: Write the End Goal
17. Estimation/ Analytical Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Word Equation What I Know Assumptions Edge Cases Unknowns Do your Math Write Your Answer Goal: Write the End Goal
18. Prioritization Whiteboard Template
19. Prioritization Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3 Winner? Item 1 High Med High Winner! Item 2 Low Low Med Last Item 3 Med Med Low Second Prioritize every step where you have multiple choices. By • User Value • Enjoyment/Joy/Love • Usefulness • Effort Ease/ Speed of Time • Monetization: ROI • Competitive Advantage/Marketing • Growth • Etc…. High = Good Med = OK Low = Bad
20. Product Design Whiteboard Template
21. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words
22. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal
23. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal My Outline - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - Recommendation
24. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal My Outline - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - Recommendation - Users - - - Do Your Work
25. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal My Outline - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - Recommendation - Users - - - Do Your Work - User Pains/Problems - - -
26. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal My Outline - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - Recommendation Do Your Work - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - - - - - - - - -
27. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal My Outline - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - Recommendation - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - - - - - - - - - Do Your Work
28. Product Design Whiteboard Rewrite the Question In your Own Words Write the End Goal My Outline - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - Recommendation Write your Recommendation Do Your Work - Users - User Pains/Problems - Solutions - Implementation - Validation - - - - - - - - -
29. Final Thoughts
30. Interviewing is Acting • Be great at Improv • Act the part, no one can create strategy in 20 minutes, that’s why it’s acting. • User-driven, Show Empathy, Empathy, Empathy! Cry on Queue! • Visualize everything you can!
31. Engage the Interviewer • All Interviewers are secretly asking themselves, “Do I want to work with this person?” • Collaboration is key • Give your opinion, then ask for theirs • Brainstorm together • Get them to agree with you
32. Resources • Meetups: • ProductHired Job Club Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Product-Job-Club/ • Product Job Club Small Groups: http://productjobclub.com • ProductHired.com - (Austin Company) Product Interview Study Guides • PMInterview.com - Product Management Interview Questions & Practice • pramp.com; mockinterview.co - Mock Interviewing site • Product in Austin - Slack/Meet-ups http://productinaustin.com
33. Thank you! My Start-ups ProductHired.com (Cofounder; VP, Product) kredya.com (Cofounder; CPO) My Articles medium.com/@mstephan Hiring and Interviewing Articles medium.com/open-product-management Mark Stephan Product, Entrepreneur, Mentor & Advisor mark@producthired.com