This article brings together a post I shared on LinkedIn in September 2023 and the questions that landed in my DMs afterwards. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and write back.
Archival post, written in September 2023 about a job search from 2022, before my current role. Republished unchanged.
Where are we now?
It's September 2023.
I'm about to hit my one-year mark at Mastercard, which felt like a good moment to look back at the recruitment processes I went through the year before and share what I learned.
The structure of recruitment processes
Most processes consisted of four meetings. Most of them took place online, a few required showing up in person.
Here's what a typical one looked like:
- A quick chat with a recruiter, over the phone or online - Google Meet, MS Teams, Zoom, third-party apps (15-30 minutes)
- A talk with a manager or a technical test (30-60 minutes)
- Another technical or managerial conversation (30-60 minutes)
- A final conversation (10-15 minutes)
The first chat was mostly about my resume: past jobs, why I was looking, what I wanted next. Salary expectations usually came up at this stage. These calls were mostly run by agency recruiters, so there wasn't much room to talk about product management itself.
The next step varied. Sometimes it was a deeper conversation about the company and the role with a hiring manager, sometimes a technical chat with the team. This is where we got into the details of the role and what the company was trying to achieve. Twice it involved a game and role-playing, and I have to say it was a great experience.
The third step was similar to the second, just shuffled a bit.
The final talk was straightforward: an offer or a decline.
Not every process followed this pattern. Some ended early because the company chose someone else, put hiring on hold (quite common back then), or because our expectations didn't match on salary, contract type or responsibilities. Some simply never got back to me.
One thing I found interesting: a few roles advertised as "Product Manager" turned out to be mostly about sales or project work.
Let's wrap it up a little bit
I interviewed with large corporations and small startups, with well-known brands and with companies nobody had heard of yet. Whenever I actually got into an interview, I felt the recruiters were on my side.
Many of my applications went unanswered, but that's the nature of job hunting :)
If you're thinking about a new job or already looking, my advice is simple: prepare properly. Go through the company's website, understand its mission and values, try its products if you can, read what the media and current employees say about it, get familiar with the requirements and responsibilities of the role, and whenever possible, apply directly.
Questions from DMs
First of all, thanks for the response in the DMs! I didn't expect follow-up questions about my search for a Product Manager role.
I've taken the liberty of compiling the questions and answers and publishing them below.
How did companies respond to my application?
If you're job hunting, remember it's a process. Many of your applications will go unanswered or end with nothing more than an automated reply. Together, that can be as many as 3/4 of everything you send out.
That's normal. It's usually not about you. It's the volume of applications, internal recruitment processes, automated filtering, a lack of time or people on the other side, or a hiring freeze.
Here are my numbers, each application counted by the furthest stage it reached:
- Companies that confirmed receipt of the application by email, without any further information - 37%
- Companies that rejected my application with a generic message - 35%
- First and/or second interview (company overview, job description, introduction) - 9%
- Third interview (deep dive into product management and/or the product) - 13%
- Final interview - 6%
How did the role-playing during the recruitment interview go?
I took part in two interview games.
In the first one I played a Product Manager approached by two key stakeholders. Each wanted their feature in the next sprint. With limited resources, I had to decide: one feature, both, neither, or park them in the backlog. Once I'd decided, one of the stakeholders escalated to the CEO, which led to a conversation with the CEO and a fresh round of challenges and questions.
The second scenario was about planning the next sprint with the team. The participants played product team members and stakeholders. My job was to ask the right questions and set the direction. The exercise tested collaboration and whether I was a team player.
How did I fare?
The first scenario went well. I quickly started asking questions and weighing the evidence for the two features. There were a few twists built in: the first feature was vital for our biggest client, the other could attract many smaller ones.
The second scenario didn't go as smoothly. With so many participants, I couldn't engage everyone. Stress, time pressure and trying to find the best possible solution all got in the way.
Did you have to prepare a presentation?
Once, as far as I remember. I was asked to prepare a pitch deck, a sort of "sales" presentation: mission and vision, problem and its scale, product and solution, target group, monetization models, plans. With the research, it took me a day.
Were there any challenging questions?
Most questions were about my professional experience, my plans (where do you see yourself in 1-5 years), the best and worst products in my opinion, ideas for improving a specific product, challenges and failures, or the different stages of product work (discovery, delivery, growth). Nothing unusual, nobody asked what kind of soup I would be 😊
In several interviews there were questions about conflict resolution, managing work and time, KPIs and other metrics, prioritization techniques, dealing with stress, and working with people from different cultural backgrounds. I have to admit these were very relevant questions.
Final note
Looking at it from the outside: on one hand, companies are looking for someone with the right qualifications and experience. On the other, they also want to make sure this person will fit into the team, share similar values and cope with whatever life throws at them. Keep that in mind.
Sometimes it's all (or mostly) about the chemistry 😊
← Back to blog