The product manager is superintended to analyze the market behavior to publish a product by the company. APM is the person to have a vision of the lifetime of a product, strategy in launching and market dealing of the product, and execution of the product. A product manager has to work with the stakeholders of the company to supervise the product meets the user needs and business achievements. Let us know about the ‘Google APM Interview Questions’.
Google APM
Google APM is the most sought-out position for many people in various industries maybe it is because of the reputation of the company or the perks and benefits of Google APM. Primarily Google is a most reputed and coveted place to work and it is not only focusing on the tech industry but also introduces futuristic technology for various industries to enter into the market of other industries Google needs to launch a product into the respective industry so here the APM has to work on strategies for product, a market of product to be released and vision over the product like a critic. This Google APM brings recruits to get more ideas about the various technologies to work in.
Skills required
- Analytical skills
Candidates need to have high data analytical skills. APMs are supposed to deal with large data to analyze and make product designs based on the analysis.
- Communication skills
You should be a coveted communicator. As an APM you have to work across the company and top professionals you need to communicate with them effectively to explain your strategies and complete the vision of the product.
- Technical skills
APM should be sound in their respective research field.
Interview
The interview of Google APM has 4 stages. They are,
1. Resume/ cover letter
2. Phone screen
Phone screen will happen after the stand out of your resume. It is taken by the product manager for 45 min on phone. This will be conducted by phone and mainly focuses on product design, product strategy, and analytical questions.
3. On-Site interviews
After getting selected for the phone interview, you will get invited for an On-site interview. Generally, an on-site interview consists of 3-5 interviews based on a full-time job or internship. Here the candidate is supposed to answer various product management questions. In on-site interviews, the pair of dimension skill checks will be sorted by pairing skills such as Product strategy and Product Sense, Analysis and Estimation, Communication and Technical, and additionally, Google checks for the Googleyness and Leadership of the candidate.
4. Final interview
After completing all the rounds, the final interview will come with a scenario with an executive from the APM program as a 1-1 meeting. If you passed all the stages of selection, you will probably receive an offer to be Google APM.
Interview Format
Interviews at Google will be in 3 parts:
1. Warm-up
It is like getting first impressions on a candidate from a casual conversation starter. Warm-up questions would be like “Why Google?” to get an overview of the candidate’s state of mind.
Here interviewer expects about 1-2 minutes of answers from the candidate.
2. Product management questions
After finishing the warm-up discussion interviewer will start asking product management-related questions to know the knowledge of the candidate in fields like product design, product strategies, and technical skills.
3. Your questions
Here you can able to ask questions to the interviewers to gain good insights and a good brief. You can describe the home works you have done and explain what actions you want to take after being APM.
Example Interview questions
Questions based on product designing
- How Google maps can be improved?
- How do you improve Google home?
- How would you improve the Google play store?
- How will you design a product for x people for their y problem?
- How about launching Google Movies again?
These kinds of questions can be asked from the designing perspective. The candidate should able to answer these kinds of questions based on 3 steps,
- Business objective
- User problems
- Solutions
Business objective
Outline the answer by introducing the answer, shooting the main point, and explaining the main point with relatable practical examples.
User problems
Considering a user of a specific task, understanding the problems of the user while doing the task, and finally prioritizing the problems to provide accurate solutions for the problem.
Solutions
Based on the prioritized problems of the user solutions can be found for the problems. Prioritizing the solutions for the respective problem and finally summarizing them.
Questions based on Strategy:
These strategy-based questions include the competition, pricing, and market for a particular product.
- How would you sell a normal pen to a consumer?
- How would do sell medics on amazon?
- What are the mistakes are done by x company to get shut down?
- If you are CEO of x company, what is the upcoming 5-year plan to improve the company’s growth?
To answer these kinds of questions it is better to follow the following steps.
1. Set a business objective
Understand the question from the interviewer properly and define the question in your way to yourself to provide a proper strategic objective.
2. Generate solutions
Defining the question in your way makes to gain more confidence in producing the solutions for a specific problem within the structure.
3. Discuss solutions
The solutions are provided to the interviewer, the interviewer starts shooting questions about the solutions. So, discuss the solution by Highlighting trade-offs and prioritizing necessary ones.
4. Conclude
Conclude the solutions by making a recommendation of solution based on stats and analysis, and highlight the pros and cons of the solution as well.
Questions based on Estimation
- What would be the market for foldable mobiles in the next 5 years?
- Estimate what would the income of Starbucks.
- Estimate how many tutors are required for 100 children below 7 years.
To answer this estimation question, a candidate should have an idea about the market of the subject point in the question. So, the steps to be followed to better answer is
1. Asking questions to the interviewer to get better clarity over the subject.
2. Mapping the calculations based on factors of solution.
3. Round off the overall calculations for better outputs.
4. Checking the results.
Questions based on Behavior
- Why Google?
- What do you want to do as an APM?
- Describe yourself.
- What do you think of a good PM?
- What do you do if your sub-ordinate rejects to share your work?
Technical Questions
- Explain the concept of ‘market pricing’ for a 4-year-old child.
- What should be the algorithm of task x?
- Explain ‘data structures’ to your grandma.
Questions based on data analysis
- What are your 3 most important metrics as PM of Google Pay analytics?
- What kind of shows are to be added to Netflix to increase traffic?
Conclusion
In conclusion, Google APM interviews are a great way to test your technical, problem-solving, and communication skills. While preparing for an APM interview, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the types of questions that Google may ask and practice your responses. This article discusses the Google APM, the skills required, and sample questions about every aspect of the interview. Hope this article helps you to crack the interview. Good luck.
