Introduction:
Google is one of the most desired job locations because of several facilities that the company provides to its employees. But getting a job at Google is not everyone’s piece of cake. You have to understand the whole process and look for sample questions to polish your preparation. So in this article, we have brought to you the whole process of the Product manager interview at Google, along with the most expected questions.
Understanding the whole process of Google Product manager interview:
The product manager has to work on various global products of the company. The interview of Google’s product manager job is tricky, and it takes place in almost eight steps. The whole interview and selection process usually takes eight weeks. The purpose is to find and hire the right Google Associate Product Manager (APM) and Product Managers. You will see a similar process of selection at all branches of Google, be it New York, Seattle, San Francisco, or any other city. According to the company’s website, almost five hundred to eight hundred people are hired every year for the position of Product Manager.
The detailed interview process for the Google product manager post:
The selection process starts with a screening of your resume and cover letter. If the CV and Resume make it to the next round, then a phone interview will be scheduled with a recruiter. Moving to the next stage, you will have one to two interviews with product managers, who will check your potential for the job.
If you succeed to sail through these phone interviews, you will be called into Google company and asked to give some on-site interviews. You can expect four to six interviews on the location that are designed to test your mental aptitude.
So here are the eight steps that one has to sail through to become a product manager at Google:
- Your resume, cover letter, and other such requirements will be submitted by you and the company will evaluate them.
- Based on the resume and cover letter, a phone interview with the recruiter will be conducted. One or two more video call interviews will take place with the product manager.
- Onsite interviews: You will come to the location, and you will be tested by various recruiters. You have to go through four to six interviews based on mental aptitude and a behavioral interview.
- A recommendation will be given by the hiring committee.
- In the next step, the senior member of the team will see the recommendations and review the application.
- Once the senior member has approved your application, the profile will go to the compensation committee. The committee will see the worth of the candidate to the company, based on which they will make a suitable compensation package for the selected candidate.
- After the compensation committee has formulated a package, the senior executive of the company will give final approval on application and compensation.
- After all, this is done, the candidate is finally selected and given an offer.
Expected interview questions for Google’s Product manager job interview:
- Questions based on product design:
The first and the most frequently asked questions are usually based on the product design because designing new features of a product is an essential job of the product manager. The questions are designed to test your understanding of customer behavior, creative ability, and approach towards designing products. The expected questions are listed below:
Ques 1: Tell us about two products, one of which you hate the most and one you like the most. Also, give the reasoning for liking and dislike. If you have to improve both the products, how would you do that?
Ans: You have to be thoughtful about the two products you name because you have to give valid reasoning also. Furthermore, you have to present your answer vividly when explaining the correction process.
Example: I like A product the most because of its diversified service, affordable price, and active consumer redressal platform. If I had to improve it further, I would have worked on including more services on this platform that are trending.
The product that I dislike the most is the B product of XYZ co. The company even after claiming that it will provide ad-free services shows frequent ads that are very annoying and irrelevant. Also, there was no consumer redressal about the bugs and problems faced by the consumer. If I had been allowed to correct it, I would have first ensured that ads are arranged systematically, and a non-free ad platform could be provided, if at some price. Also, I would ensure that the consumer redressal process is efficient.
Ques 2: Give some recommendations for improving the functioning of various products of Google like Google Chrome, Gmail, Google search engine, Google map, etc.?
Ans: The recommendations are based on what services these products provide. It would help if you research these products in advance and check if the consumers are facing any problems with these services. This will help you suggest reasoned solutions for improving these products. For instance, if you found in comments on the play store that consumers are facing bug problems in this software, you can talk about the improvement of the same.
Ques 3: What are some of the things in non-google products like Amazon, Spotify, etc., that have scope for improvement?
Ans: Here again, you can read about the scope of improvement on comments in the play store about famous products like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify, and other major competitors of Google. You can talk about the scope of providing more services and reducing the price, etc.
Ques 4: If you have to design a product for a specific kind of people like google maps for blind people, how would you do that?
Ans: This question requires the presence of mind and your knowledge of coding and testing. The company through these questions tries to test the circle method. For this question, you can say that we can include braille script in Google map but remember that it would be a very exhaustive process. So you have to explain them properly.
2nd type: Questions based on estimation:
Another major type of question asked by the company includes estimation questions. Since the job of the product, the manager requires you to estimate the number of customers, revenue, demand for the product, etc., these questions test you on the same. The company wants its employees to be good in estimates irrespective of their experience in the field.
One thing to note here is that the interviewer is not concerned with the accuracy of the figure but the process that you used to reach that number. So what I mean to say here is, that your reasoning should be right, your sources should be reliable, the assumptions behind those estimates should be sound, and what methods you have used (complex or simple calculations). You will be given some time for brainstorming. So in that time, use your reasoning power to give good reasons for arriving at the answer.
Look at the list of questions below to understand better:
Ques 1: What do you think about the number of internet users by 2050?
Ans: To answer this question, it’s important to stay updated with the recent data published by leading and reliable organizations and platforms. When you quote a number back it with reasoning.
Example: Sir, I believe that there will be more than 95% (the number can vary) of internet users in the world. My rationale for the same is that digital programs launched by different governments crystallize the possibility of such a situation. Also, as work from home is gaining momentum, the internet will become a necessity, and the number of internet users will surely become very high.
Ques 2: Give us an estimated amount spent by a small company on Google ads to promote its business.
Ans: Again, the reasoning will be crucial. For instance, if I say that not many are using Google Ads for promoting small-scale businesses, I can cite factors like less awareness about the need for digital presence, concentration in the local area only, the price that they have to pay, etc. Also, if you cite the data published by a leading authority, it would further strengthen your response.
Ques 3: What is the expected amount of space required for storing all the servers of Google?
Ans: Google’s large size and the amount of information it provides point towards the need for a large space for storing Google servers. To answer these kinds of questions, you will require some kind of beforehand research.
Ques 4: If you are to run the whole Google for one day, what do you think would be the costs and the revenue?
Ans: Google, which operates so many websites and recruits several employees will surely have very high costs for a single day. But the revenue would also be high due to the robust position that it has gained in the market. So, you can quote a relatively high figure and back up it by including all the essential things like employee cost of one day, internet costs, refreshment, repair, and other operational costs. Similarly for the revenue that it will earn you can cite the popularity, the irreplaceable nature of its services, inclusion of new customers every day, etc.
Ques 5: What do you feel is the average bandwidth used by a US citizen?
Ans: Starting with the factors that have contributed to high usage of data like work from home, entertainment purposes, affordable prices, etc., you can quote a figure in GBs. You can also add that since almost every service like online bill payment, watching movies online, etc., requires an internet connection, it is obvious that high data is used daily.
3rd Type of questions: (Questions based on strategies)
Strategy-based questions are designed to check your overall product vision and how will you make a roadmap from its manufacturing to launch. Therefore these questions will test your thought process and what things you will consider when a product will be launched. The questions will include a broad range of parameters like pricing, marketing, target audience, competition from rivals, packaging of the products, and much more.
Ques 1: Suggest some ways to reduce food wastage in San Francisco?
Ans: This question is designed to check your ability to think of practical solutions for problems. You can talk about giving cash benefits to those who ensure that food is not wasted or penalty on food wastage. There can be other suggestions too based on your thinking.
Ques 2: You must have seen that in a given area there are sometimes two or more stores of the same kind. What do you think is the rationale behind this?
Ans: This is a practical question, and you have to tackle it with analytical skills. Think of ways in which the presence of two or more stores can benefit. Your answer can go like this: Sir, mostly this happens in places where the demand is high. So the rationale is to reduce the crowd in one store without letting go of any customer. You can suggest other practical reasons for the same based on your experience.
Ques 3: Suggest some steps to promote a revolutionary smartphone developed by Google. The most prominent feature of the phone is that it can beat other competitors.
Ans: Your marketing skills would come in handy for this question. Talk about the ways for promoting this product and how you can prove that it is far better than other existing models in the market. The promotion can be done either through a famous star or by good visuals or through social media, or any other way you can think of. Don’t forget to give reasons why you think a particular strategy is good for promoting the phone.
Ques 4: If you are made the head of Youtube and asked to change one thing in the platform, what would it be? You also have the autonomy to introduce some new features. Give valid reasons for inclusion and exclusion.
Ans: You can talk about the problems that customers are facing on youtube and can suggest wiping out the same. For additional features, you can see what is trending in the market. For instance, when short video platforms became popular almost every other social media site launched a short video platform. So if you have to suggest the inclusion of a new feature, try to align it with what is gaining popularity.
Ques 5: Can you tell us about any major decision of any popular company? What do you think is the reasoning behind that decision, and how do you think they could have taken a different step?
Ans: This question shows the need for staying updated with current affairs especially, the business page. You can talk about the decision of some companies to shift to permanent work from home model even after pandemic for some proportion of staff. The decision of some companies to shut down manufacturing plants in some developing countries can also be discussed. Just make sure that you back it with proper reasoning as to why they decided to take this decision. In the alternative, you can provide some suggestions on how they could have improved the decision.
4th kind of questions (Technical Questions):
To check the understanding of technical concepts, Google Product manager candidates have to undergo a technical interview. Since Google is a technological giant, it wants its employees to have some sort of technical knowledge irrespective of the position they are applying for.
Some of the technical questions that you should prepare for the interview are:
Ques 1: What do you think is the importance of page loading speed for a freshman at college?
Ans: You should know key technical concepts like page loading speed, protocols, programming, algorithms, etc., to answer these kinds of questions. If even you don’t know the exact complex definition, you can use examples and analogies to explain the basics of the concept asked.
Practice these technical questions and test your basics:
Ques 2: What do you understand by a protocol? What is its importance? If you want to explain this concept to a person who is sixty-five years old and has recently retired, how would you draw an analogy to explain to him so that he can work online?
Ques 3: How would you write an algorithm to do ABC work?
Ques 4: You have a website, and you want to check if the user experience is good or not. How would you determine that?
Ques 5: To an average internet user, how would you explain the term ‘privacy trade-off’?
5th type of questions asked in the interview: behavioral interview questions:
The recruiters want to make sure that you can fit in the google environment and what kind of personality you possess. The questions are mostly centered around your past employment, ability to work with diverse people, the motivation you have for work, your knowledge of duties, etc. Some of the expected behavioral interview questions include:
Ques 1: Why do you feel a product management job is made for you?
Ans: Here you have to tell the interviewer about how your interests match with the product management job. Tell about your abilities that make you a suitable candidate for the job. Talk about the learning opportunities that a product management job provides you. There is no one specific answer to this question, and you can answer the question based on your instinct.
Ques 2: Why do you want to do a product management job at Google, and how do you think Google has better opportunities than other companies?
Ans: To answer this question, you can talk about the great learning environment that Google provides. The perks and the environment make it conducive for any employee. You can cite other personal reasons that make you choose Google over other companies.
Ques 3: How would you differentiate between a good and a bad product manager?
Ans: For answering this question, you can take the help of the google job offer, which mentions various qualities that a person must have for becoming a product manager. You can talk about various traits like leadership, understanding the market trends and using them for promoting the product, analyzing what is wrong with the product, presentational skills, being able to admit their mistakes, etc. The abilities that you cite should be backed with proper reasoning.
Ques 4: tell us about any one moment of your life where you felt very proud of yourself and you showed good reasoning and leadership?
Ans: Giving an example for a past job where you might have achieved a difficult target with your team can help in this question. Shed some light on why you think it was difficult to accomplish. but still, with your motivation and leadership, the team impressively presented the products, and you got that deal. You can also talk about the hard work and dedication that every team member put which makes the moment more proud.
Ques 5: Cite some factors that influence your decision-making process.
Ans: You have to show that you don’t make haste decisions and apply proper reasoning for concluding. Some factors that you can cite while making a decision are: what is the long term benefit of that policy to the company, how much losses we will bear because of the scheme, is it good to take the risk despite the failure chances, what is the popularity of the product among masses, what is the probability of success, etc.
The sixth type of question: Data analysis questions:
The last but not the least kind of questions asked in Google product manager interviews are based on data analysis. Since a product manager has to use different statistics to conclude, he must have a good understanding of metrics and analytics. Some of the most frequently asked Data analysis questions are:
Ques 1: Suggest a way to track the total Youtube traffic in real-time. If you see a change in average traffic at Youtube, how would you explain that?
Ans: You can suggest a good analytical tool for the same based on your experience. For telling about the change in traffic, you have to consider different factors like the presence of alternatives, whether it’s an increase or decrease, whether some national or international phenomenon has led to the same, etc.
Ques 2: Suggest one way of measuring the global success of the recent Google pixel event.
Ans: you can suggest an online survey or some other analytical tools, as per your knowledge.
Ques 3: If Google wants to launch a new streaming service, what factors do you think should Google analyze before launching the product?
Ans: The factors could be the popularity of other streaming services across different nations and different groups (like teenagers, adults, kids, etc. )The popular genres could also be analyzed to provide relevant content. (Include other inputs as per your understanding of the question).
Summing it up:
Google’s product manager job is one of the most desired jobs, which makes it quite difficult to achieve. But with thorough practice of questions, you can increase your chances of selection. Try to work on your hard and soft skills and practice these questions thoroughly. Be confident and calm and give your best.
