I recently resigned from a startup and am interviewing now for Senior PM roles. I've gotten a good amount of interviews, and always get past the recruiter phone screens but can't seem to get past the hiring manager interviews. I have a little over 4 years professional experience in product (started as an APM for 2 years, PM for 1 year, Senior/Lead PM for 1.5 years). A couple things come to mind as to why I am not advancing:I'm poorly communicating my past experiences/skillsetThe hiring managers are looking for a very niche/specific type of PM (if its a <insert niche like consumer mobile, retention, growth, platform> role, and I don't have explicit <niche> experience, I don't advance)I've been overleved and should be applying to PM roles not Senior PM rolesDoes anyone have advice for things I can do during the interview process to advance? Or other things I may not be considering as reasons I'm not advancing? Any insights are really appreciated!

I’m guessing you’re over-leveling yourself a little bit plus it’s a difficult hiring climate right now.

Are the jobs being filled or canceled? I've had multiple strong PM interviews and the role just gets cut without filling it. I'd also try mock interviews with PMs that do it regularly. Without seeing you in action the advice here will be limited.

What companies are you applying to? Project scale matters. Did you have any reports?

One key I always think about for my interviews is asking really thoughtful/insightful questions. A lot of hiring managers want to see how you think and that's a great way to show them!

How to pass hiring manager PM interviews

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Product Manager

How to pass hiring manager PM interviews

I recently resigned from a startup and am interviewing now for Senior PM roles. I've gotten a good amount of interviews, and always get past the recruiter phone screens but can't seem to get past the hiring manager interviews.

I have a little over 4 years professional experience in product (started as an APM for 2 years, PM for 1 year, Senior/Lead PM for 1.5 years). A couple things come to mind as to why I am not advancing:

I'm poorly communicating my past experiences/skillset
The hiring managers are looking for a very niche/specific type of PM (if its a <insert niche like consumer mobile, retention, growth, platform> role, and I don't have explicit <niche> experience, I don't advance)
I've been overleved and should be applying to PM roles not Senior PM roles

Does anyone have advice for things I can do during the interview process to advance? Or other things I may not be considering as reasons I'm not advancing?

Any insights are really appreciated!

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sourmilkTechnical Program Manager

Given the number of interviews you have had with Hiring Managers, you probably have a decent sense of the type of questions they would ask. If not already, it would be a good idea to prepare a list of stories (that speak to your product sense, accomplishments, challenges, conflict management etc.) in STAR format. Listing out key metrics and other data points to reinforce your stories. All these details will help you be prepared to structure your responses better.

19g6vkwgom9c4Product Manager

Thank you, this is helpful!

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