Share the most important qualities he thinks the product manager should have

The writer is Google group product manager Ken Norton, he has a wealth of product manager recruiting experience with technology transfer products, startups and large companies, and this article shares the most important qualities he believes the product manager should have, and provides some questions for interviewing candidates in different aspects of their abilities.

The following is the compilation body:

I've been in the start-up business for a while and I've found that recruiting is really different from big companies and startups. In Yahoo search, we have been continuous recruitment. I'm interviewing about 5-8 times a week. Resume, interview, offer, always one after another, uninterrupted. Now that I'm done with hiring managers, I'm only in charge of recruiting a very small number of product managers in a start-up company.

But someone is always hiring the product manager, and I'm always part of the interview team. The first thing you'll notice when you're in a big company is the number of positions. But in startups, everyone needs to do a little bit of everything, so you need a versatile person with a strong ability. More importantly, the future is always unpredictable, so you need someone with strong adaptability. You may be able to recruit someone because you want to do something right now, but the things you have to do in a few short months may change. That's not the case in big companies. When you are recruiting, you must have a clear understanding of the responsibilities of the job you are recruiting, and the possibility of a change in the job's responsibilities is slim. Many people at Yahoo may not be very good for startups. I remember this discussion after the interview: "Well ... I'm not sure if they are the perfect candidate, but they seem to be a good fit for the job, so hire them. "This can work in big companies, but if startups do that, it's a dead alley," he said.

I used to be an engineer, and later I was promoted to technical manager more quickly. During the dotcom bubble, I might have hired 100 or so engineers. Through constant trial and error, I have learned a lot about recruiting. When I started to turn to the product manager, I could use some of my experience as an engineer, but I also learned a whole new set of recruiting skills. Last week a friend called me to ask how I should recruit a product manager. I find that there is no good current technique for recruiting product managers. (That is, there is no information about the product manager). More specifically, you should have an expectation for the product manager, whether it's in the environment of a big company or a start-up company, and there's not much information about it right now. So I think I should sort out what I learned in recruiting.

Remember, no one asks you to show yourself.

The product Manager may be the only one who can function well (at least for a while) without the position. Without engineers, nothing can be talked about. There is no sales, the company has no performance. Without a designer, the product simply can't bear to look directly. But in a world where there is no product manager, everyone can fill this gap to some extent and work as well. So one thing you have to remember-as a product manager, you're a consumable. In the long run, a successful product manager can bring different results from the level of winning and losing, but you must be able to prove yourself. Product managers will also take on some of the responsibilities of engineers, designers, marketing, sales and business cooperation professionals. The product manager is a strange branch full of freaks and scrap, and they don't fit anywhere. As far as I am concerned, I like technical challenges but I don't like coding. I like to solve problems but I don't like other people telling me what to do. I want to be part of a strategic decision and I want to dominate the product. The market needs my creativity, but I know I don't like to deviate too far from the technology. The engineers respected me, but they knew my heart wasn't programmed, and they thought I was too "marketable". The product manager attracted people to start liking me naturally.

1. Hire all smart people

How do I find the product manager? The most important, innate cleverness. I would hire product managers who have no experience but some bad tricks, rather than product managers who have a few years of working experience but intelligence. A product manager is fundamentally about standing in your shoes, always leading a competitor and imagining that you can gain insight into the ideas of your colleagues and users. I usually ask a candidate a series of analytical questions about intelligence and problem solving skills. I will always ask to know I think the interviewer is smarter than I am. For some reason, many of the people I know are unwilling to do so. They think it's rude to the candidate. I think the right person will like the challenge. Actually, that's the first test--look, when I say, "I want to ask some theoretical questions, okay?" How they would react. The best people are often excited to jumped from their chairs. Those who are particularly smart will respond to me with their own questions.

2. Strong technical background

Some of the experiences I've known are only for product managers with computer degrees, and I wouldn't be so snobbish--probably because of my own science and the humanities--but I really prefer those with a technical background. A solid technical background allows the product manager to have two key skills-the ability to communicate with the engineer and control the technical details of the product. Of course it also depends on the product-a product manager who makes a primary developer API must be more technical than a product manager who makes a front-end page for a personal site. But there is a basic principle that is universally applicable-a product manager with a technical background can better deliver product requirements to engineers and deliver complex product details to colleagues and users who have no technical background. So, there are some misunderstandings that need to be avoided. Most importantly, the product manager transferred by the engineer needs to realize that he or she is just an engineer. Some product managers transferred by engineers sometimes try to make some technical decisions and implementation details, which inevitably leads to some conflicts. Therefore, I like those who have been doing products for some time technical personnel. They've been through that challenging period, and you can tell by letter of recommendation that they're all better suited. I will take pains to ask questions to assess the interviewer's technical skills. It depends on the technology system and there are a lot of good suggestions for recruiting engineers on the website.

Here are some good questions to assess how adaptable a technology product manager is to the role of the product and the ability to work with engineers:

Why did you decide to switch from engineer to product manager?

What is the biggest advantage of having a technical background?

What is the biggest disadvantage of z?

What is the biggest gain of z in the process of transformation from engineer to product manager?

What do you want to know about when you're an engineer?

How does Z win the respect of the technical team?

3. "Spider-Man-like" product sensation and creativity

The following category is very subjective, difficult to define, and important. I really believe that some people are born with very good product feeling. These people just know how to make a good product. They are not necessarily always right, but their intuition always points in the right direction. They are often enthusiastic advocates of a particular point of view and sometimes make colleagues feel very angry. I am very fortunate to have worked with many of these people, which is a product manager must have the quality. It's a set-up, but it can't be learned. Product managers, especially in highly variable environments such as Web sites, may have to make a number of small decisions. Of course, there will be a lot of big ideas and decisions. But it is these small decisions that distinguish the great product managers from the qualified product managers. You know, they have a "Spider-Man-like" product feel when they come up with solutions that no one in the team can think of. Once these approaches are put forward, they will immediately shock everyone. Evaluating product intuition During an interview is a big challenge, but it can be done. What I have been doing is to see if the interviewer can do the following tasks within a one-hour interview:

Z independently of what I think of my product-if you are a good product, you will know that you have a lot of things to worry about. There may be some design flaws, some missing features, or an information architecture that needs to be modified. There are things that you feel you need to improve. For outsiders who are smart enough to have a strong product, there must be some obvious problems. I'm really looking forward to those moments in the interview where I can nod with a smile and say, "Yes, I know, we're going to be crazy about this."

Z taught me some new ideas about my product. It could be a new improvement I've never thought of, a new idea to contend with a competitor, or a problem that needs improvement that they've encountered. If I can learn something from the interviewer, I can at least know two things: (1) They are not afraid to say something critical, (2) they may be smarter than I am. I hope a product manager can do these two points at the same time.

Z leads me to some interesting new things-people who have a good sense of product tend to notice great products before others. If I was interviewing a top job seeker, I would always run away to discuss something new.

Here are some good questions to evaluate the product feel:

Z tell me about the best product you've ever used. Why do you like it? [By the way, if the interviewer mentions one of my products, I'm going to freak out. When I was at Yahoo, if someone told me that they had recently used the product is Yahoo, I will be difficult to recruit people. Very unfortunate. ]

z what makes [product Name] successful? [I usually choose a more successful product, such as an ipod or an ebay, that has cleverly won the user in a dense market. ]

Z What do you dislike about my product? How will you improve?

What problems will we encounter within a year? What about two years?

How do you know if a product is designed properly?

What's the greatest idea you've ever heard?

What's the worst idea you've ever heard?

How do you know when you should take the short cut to make the product available as soon as possible?

Z What do you learn about user interface design?

What was the biggest mistake you made in making a product?

What do you think is the most boring job for a product manager?

Do you think you are creative?

4. Win Leadership

Product managers are generally leaders in the team. But they have no direct authority over others. This means that they need to win their authority and lead others through influence. Leadership and interpersonal skills are important to product managers. There are a lot of books on leadership, so I'm not going to go into it (though most books don't really work). I found the most effective way to measure leadership in the Beijing survey. In particular, colleagues or colleagues in the same group--the person who does not report to the interviewer to write a letter of recommendation. Here are some of the questions I used to ask:

Is consistency always good?

What is the difference between management and leadership?

What kind of people do you like working with?

What kind of person is the hardest to get along with at work?

When will the team not be able to unite? Why do you think this is? What did you learn from it?

How do I get the team to complete deliverables according to schedule?

What do other people do to lose your trust?

Do you manage different parts of the people in different ways?

How to Say no?

Who is ultimately responsible for a product?

Does the team have to disappoint you and need you to take the blame?

Have you changed your tolerance for errors over the years?

Do you like good news or bad news?

How do you recruit?

5. Ability to open multiple perspectives

As a product manager, you need to take multiple responsibilities. I often joke that most of the work is for people who are not in this room right now--users, engineers, sales, administration, marketing. That means you need to be able to do other people's work, but be smart and remember not to do it. Great product managers know how to get a different perspective. They are often hateful advocates. They are often not satisfied with simple answers. In a conversation they may say that the demand is not technically feasible but after a change of tone they will say it will increase sales. There is an obvious way to assess the ability of an interviewer to think about a problem from a different perspective--to get a different person to interview. I advocate at least engineers, designers, and marketers to interview a potential product manager candidate. Depending on the job responsibilities, the list can also be increased-pre-sales engineers, technical support, developer relationships, business cooperation, law, or users themselves. Eventually anyone who might be working with this person should meet this person. Remember, I didn't say everyone wanted to see this guy. I am not saying that everyone should approve of this person--in the interview, as the increase in staff is difficult to achieve consistency, so reasonable consideration of feedback can be. But no one can judge a product manager well enough to understand the sales process better than the sales staff. I also strongly recommend that you give the interviewer detailed instructions, such as "I need you to understand whether this person understands the problems you are experiencing in the process of channel expansion and how much support he can give to your field." "Here are some specific questions I've used (just distance, can replace the name of the functional department):

How did you learn to work with sales people?

What is the best way to face the user?

How to record the market?

How do you make sure that the design is in the right direction?

How should the product manager support the work of business cooperation?

What do you think about upward management?

How to work with executives?

6. Give me a person who really made a product

This last quality may be best evaluated. Unless it's a very entry-level position, I usually use a product manager who has made a product of my own. I mean from beginning to end, from concept to implementation. There is nothing more than a product can reflect the delivery of a person's products. Past performance heralds the possibility of future success. The better part is that it can provide some tangible assessment in many intangible oceans. When checking the recommendation, I will make sure to check with the important colleagues in the project that the candidate has done in the past, especially the other product managers and the technical, sales and marketing peers. (By the way, these rules are sorted for a certain reason, and as I mentioned in the first article, I'm still inclined to recruit a highly intelligent product manager compared to an experienced person who has done a complete product.) )

PostScript: I wrote this article in 2005, when I bought JotSpot in Jotspot,google in 2006. Since then I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of good product managers and have been interviewed by more than 200 product managers. To be sure, my ideas have changed, but the middle of the year has only reinforced my thoughts about the qualities that a great product manager should have. I occasionally have the idea to update this article, but I decided to leave it as it is.