What kind of product managers should be favored?

I've been recruiting for a start-up company for a while, and startups are obviously different from hiring big companies. In Yahoo! Search, we seem to be continually recruiting. An average of 5-8 interviews a week. Endless resumes, interviews and employment notices. Now, I'm not always hiring manager. I just recruit a handful of product managers during working hours. But someone is always hiring a product manager, so I usually get involved in the interview team. The first thing you notice in a big company is the number of specializations. In startups, everyone does something, so you need a great generalist. More importantly, it's hard to foresee the future, so you need someone with strong adaptability. You may feel like hiring someone to do something special, but a few months later something changed. This will not happen in big companies. You usually have a very special role to play in recruiting because there is a low probability of change in responsibilities. Yahoo! recruit a lot of people, this in the start-up company is likely to be inappropriate. I think back to a lot of conversations after interviews, almost like this-"Well, I'm not sure they're perfect candidates, but they seem to have a lot to do with this particular character, so let's hire them." "This can work in big companies, but it's a fatal idea in startups," he said.

I started my career as an engineer and soon got into technology management. During the bubble, I should have hired more than 100 engineers. I learned a lot when I was recruiting, basically through mistakes. When I go to product management, I can apply some of the experience of recruiting technicians, but I also learned a whole new set of lessons. A friend called last week to say he needed a product manager and wanted me to give some advice. I realize there's not much good information about hiring PM (generally not much good information about product management). More importantly, no matter what environment you are in-start-up or large companies, there are not many things you can find in product management. So I think I'll integrate some of the things I've learned.

Remember, man, nobody asked you to show up.

Product management can be a work (at least for a long time) without its organization or operation. No engineers, no construction. No sales staff, no sale. Without a designer, the product looks like crap. But without the PM of the world, everyone just fills the gap and continues to live alone. It's important to remember this--as PM, you have to sacrifice. Now, in the long run, product management usually works between winning and losing, but you have to prove it. Product management will also be a number of professional factors binding-engineering, design, marketing, sales, business development. Product management is a strange and negative subject which is full of otherness and negation, and there is no field that conforms to it. For me, I love the technical challenges of engineering, but I don't like other people telling me what to do. I want to be a part of a decision strategy and want to have a product. Marketing requires me to be creative, but I know I don't like being too far away from technology. Engineers respect me, but know that my mind is elsewhere, and I think I'm too "marketing". People like me tend to project management in nature.

1. Hire all smart people

So what do you fancy about hiring PM? The most important thing is intelligence. In any case, I will adopt a malicious, inexperienced, but wise pm, relative to a mediocre, inexperienced candidate. The most basic product management to consider a firm footing, a step ahead of the competitor, and can think of colleagues think, thinking customers. I usually ask the candidate a series of analytical questions to estimate their IQ and problem-solving abilities. I usually ask to make sure he's smarter than me. For a few reasons, many of the people I know reluctantly do so. They argue that this is a smear job candidate. I think the right candidate will like the challenge. Actually, that was the first step-they said to me, "I want to throw a few practical questions, OK?" How to react. The best response is usually they are excited to jump out of the chair. Super smart candidates sometimes counter their own problems.

2. Strong technical background

Some of the managers I know insist on employing PM with a computer science degree only. I'm not that snobbish--probably because I'm an undergraduate in literature and technology--but I do prefer people who are already in the technical role. Having a solid engineering background gives PM two important tools-the ability to relate to engineers and the technical details of driving a product. Of course the product--the PM working at the low-level development API is more technical than the PM working on the Web site of the front-end personnel bar. But the basic principles apply consistently--a product manager with a technical background will be more successful in conveying the product requirements to the engineers, the big fat details to the non-technical colleagues and customers. That means there's a trap you need to avoid. Most importantly, the PM who worked as an engineer needs to be aware that he or she is just that--a former engineer. PM from engineering still tries to be responsible for technical decisions, and implementation details will collapse to the public. For that reason, I like to hire technicians who have moved towards product management in their previous jobs. They have undergone a challenging phase of adaptation, and through introspection you can feel how to evolve better. I don't have the patience to grind interview questions to assess technical skills. Those questions are based on skill, and there are hundreds of websites that recruit engineers. Instead, there are a few good questions to estimate how well a technical PM can adapt to the role and the ability to work with engineers:

Why did you decide to switch from engineering to product management?

What is the biggest advantage of having a technical background?

What is the biggest disadvantage?

What is the biggest lesson when you move from technology to product management?

What is your known hope when you are an engineer?

How do you win the respect of the technical team?

3. Sharp product instinct and creativity

The following competencies are highly subjective, difficult to assess, and particularly important. I strongly believe that some people are born with product intuition. These people only know what makes a good product. They are not always right, but their intuition usually points in the right direction. They are often enthusiastic advocates of a point of view and sometimes annoy colleagues. I'm glad I've worked with a lot of these people, which is the most basic feature of product managers. It can be adjusted, but not learned. Especially in a highly dynamic environment like the Web, product management involves many small decisions. Admittedly, there are a lot of big ideas and decisions. But the good PM distance is the small decision. You know, when they come up with a solution that no one in the team can think of, they've got a sharp product instinct, but when the team hears about it, it gets hit. Evaluating product intuition During an interview is the most challenging. But it can still be evaluated. One thing I always do is confirm that the candidate has completed the following tasks in the one-hour interview:

Independently echoed some of my own concerns about the product I was responsible for-if you are a good pm, you can certainly list a bunch of things that worry you about your product. It may be a lack of UI, a missing feature, or an architectural flaw that should be addressed. These are the things you know you need to solve. At least some of the smart outsiders who have a strong product intuition should be the obvious problem. I looked for my smile and nodded in the interview and said, "Yes, I know--that has made us ecstatic." "Such a moment.

* * Tell me something new about my product **--it can be an obvious improvement I've never considered, a new idea to position against a competitor, or a problem that they've encountered that needs to be solved. When I learned this from a candidate, I learned two things: (1) They are not afraid of critical statements, (2) they may be smarter than me. I want a product manager with both.

Bring me something fresh and meaningful-people who have strong product instincts often preempt others ' attention to good products. If I'm interviewing a top-notch candidate, it's usually easy to find something fresh and meaningful. Here are some good questions to judge product intuition:

Tell me about a good product you've touched recently. Why do you like it? "by the way, when a candidate says a product I'm responsible for in an interview, it fascinates me." Oh, my God, it's hard to find a Yahoo! interview to tell me what they've been up to Yahoo! Such a person "

What makes "Insert here" successful? "I usually cite a popular product, such as an ipod or an ebay, that easily wins consumers in a crowded market. 】

What parts of my product do you dislike? How will you improve it?

What problems will we encounter in the next 1 years, 2 years, 10?

How do you know that a product design is good?

What was the best idea you ever had?

What is the worst idea?

How do you know when to cut corners and release the product?

What lessons have you learned about user interface design?

How do you decide what not to compile?

What is the biggest product mistake you've made?

What do you think is the most tedious aspect of product management?

Do you think you are creative?

4. Nurture Leadership

Product managers are usually the leaders of their organization. But typically they are not directly above others. That means that they rely on influence to win authority and leadership. It is critical for product management leadership and communication skills. There are thousands of books about leadership, so I'm not going to be the subject of this discourse (anyway, most books are in the grip). I've found that background checks are the most effective way to measure leadership skills, especially those involving co-workers and individual contributors who work with candidates-but don't report to him. But there are a few questions I used in the past:

Is it always good to agree?

What is the difference between management and leadership?

What kind of people do you like working with?

What types of people do you find difficult to work with?

Tell me about a team that won't glue. Why do you think it's going to happen, what have you learned?

How do you get the team to stick to the schedule?

What do other people do to make you lose faith?

Are you in charge of the material?

What have you learned about saying "no"?

Who is ultimately responsible for releasing the product?

Have you ever been in a team that let you down and you have to bear the blame?

How has your fault tolerance changed over the years?

Good news and bad news, which one do you like to hear first?

What is your method of recruiting?

5. Ability to look at problems from different angles

As a product manager, you need to wear more hats. I've always joked that most of the time your job is to be an advocate for those who are not currently on the team--customers, engineering, sales, executive, marketing. That means you need to be able to do other people's work, but if you're smart enough you know you don't need to. Good PM knows how to look at the problem in many ways. They often play the devil's Advocate. They are often dissatisfied with simple answers. In a conversation they may tell you that the demand seems to be technically unworkable, and after a breather, ask the salesperson how to make sense of it. There is a straightforward way to assess a candidate's ability to think in multiple ways--for many people during the interview process. I always insist on a minimum to meet a potential PM candidate from engineering, design, and marketing representatives. Depending on the role, this list can be added-pre-sales engineering, support, developer relationships, business development, law, or Customer self. The last person to work with this person should be able to satisfy them. Note that I did not say that everyone needs to meet them. Each of the carefully selected functional representatives is capable. This does not mean that everyone has to thumbs up-when the interviewer increases the interview process is difficult to achieve unity of opinion, so give proper consideration to feedback. But no one can tell that a product manager knows sales as well as salespeople. I also strongly recommend that you give the interviewer specific instructions, like "I want you to see how well this person understands the problems you are facing in the channel development, and how much support you have in the field." "Here are a few of the specific questions I use (these are just examples and can replace the feature name):

Do you know how to work with sales?

What is the best way to cooperate with customers?

What's the end of the marketing picture?

How do you know the design is correct?

How should product managers support business development?

What do you know about upward management?

What's the best way to work with a IGN person?

6. Find me someone with experience.

This last one may be the easiest to assess. I usually hire a product manager who has actually released a product unless it's a very junior level. I mean from start to finish, from concept to launch. There is nothing better than doing it before to know that a person publishes a good product. Past performance is an indicator of future success. Better yet, it gives something tangible to evaluate a lot of untouchable things. When verifying letters of recommendation, I always make sure to talk to my key colleagues about the previous project, especially PM's managers, their engineering and sales/marketing partners. (Incidentally, these rules are set for a reason, and when it comes to the 1th aspect, I still use bright, bright PM compared to the dim experienced pm, even if he hasn't published a product before).