How do you showcase your experience in product development?
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If you are applying for a product management role, you need to showcase your experience in product development. Product development is the process of creating, testing, and launching new or improved products that solve customer problems and meet business goals. In this article, we will share some tips on how to demonstrate your skills and achievements in product development during an interview.
The first step is to understand the product development framework that the company uses or expects you to use. Different companies may have different approaches, such as agile, lean, waterfall, or hybrid. You should research the company's product development methodology and be prepared to explain how you would apply it to a specific product or project. You should also show that you are familiar with the common tools and techniques used in product development, such as user research, prototyping, testing, validation, feedback, iteration, and launch.
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Tomasz Tomaszewski
💎 Top LinkedIn PM Voice | Head of Product, Author, Product Coach 👉 On a mission to help 1000+ product folks go beyond the backlog manager role
Different companies may use different approach, but from my experience these are to most important frameworks that you should know: 👉 Agile: frameworks like Scrum and Kanban focus on iterative development. 👉 Lean Startup: framework for building a minimum viable product (MVP), measuring results, and learning from customer feedback. 👉 Design Thinking: human-centered approach to solve problems 👉 Jobs to Be Done (JTBD): explores the "jobs" customers hire products to do 👉 Opportunity Solution Tree: helps identify and evaluate opportunities and solutions by mapping them visually 👉 Four Risks Framework (by Marty Cagan) 👉 OKR (Objectives and Key Results): goal-setting and tracking framework
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Heathcliff Lewis
Director, Product Management and Engagement
It's important to understand the culture in which your organization works. Do NOT attack cultural norms in your first 90 days as a PM. You want to establish credibility first and grow a base of allies who trust your judgement and decisions. If you think about the customer and work your way back into the core of development you should be able to find what works best inside your organization. As a PM for internal products, its' key to identify and understand each and every stakeholder carefully to maximize the chances of successfully influencing them toward building a desirable product.
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Ayush Arora
Founder | Product Management & Marketing Maverick | Driving Revenue Growth & Customer Success | IIMA | Duke CE | MICA
So 3 years back someone told me that if you want to showcase that you are good at something. You need to create a portfolio, because people dont have time to go through your resume. So thats where I created my own set of products. 1. My Short URL Link: https://www.myshorturl.link/ 2. Our QR Menu: https://ourqr.menu/ 3. Indian Defence Matrimony: https://indiandefencematrimony.com/ 4. Blood Donors World: http://blooddonors.world/
The next step is to highlight your product development process and how you follow it from ideation to launch. You should be able to describe the steps you take to identify customer needs, define product vision, scope features, prioritize requirements, collaborate with stakeholders, manage risks, and measure outcomes. You should also provide examples of how you adapt your process to different situations, such as changing market conditions, user feedback, or technical constraints. You should demonstrate that you have a clear and consistent process that guides your decision making and ensures quality and efficiency.
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Slaveya P.
Senior Product owner at SAP
Here we’re talking about some experience examples. Junior people might not have, rather be truthful on what you know and do not know - if you pretend you understand everything you won’t win. Things come with time and challenges you face. In an interview they should share information about the product the team you might work with, the framework used; and you can share what you have as experience. The above mentioned is too detailed no one will stay in 3h interview listening to you explaining in details. State what you’re capable of and then prove it with examples that you’re asked for.
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Tomasz Tomaszewski
💎 Top LinkedIn PM Voice | Head of Product, Author, Product Coach 👉 On a mission to help 1000+ product folks go beyond the backlog manager role
I will emphasize here the importance of showcasing real-life case studies ⚒️. - focus on challenges and how you achieved concrete results (output and especially outcomes). - these case studies should not only illustrate the journey from ideation to execution but also showcase the measurable outcomes achieved 📈. - even if you're not in a product management role, you can showcase a product mindset in your current activities. Show how you are focusing on user needs, iterative improvements, and data-driven decision-making.
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Mohammad Monis
Senior Manager, Software Development Engineering @Expedia | Ex-Intuit | Ex-Adobe
Three major steps of product development are - A) Discovery B) Planning C) Development. Each of theses steps should be improvised as per the product/ work-stream need. Being able to outline the pros and cons at each step and how to navigate through the challenges is what makes the process successful.
The final step is to showcase your product development outcomes and how they align with the company's goals and values. You should be able to quantify and qualify the impact of your products on the customers, the business, and the market. You should also be able to articulate the challenges you faced, the solutions you implemented, and the lessons you learned. You should provide concrete evidence of your product development outcomes, such as data, metrics, testimonials, reviews, awards, or case studies. You should also show that you are proud of your products and passionate about delivering value to the users and the company.
By following these steps, you can showcase your experience in product development and impress your potential employers. Product development is a crucial skill for product managers, and you need to demonstrate that you have the knowledge, the process, and the results that make you a great fit for the role.
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Tomasz Tomaszewski
💎 Top LinkedIn PM Voice | Head of Product, Author, Product Coach 👉 On a mission to help 1000+ product folks go beyond the backlog manager role
One valuable piece of advice I received in this context is to: 🌟 Consistently DOCUMENT YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS (I do this in my Notion). - When transitioning between roles, it can be challenging to recall specific details that you can later use in job interviews. - I maintain a document in Notion where I simply record all my achievements as they happen. - It's like a product management portfolio that highlights your key projects, emphasizing your role in each one and the outcomes achieved. - This allows me to easily draw from it when preparing for interviews or discussions with clients.
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Amirthavarshini LJ
Microsoft | IIM Calcutta | HSBC
One thing that I've found helpful is to not just quote experiences that went great or as planned but also an experience that didn't go as intended, and my learning from it, and how I implemented the learning the next time around. This not only adds credibility and trust but also shows that one doesn't get bogged down by experiences but instead uses it to hone their product sense and decision making from there on.
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Marcus Rountree, MBA, PMP
Senior Manager Product Management | Group Product Manager | Lead Product Manager
Product Demos are a great way to showcase your understanding of Product and to also gather feedback. Sometimes you might just have an idea, mock-up, user research or a MVP but share it with internal stakeholders to validate your assumptions and get feedback from potential users of the Product.
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Gurun Nevada Dharan
Product Guy
Action speaks louder than talk, so just do your job! As a Product Manager, your products will do the talk about your quality. Also, do not forget about consistency. When you consistent to delivery high quality result, it would build reputation around you. People will now that you mean business for them!
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Dr. Chris Henny
Test you development prototypes with certain knowledgeable and open mi def. Ustomer. Find out what changes they would recommend to feature function, visualisation and intuitiveness of use. Then fix
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Ritesh Prakash
Product Leader | LinkedIn's Top Product Management Voice l FinTech, E-com, Media | Skills: Product Management, Head of Product
You must leave a good impression with the technical interviewer and demonstrate you can be part of team. Key things to consider during interview: 1. Speak the Language: Communicate effectively with the technical team. Show that you understand their processes and challenges 2. Case Studies or Projects: Highlight past projects where your technical insights made a substantial impact 3. Data-Driven Decision Making: Discuss your ability to use data to drive decisions, such as interpreting analytics, conducting A/B tests, etc. to guide product improvements 4. Tech chops: Highlight your knowledge of current industry trends, technological advancements 5. Ask Questions: Engage in a two-way conversation to show collaboration