Microsoft Product Manager Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Jan 2007 in Redmond, WA (took 2 days)

I worked at MSFT for 8 years. I went thru all day interview process twice. Once for an MBA internship and once for a fulltime gig. While at MSFT, I managed a team of 8-10 product managers for most of my time there. I was constantly interviewing others for positions on my team while there. Some thoughts for interviewing for marketing positions

1) Passion. Absolutely mandatory to show passion for technology. Often it is less abotu absoute knowledge and more about passion and ability to ramp. Your first PC, what you like about your ipod, why smartphones will change the world, etc. Pick your story and use it during the interview. Become familar and direct questions back to where you are comforatble.

2) Structured Thining. MSFT is a place of grayness often. It is up to you to figure things out. Having frameworks and strucuture to thinking is key. It will help you address unkown or new challenges - at work and in the interview process.

3) Metrics. Like any big company, metrics are key. MSFT is just figuring this out relative to your big marketing companies like P&G. Show how you think about metrics - markeshare, revenue, new accounts, etc. Use metrics to show your past expereinces and projects