Ops to Product: PM Mock Interview Insights

PM Mock Interview - Transitioning from Operations to Product Vision

At GoCrackIt, we believe mock interviews are the ultimate bridge from preparation to confidence. In this session, we dive into a mock interview practised by a candidate poised to transition into product management at a leading Indian e-commerce company. Guided by Ashutosh Kale, the candidate tackles a challenging design scenario. With an internal interview looming and startup opportunities on the horizon, this exchange is a masterclass in mock interview preparation, blending real-world insights with actionable feedback to elevate skills.

Meet the Mentor

Ashutosh Kale is a seasoned product management expert with over 15 years of experience. He is currently the Principal Product Manager at Intuit, with previous roles at Microsoft, Bharti Airtel, and Aviva Life Insurance. Holding an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a BE from Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Ashutosh specializes in Product Management, Strategy, and Telecom, providing valuable insights for aspiring professionals.

Discussion

The candidate, a mechanical engineering grad and operations expert, shared e-commerce experience in supply chain and seller management, aiming to pivot to product management via an internal role or startups.

Candidate: I’m eager to transition into product management. I’m aiming for an internal switch within my current organisation, as transitioning to a large organisation without product experience would be challenging. I’ve applied for a role internally and expect an interview within a week, likely designing or building something for customers or the seller ecosystem. Alternatively, I’m open to startups. For this practice interview, I’m comfortable with product sense, design exercises like ‘X for Y,’ or problem identification and solving. I’d love to cover both if time permits, but I’m happy to start with product sense.

Ashutosh Kale: Product design is a great place to start, and I recommend it. If you have something specific in mind, let me know.

This clarity and enthusiasm set the tone for a dynamic mock interview focused on product design.

Mock Interview

Ashutosh launched the practice interview with a compelling challenge: the candidate is the key product officer at a startup building a job service portal for blue-collar workers, aiming for product-market fit in six months.

Ashutosh: Imagine you’ve been tapped by a startup to create a job service portal for blue-collar workers. You’re the key product officer. How would you design this?

Candidate: First, are we a startup with experience designing such platforms, or are we outsourcing this? Can I assume our capabilities? (clarifying the startup’s context)

Ashutosh: It’s your call. You’ve been onboarded as a founder, so we trust you to define it.

Candidate: Are we the first in the market, or are there competitors who’ve tried this?

Ashutosh: You’ve noted some competitors exist but haven’t made a significant impact.

This exchange showcased the candidate’s thorough approach to understanding the market landscape before diving into solutions.

Strategic Focus—Why Manufacturing Wins

With the scope clear, the candidate proposed targeting young Indian professionals aged 18 to 25 in two industries: manufacturing and quick commerce.

Candidate: I aim to achieve product-market fit for a blue-collar job service app in six months. Despite competition, there’s an opportunity to capture the market. I’ll focus on manufacturing, which has a high blue-collar workforce and cost-cutting needs, and quick commerce, which is growing in metro cities with delivery jobs.

Ashutosh: If we must pick one industry, manufacturing or quick commerce, which would you recommend, and why?

Candidate: I’d lean toward manufacturing. Blue-collar workers often seek job stability. Quick commerce requires agility and constant pressure, which may not suit long-term needs. Manufacturing offers stability and a path to growth, like transitioning from a blue-collar role to leading a plant or department. I’d focus on permanent or contract-based roles in manufacturing to address these aspirations.

Ashutosh: Makes sense. What are you recommending?

This exchange showcased the candidate’s ability to align user needs with market potential.

Solving Real Challenges—Empathy in Design

The candidate dove into the pain points faced by blue-collar workers, demonstrating deep empathy.

Candidate: Before any recommendations, let’s look at the key pain points for blue-collar workers, including:

Job authenticity: Workers worry about scams. We need to ensure genuine job postings.
Language barriers: Many blue-collar workers speak vernacular languages, not English, and use local dialects.
Expectation mismatch: Workers may apply for jobs without knowing if their skills align, leading to disappointment.
Limited information: Blue-collar workers often rely on word-of-mouth or peer influence, which can lead to misinformation.
Another pain point is family constraints, especially for female workers. For example, parents may not allow them to travel far, like beyond 100 kilometres. I’d address this in the user journey.

Ashutosh Kale: Can you explain the user journey?

Candidate: For the user journey, I envision a simple mobile app interface where workers log in using a mobile number and verify identity with an Aadhaar or PAN card linked to a government database for basic sanity checks. This addresses authenticity and reduces organisational background verification hassles. The app would:

Verify job postings with industry partners to ensure they’re not scams, and build trust.
Offer a location-based filter, like jobs within 40 miles, to address family concerns, especially for female workers.
Use a voice assistant in Hindi as an MVP to overcome language barriers, allowing users to search for jobs verbally, like ‘Find me a manufacturing job near me.’ This could expand to other languages later.
Provide clear job descriptions and skill requirements to prevent expectation mismatches.
Allow organisations to schedule interviews within the app, reducing candidate hassle

This solution reflected the candidate’s user-centric approach and practical problem-solving.

Feedback and Career Advice

Ashutosh: For the Product Sense Case Interview, you need to look into time management. The objective of these questions is not to reach the perfect solution, but to demonstrate how you can solve this problem in a structured manner. You should also demonstrate claroty of thought, conviction of your thinking.

Here I think you were trying to use the CIRCLES framework which I figured out, which was good. As a recruiter, I start evaluating from the clarifying questions itself, as its part of the product design process.

Whether to build an app or a website – its your decision. Do not ask that as clarifying question – it is a wasted question. Asking what was the goal, again was a wasted question.

Also, before getting into design, you need to have bigger picture in mind. You were taking pauses for each section, which was disrupting the flow. If you had the bigger picture in mind, then flow would have been better. For me, the clear issue was that you had not thought about the problem in depth. When we create this job service portal, by definition we need to have supplier and demand, right, which means that it’s a Marketplace. And therefore you have to solve for the marketplace, I think you kind of jumped into the persona for individuals.

Candidate: Yes, I jumped to the candidate’s perspective without addressing the marketplace’s supply side, why organisations would use the platform.

Ashutosh: Exactly. For segmentation, use a consistent framework, like market size, growth rate, or profitability, to justify choices. Holistic thinking builds products that serve all stakeholders.You were able to demonstrate customer empathy which is a big win right in any product design interview, but it’s the foundation of coming up with good solution

You’re on the right track. Practice structured thinking and mock interviews to improve. An internal switch is a smart move, as breaking into product management without experience is tough in this market. Build experience there, then leverage it for future roles.

Suhruta: No, focus on global experience and skills. Highlight the two deals and summarise other work, aligning with the job description. For formatting, use ‘9’ for years of experience, not ‘nine,’ and convert all currencies to USD for consistency.

Candidate: Thanks for your advice and feedback.

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PM Mock Interview - Transitioning from Operations to Product Vision

Meet the Mentor

Discussion

Mock Interview

Strategic Focus—Why Manufacturing Wins

Solving Real Challenges—Empathy in Design

Feedback and Career Advice

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