product interview - recruiter call

This week, I'm starting a new series "Interview Prep Deep Dive", intended to write a postal service defended to each interview type described in PM Interview Process and PM Interview Key Components. This week, lets start from the Recruiter Call, and how to best prepare for it!

For the full general product director interview procedure introduction, feel free to visit/revisit "Country That Dream Product Task" series.

I'll walk you through

  1. What is a Recruiter Call
  2. Why is it Important
  3. What to Expect
  4. How to Best Set

What Is a Recruiter Call

Here I meant the first stage of the interview process, where a recruiter gets on a call with yous to kick off the conversations about a product role you practical to (or are interested). Obviously if you made all the way through the entire process, you lot might get on a call with the recruiter a few more times.

A recruiter call is both introductory and screening in nature, where the recruiter wants to go to you lot, become you to learn more virtually the office and the company, and gauge at a very high level whether you'd be a fit or fifty-fifty whether she/he believes you lot have a chance to brand through the procedure.

Why is information technology Of import

First of all, it'due south the first "gate" yous accept to get through. If even the recruiter doesn't believe in your candidacy, you would already neglect without even talking with a single "interviewer". Secondly, information technology's your chance to empathise better the part, the company, and arguably most importantly, what to expect in the process.

Is it easy to pass? Maybe. At least relatively easier than the rest of the interviews for sure. But I have seen endless candidates end at this stage. And I'd say 90% of the failure at this stage is sheer lack of preparation, and that you're not bringing your A game. How do I know? I used to be one of them.

It is important because not merely does the recruiter screen you, she/he can become your best advocate throughout the rest of the process if you do well.

What to Expect

Information technology'south e'er of import to go along the goals in mind going into whatsoever conversations. Both yours and recruiter'south. Recruiter's main goals are:

  1. To assess your qualification/quality against job requirements
  2. To gauge your actual interest in the role and the company

Your goals should be:

  1. Showcase your qualification and interest
  2. Learn well-nigh the role, company, and the process.

Key questions to e'er be prepared for:

  1. Introduction to yourself (can come in all shape or form – "tell me a little bit about yourself", "tell me 3 things you desire me to accept away from your resume, "give me a one minute summary of your resume")
  2. Why leaving the electric current company / why interested in this function and company: this is primarily gauge your interest and your motivation. They want to know if y'all're genuinely interested in the nature of the task or because of some surface reason, or if there's any negative reasons why you lot rush to get out your electric current part (like bad performing, bad mouthing your boss / colleagues).
  3. What are you looking for / what'southward your goal : in the adjacent role and in the long term. This over again is to appraise your motivation, and come across if they believe this role tin can friction match what you're expecting (production nature, growth, culture etc.)
  4. Your relevant feel: do y'all accept specific product feel or skills that overlap with the office you're interviewing for. This is more often in a role specific process (vs general procedure without a targeted role to begin with).

Optionally, recruiters tin can really already swoop into some of the product competencies, again in order to weed out unqualified candidates. Not-exhaustive merely I've seen most frequent ones:

  1. Tell me about an major product y'all are working on / have worked on, walk me through the business organization touch and your stop to cease production management approach
  2. What are some metrics yous're tracking for your products?
  3. What's your approach to prioritize?

Then there is always time for you lot to ask questions. Either throughout the chat, or at the end.

Lastly at the end, recruiter will either say they'll take what they learned and run past the hiring team before getting dorsum to y'all, or if they volition already on the spot move you lot forward and talk to you virtually the next steps in the procedure. If you lot practice well, mostly they'd already tell yous nigh side by side steps in the call. But it's non 100% always. Sometimes they practice have to take information technology dorsum to review before communicating about side by side steps.

How to Best Set

  1. Study the function and the company: look thoroughly into job clarification. Look at the company website to understand the products, the business models, the culture at a loftier level. This volition help you lot cocky appraise your interest and match, anticipate questions, and fifty-fifty prepare practiced questions.
  2. Prepare answers to basic questions outlined above: As always, prepare answers that are concise, structured, and relevant . Relevant tin can't exist overlooked, it means "don't use a canned response". Fine melody a bit catering for this function. For case, in your self intro, with the aforementioned infinitesimal length, y'all desire to highlight the feel that'due south the about relevant to this role. For another example, you might want to match interviewer's intro's tone and stride. (E.g. if the interviewer gets casual to as well talk about his hobby, you can consider responding with a flake yours besides). Of course this final one has to be made on the fly. You tin can't set ahead.
  3. Conceptualize more questions: Always be mentally prepared to be getting more than basic questions. You cannot possibly exhaustively set up for all permutations. But the more you report almost the role/company/etc. and the more than y'all interview, the more you should be able to guess what might come upwardly. East.g. if the company cares too much about candidate's culture fit (equally per its career site or job clarification), expect some behavioral questions to come upwards. Or say, if your resume has an experience where you lot only stayed at the job for 6 months. Be prepared to speak to it. Just every bit examples.
  4. Set up good questions to ask: I can't stress enough how important this part is to all interviews, not merely with recruiters. For recruiters, set questions effectually the role, the squad, the hiring manager, the visitor, the civilisation, and the process would be good.
  5. Bring your ear and heart to the conversations: This is as well a universally important element. E'er stepping into the conversation beingness ready to mind attentively, and respond/ask questions wisely. There's no amend way to win recruiter's eye than this. Especially for a PM part 🙂

To Conclude

Mutual pitfalls I saw include:

  1. Recruiter call is easy so I don't accept to prepare at all: plenty said above. Please please exercise fix if you want the adjacent steps.
  2. I don't care equally much about the role/visitor details that much until I get an offer, so I really only desire to swoop right into learning about the interview procedure with the recruiter: fifty-fifty if it's truthful particularly because the task is too hot and getting through the interview process is the most difficult. Over again you accept to evidence enough interest and marvel. It's a function of the assessment.
  3. Recruiter reached out to me (aka "I did not apply"), and then I should be assessing them more than they're assessing me: this can't exist more wrong. Recruiters attain out, in add-on to believing you "might" be qualified, just considering that's how they work. They have to "source" candidates. They demand to enlarge the candidate pools and so that they can end up making hires. It'southward a probability game. Even if you're super qualified coming from FAANG or Unicorns, they will nevertheless need to assess you at a high level to make sure you're really what they idea y'all were.

And so promise me. If y'all're really interested in moving forward in the procedure, don't always let your guard down. Bring your A game to all recruiter calls. Will you lot?

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