AMA: Salesforce VP of Product Marketing, Rekha Srivatsan on PMM Interviews

I'm a huge fan of shorter, concise resumes. If you can articulate your journey and experience on one page, it will help me to process your resume well. Some red flags I've observed: * Typos/grammatical errors - Attention to detail is a core skill for a PMM, so it is a big turn-off for me if your resume has these errors. * Lack of customer narrative - Customer conversations are integral to a PMM role, so if it's not mentioned in your resume that's a flag for me. * Run-on sentences - As a PMM, you are expected to have clear, concise communication -- verbal and written. * Too much fluff - When stating your experience, be real and practical. Don't exaggerate it too much or make it super jargon-y that its difficult to follow.

This is a fun challenge! Because most junior candidates are extremely eager to learn and super coachable. I'd ask: * Does the candidate have excitement around the product? Or do they believe in the vision? Ask them how they connect to the product or company? For example: when I hired junior PMMs for my SMB business, I'd ask them for their favorite small business. * Ask them to do a trial of your product and see what feedback they provide. This one is a good one because that's the product they will be working on and it helps to see how they think about product strategy. * Ask them to come up with a tagline for the new product/feature. This would help you see what factors they take into consideration and how creative they can be. * If you are in the B2C business, ask them for their favorite product and why. Gives you a glimpse into how they analyze a product and what catches their attention. 

I'm a huge fan of shorter, concise resumes. If you can articulate your journey and experience on one page, it will help me to process your resume well. Some red flags I've observed: * Typos/grammatical errors on resumes - Attention to detail is a core skill for a PMM, so it is a big turn-off for me if your resume has these errors. * Lack of customer narrative - Customer conversations are integral to a PMM role, so if it's not mentioned in during the interview that's a red flag for me. * Run-on sentences - As a PMM, you are expected to have clear, concise communication -- verbal and written. * Too much fluff - When stating your experience, be real and practical. Don't exaggerate it too much or make it super jargon-y that its difficult to follow.

I don't care about the candidate's background when interviewing for my team. I've hired folks from engineering, solution engineering, sales, and customer success teams and they've become successful PMMs. That being said, most of them have this in common: * Can-do and flexible attitude - Ready to take on any challenge. Open to solving it creatively and however long it takes to wrap it up. * Connecting the dots - Instead of being siloed as just a PMM, thinking about the adjacent functions like campaigns / content / GTM teams and how to involve them. * Good copywriting skills - Flair for writing is key for a PMM. * Product experts - Know the product extremely well and ready to strategize with the product team for roadmap discussions. * Creative problem-solvers - Always thinking about ways to do things differently and not afraid to try something new. 

I love when candidates go above and beyond! I always do when I interview for my next role. A 30-60-90 is extremely helpful for the hiring manager to know how you prioritize and candidly, will also help you decide if the role is the right one for you. I'd almost always have a deck with my 30-60-90, SWOT of the product, the target persona analysis for any role you are applying for.

For more senior roles, I'd ask more about their decision-making skills around the team and PMM. For example: * Tell me about a time when your product launch budget was cut by half. What did you prioritize and why? * You have 2 great team members both looking to grow their careers and you can promote only one. What factors do you consider in this decision? * Tell me about one of the products that you worked on that was not successful. What did you learn from that experience? For more junior roles, I'd ask about their marketing experience. For example: * Your fav marketing campaign and why? * You launch a new feature and there Is low adoption by your customers. What data would you evaluate and how would you respond? * What do you think about the messaging on the website. One thing you like and one thing you don't like?