What are some behavioral questions you would ask candidates in a PMM interview for a Director level role?

I love asking behavioral questions! As a hiring manager, I gain a lot of perspective about the candidate. As a candidate, you get the chance to stand out by storytelling—one of the most important skills a PMM can master.

Two behavioral questions I would ask director-level candidates are:

1. Tell me about a time where your messaging did not work. What went wrong and what did you do about?
2. Tell me about a time a cross-functional partner gave you constructive feedback. What led to the feedback and what happened next?

In both cases, I am looking for a willingness to iterate. A director-level PMM will need to constantly make tough calls around messaging, priorities, resourcing, hiring, etc. And they won't get it all right on the first try every time. In their answers to these questions, I am looking for a willingness to be vulnerable and share concrete, specific details.

How candidates talk about their learning moments is also critical. Director-level teammates help set the tone and model behaviors for the rest of the team. Finding someone who not only takes the learning opportunity but who also passes on the learning to others can help build more trust and mentorship within the team.

• “Tell me about a time when you dealt with professional failure”
• “Tell me about a time when you had to work with an underperforming direct report ?”
• “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult co-worker in another function”
• “What is your proudest professional accomplishment since you became a manager ? Why “?
• “What is your rhythm of business ? How do you communicate priorities and keep your teams aligned” ?
• “Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your manager ? What happened” ?
• “Tell me about a time when you failed to meet your stated team goals” ?

These are just some examples. I tend to keep my behavioral questions open ended but ask a ton of follow up questions