5 tips for TPM interview prep
There are a number of guides available out there on how to prepare for a technical program manager interview, so I will keep this article brief and to the point.
1. Read up
Articles on the internet on conflict resolution, risk management, dealing with difficult people, influencing without authority. If you can, get hold of books that go in details on each of these topics. Check out online resources on your local public library for getting access to some great books. Use these as a quick lookup to get some tips.
2. For cracking the system design interview
Don’t directly jump into the readymade system design answers available on multiple websites and YouTube videos. Start with the basics. Refresh your NoSQL fundamentals by skimming through books like NoSQL distilled, and other websites that discuss -scaling, replication, sharding fundamentals. Great articles are linked in this page: Github. Another good read on the pro-cons of different Apache open source projects for Big Data processing is Digital Ocean. After you have the fundamentals revised, you can review existing solutions from educative, codekarle and other such sources.
3. LinkedIn has some really great courses
Hybrid Project Management, Becoming a Product manager — that can be used as a handy reference to quickly review agile methodologies — scrum, kanban, estimation and overall project management process. Becoming a Product manager has some great tips on working with engineers, management and stakeholders. Btw if you don’t want to spend on a LinkedIn membership, ask a friend who works for LinkedIn to provide you one for free.
4. Behavioral interviews
This is a the most challenging section of the interview and a TPM interview has a bunch of these. To nail this, you need to master the art of providing just enough context and complexity to get down to the part where you shine. Keep the interviewer engaged by checking if they are with you as you set the stage and provide context. Also always take a moment to think about why that question is being asked. Remember it it not about providing an account from your experiences that match the scenario asked. It is about bringing out your attitude and problem solving skills that will portray you as a candidate that they do not want to miss.
5. Company research
Different companies have widely different expectations from a technical program manager. These differences are highlighted in the focus areas of the interviews. Do your research to understand how they will be evaluating you.