Interview Prep Checklist

Core Preparation

Daily Tasks

Review current Technology Trends and industry updates through Favorite Blogs
Complete mock interviews via platforms like Exponent

Product Management Focus (5-6 hours)

Study PM interview frameworks through:
- Books like "Cracking the PM Interview" or "Decode & Conquer"
- Online courses like Product Alliance's PM Interview Course
- Supplementary reading: Interview Presence for confidence

Behavioral Preparation (2 hours)

Prepare stories covering:
- Professional strengths and weaknesses
- Challenge resolution examples
- Key achievements
- Core values and principles
- Learning experiences and mistakes
- Non-work leadership examples

Product Analysis (3-5 hours)

Deep dive into 6-7 products analyzing:
- Core user goals and use cases
- Key pain points and opportunities
- User personas
- Current solutions and competitors
- Areas for improvement
- Success metrics

Technical Foundation (1.5 hours)

Review fundamental technical concepts:
- Basic algorithms and data structures
- System architecture (browsers, APIs, etc.)
- Reference: Computer Science Concepts Explained

Problem Solving Practice (1.5 hours)

Practice:
- Estimation questions
- Analytical problem decomposition
- Structured solution approaches

An evidence checklist pairs role research with identified capabilities and open questions, behavioral preparation with a specific action-and-outcome story, mock practice with feedback and a revised answer, and logistics with confirmed arrangements and tested equipment. It does not prescribe a number of preparation hours. — Hours alone do not show what you can explain in an interview. This illustrative checklist names reviewable outputs for research, stories, practice, and logistics; it does not validate the time allocations above. Original diagram based on MIT Career Advising & Professional Development, Interview Primer.

Mock Interviews (2-4 hours)

Conduct practice interviews through:
- PMHQ
- Product Hired
- interviews.tech
- Peer practice sessions