

These case questions center around estimation and math skills, market sizing, profitability questions, market study (market entry, revenue growth, market share), and merger & acquisition (M&A) questions. Consulting firms rely heavily on case interviews to find their next hire. Getting the initial interview is a big hurdle it helps to network and to have a detailed and easy to read resume.īesides being well prepared to elaborate on one's past experiences, it's also very important to prepare for case interviews. The timeline for consulting roles consists of a resume screen followed by 2 rounds of interviews (the exact number of rounds may vary from firm to firm).
#Principal product manager salary full
Then if all goes well, the next and final step would be an onsite which consists of traveling to the office and participating in a full day of back to back interviews (with a lunch break in the middle - likely with a current PM on the team). A take-home assignment may also be given to the interviewee to complete. It's likely one of these interviews will be with the hiring manager. Estimation questions tend to be a little more rare nowadays, but may ask one to intelligently guess how many golf balls can fit inside of a vehicle.Behavioral questions test one's ability to clearly communicate his/her past experiences.Īfter one's resume has been submitted and a recruiter deems there to be a good fit, there typically will be 1-2 phone/video interviews. Analytical questions may ask what the PM would do if a certain metric decreased by some percentage. Product design questions may ask the interviewee to design an item for blind people. Product managers typically have 4 types of questions to face: product design, analytics, estimation, and general behavioral questions.

As competition is fierce, those with a business degree - specifically those with a top MBA diploma - will find it considerably easier to enter the world of consulting. Other educational paths aspiring consultants tend to pursue include finance (it's helpful to understand accounting and financial markets), computer science (assisting with digital transformation is in demand right now), and marketing (understanding how people think and act can help companies effectively communicate messages to customers). Going to business school and attaining a degree in management is a natural path for some aspiring consultants. However, those with a technical background will find it easier to get their foot in the PM door than those with a non-technical background. The key is to be a good partner to the various teams the PM works with and to be able to wear the various hats required as a PM. A PM working on Facebook newsfeed may have a computer science background, whereas a PM working on manufacturing systems for SpaceX spacecraft may have an aerospace engineering degree.

When it comes to product management, there may be a bias towards a degree relevant to the product the PM owns. For example, technology consultants may have prior IT experience and be hired to help bring digital transformation to a legacy client. These consultants typically already have industry experience. They may find themselves working with privately owned businesses like startups. Management consulting is dominated by three large firms in this space, known as the Big Three: McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group (MBB).Ĭorporate consultants on the other hand help with services like in-house consulting or implementation. Management consultants work with large Fortune 500 teams to co-pilot a mature business with the client. Typically, the two main types are: management consulting and corporate consulting. Want to increase revenue by xx%? There may be a consultant out there who can help. implement an internal system to save time and effort). Clients hire consultants when their businesses require assistance achieving a desired goal (eg. PMs live and breathe their product as they work iteratively to improve the experience for the end user.Ĭonsultants are in the business of advising people in a specific field. As opposed to engineers or data scientists who are specialists in their respective fields, PMs are generalists and wear different hats in order to connect the dots.Ī typical day as a PM may entail discussing design decisions, weighing pros and cons of various features to build with engineering, or meeting with users to better understand their needs. Product managers (PM) lead and influence teams to build enticing products. Considering a career in management consulting or product management? Here's your one-stop-shop to gain an overview between these two roles, the typical education required, what the interview process looks like, and the salary that can be expected.
