Handling PM Interview Assignments

Picture Credits: tnstateparks.com

When I talked about how to crack PM interviews recently at a workshop, there were a lot of queries around assignments. Assignments are a great way of learning how the candidate thinks and applies his knowledge to a new problem statement. Most assignments are interesting, and as a PM you should be enjoying doing such a thing. Here's a framework I use to tackle the assignments. Have seen 100% success at the assignment round so far. As the world does it, and, for my own recall I call it PUNPICR (Pun-picker)

This is how I structure the response that I create to the problem statement given (as an assignment). I may not use them as explicit sub-headings in the document, I use it as a subtle structure underlying the document. I like to use it as a checklist instead of a template. Based on the context feel free to split, merge, reorder the following sections. 

Problem
Identifying the problem(s) correctly is half the solution. Rephrase the given scenario and put down how you see the problem. Product is usually a Solution to a Problem. That Problem is what you need to elaborate on. Call out your assumptions. Imagine yourself as the founder/CEO/owner and then describe why this is a problem, how big is it etc. Any data that you site from the internet can be helpful. Do mention the source.

Users

Who has these problems? OR Who is the target for the problem that you are trying to solve through your solution? Everyone is obviously the wrong answer. As specific you can get a better understanding of the Target Group you will showcase. You can talk about personas, demographics etc. 

Needs
What are the needs of your users? And what are their hopes dreams and fears? Sometimes it would make sense to explicitly write them down, sometimes it doesn't help to be apparent about it. But, doing that analysis will help you focus the solution better.

Priorities
Which of these needs and problems is BIG? You should totally present the impact versus effort analysis that clearly shows solving which of the problem will have a bigger impact on the target audience.

Ideas
Go ahead and put down all the ideas that can potentially solve the problem. All of them, good ones, and bad ones.

Comparison
Play the devil's advocate and identify why one idea is better than all other ideas that you've put out or may have been obvious. Sometimes, more than one idea may be awesome in your eyes. If that is the case, just choose one for elaborating if you can't pick all of them.

Recommendation
Keep the best for the last. Now is the most interesting part that you've been restless to present. The Solution. Since you've established the background, state the obvious. Why is this the most preferred solution? And then, describe the solution with Diagrams, Wireframes, Pictures, User stories, Analysis, Business Model etc. whatever it takes to establish the idea clearly.

Also when you elaborate on one solution, feel free to talk about the costs, the pricing, and projections on how you break even, etc. Deep diving into one of the ideas showcases your business mindset and analytical skill. In the absence of numbers please assume based on your general sense. The closer you are to real numbers the better it gets (Google is your friend). 

Happy interviewing!  

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If this post has been helpful, do leave a comment and let me know.