Reddit reviews Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology

+1 for this. "I'm not a programmer, but I work well with them and can translate for them to non-technical people." is exactly what a PM is. You might find this book valuable.

Depending on how much project management you do vs. personnel management, there is Cracking the PM Interview by the same author (though possibly ghostwritten).

General personnel management probably involves more general management interview questions, for which I'm sure a million books have been written (though I don't know enough about them to recommend a specific one).

Edit: If you haven't already, though, read Peopleware. If more shops were run like they suggest, the world would be a better place.

If you haven’t been recommended it yet, you might want to check out Cracking The PM Interview

Check out Cracking the PM Interview, written by the author of Cracking the Coding Interview. I found it invaluable for understanding how to position myself and prepare for PM interviews.

If I was running an 'Interviewing for PM roles 101' first and foremost I'd go over this article by Ken Norton. It runs the gamut of questions I've had over the course of many interviews and sets expectations around a possible interviewers frame of mind.

For books I have three: Cracking the PM Interview, Swipe to Unlock, and Decode and Conquer. Cracking the PM Interview is a general overview of what PMs do, how to prepare for interviews, and general interview questions. Swipe to Unlock give reasons for why certain PM decisions were made and the strategy behind it. Decode and Conquer has more interview questions, but also sample answers to them and is a bit more technically-focused.

My recommendation is to come up with something you want to build and explore what it would take to do that. For example, what if I was interested in who would win the Oscars? I might use Twitter's Search API and explore which movies come up the most with the hashtag Oscars. What would that take? Well, I would have to integrate with Twitter security so they know it's a valid request, use Twitter's documentation to figure out how to search for terms, and then import that into a data analysis tool to do sentiment analysis. In an interview I discussed what I would build, worked through what features I would want to add, and a roadmap for deployment, which was a fun exercise!

Cracking the PM Interview here: https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-PM-Interview-Product-Technology/dp/0984782818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535773043&sr=8-1&keywords=cracking+the+pm+interview would be a good place to start :)

Cracking the PM Interview is a pretty good resource: http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-PM-Interview-Product-Technology/dp/0984782818

Read cracking the pm interview.

Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984782818/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_HAdBzb02F7VZV

Sounds like you'd like product management or project management?

Check out this book for more information.

Cracking the PM Interview is a great resource.

This is a great start! I'm going through a similar process of resume refinement right now, so I understand how much work is involved. I'm including a bunch of feedback based on what I've learned so far and had success with. I've also hired a couple of PMs as a part of my current role, which has helped with seeing what "clicked" for me when on the hiring-side of things. Apologies for the length in advance, hopefully this is useful.

• Emphasize the tech aspects of your current work instead of mentioning construction. Was there any software involved, maybe the marketing website? If so, include how you optimized the site (A/B tests, Analytics, heatmaps, whatever). If you mention construction, tie it back to general product management.
  
  
• As a PM, I can see that you contributed significantly to growth. 60% YoY growth is awesome! Your skill set potentially aligns with the role of a Growth PM at a SaaS company. Look into the metrics those type of PMs use and see if you can structure your resume around them. Note: Growth is a very specific skill set and a potential selling point. It might also pigeonhole you, so consider having a growth focused version of your resume and a general PM version.
  
  
• Adapt phrasing of your accomplishments. Instead of "contributed to 60% YoY growth", consider phrasing like "generating 60% YoY growth". I know that normally you want to emphasize that your product's success is a team effort. With a resume, however, you need to set aside that humility and realistically look at the outcomes that you made happen. This will feel weird at first if you're not used to taking credit as a leader. That's a good trait to have most of the time, but your resume is one of the places where it's 100% okay to brag about the great work you've done.
  
  
• Continuing the previous point, adapt each line of your resume to be focused on the outcomes you've delivered to your company as a PM. What were the results of your different responsibilities? How did you move the needle on key performance indicators? You might need to do some additional research to discover this, particularly if your company is less data informed. You're already doing this for a number of points in your resume, which is awesome.
  
  
• I would check on this with a couple other people, but you should use present tense verbs for your current role and past tense verbs for previous roles. Both should have an active voice, not a passive one.
  
  
• "aggressive timelines and multiple roadblocks" sounds really negative. I can tell that was a stressful project for you, but also something you take pride in. Restructure this line so it focuses on what you're proud about instead of what stressed you out. It will show you're resilient and don't hold grudges.
  
  
• Revamp your background section, it reads a lot like an old school objective field. Optional: Consider bullet points.
  
  
• Consider taking a scrum certification course for Product Owners. It will show you have a strong grasp of agile concepts regardless of your industry. Your existing certs for Google and Facebook Ads are great. Make sure to use the exact names of each product if you aren't already. (eg Google Adwords)
  
  
• If you haven't already, read "Cracking the PM Interview" by Gayle McDowell and Jackie Bavaro. It will help structure how you think about your accomplishments as a PM and also prep you for interviews. Here's a non-referral link to it on Amazon.
  
  
• Remove the blue hyperlinks from URLs and your email.
  
  
• As a final note, you've only been a PM for about a year and a half. This might make things more challenging since you're still fairly early in your career. It's not a deal-breaker, you just need to show you've learned quickly and rapidly grown into the role. Focus on applying to roles that don't require too many years of experience. Most entry PM positions say 2-3 years, but companies are often flexible. APM roles tend to focus on recent graduates as a sort of apprenticeship. With your skillset, it seems like you should be able to get into a standard PM role somewhere.
  
  Keep at it and don't get discouraged! Your next opportunity is out there.

I highly recommend the Cracking the PM interview book. They thoroughly explain how to answer all these interview questions, and the book is tailored to Big Tech. It’s project/program management focused but the behavioral portion is applicable to engineers. And the advice isn’t overly brief or generic- it’s step by step exactly how you need to answer the question and also includes very thorough examples. I was Googling how to interview for Big N and found other folks who recommended this book. I read it and it’s helped me focus my interview prep sessions (still waiting to hear about offers!). If you answer questions the way they tell you to in this book, you will set yourself apart from all the mediocre people who just wing interviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-PM-Interview-Product-Technology/dp/0984782818

I'm doing EE/CS at a top uni. as well, and I was able to land a PM job after some hard work. Some tips I'd give:

1. Make sure you really want to be a PM, really research what it's about, and imagine yourself working everyday as one, will this make you happier?
   
   
2. Dedicate a technical class worth of time to do applications, interviews, emailing, and interview prepping. PM jobs are harder to find, particularly for new grads. You want to maximize your chances. I was spending nearly 3 hours each day on recruiting-related stuff during my peak month, going to at most 3 on-site interviews per week.
   
   
3. Taking business/entrepreneurship classes definitely helps, but make sure to not waste too much time learning the wrong things. For most new-grad PM jobs, you don't need to learn complicated economic mathematics or MBA-level management methods. You'd rather spend that time studying for interviews and analyzing the market.
   
   
4. Framework, market knowledge, and interview prep can only get you so far. You really need to like thinking about this stuff and have a good product intuition. My friend wrote a great blog post about new grad PM and she has some great tips. I'll paste her "why PM" here:
   
   > - If you have a creative vision
   > - If you love to talk about or review products
   > - If you like wearing many hats
   > - If you like shaping the big picture
   > - If you have a keen eye for design, but also the technical chops to run with the engineers
   > - If you are a technical person who doesn’t see yourself simply coding all your life
   > - If you are double majoring in computer science and [business, psychology, economics, etc]
   > - If you enjoy getting messy with data
   > - If you don’t shy away from problems but instead actively look for solutions
   > - If you can explain ideas well
   > - If you are interested in what the users have to say
   > - If you enjoy people
   > - If you send well-written, actionable emails
   > - If you are the master of your inbox
   > - If you like to move around and not sit at your desk all day
   > - If you can stay organized and on top of deadlines
   > - If you are passionate about what you do
   
   If this list doesn't sound like you at all, then no amount of interview prepping will come through as passion, good vision, and intuition.
   
   Lastly, get the book called Cracking The PM Interview. I won't try to parrot some great interview and company specific knowledge in this book, it helped me a lot.
   
   TL;DR: Make sure you actually want to be a PM, spend a lot of time writing emails/applications and studying for interviews, only take classes useful to PMing, and read that book.

I've heard Cracking the PM Interview is very helpful

Can’t recommend this book enough (300 pages):

Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984782818/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kWKyCb3XHZKFX

“This is Product Management” Podcast: Great material that’s pretty dense with little bullshit. Could easily snag some great management theories and jot them down.

YouTube Nir Eyal. Wrote the book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-forming Products.” He’s a great speaker. Beyond him there are a ton of great YouTube videos of people in product, ProductCon videos might be a start.

Eric Reis blog.

Cracking the PM Interview is probably pretty legit, especially since Gayle & Asana, the two authors, both worked at Google.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/caarub/swes_or_data_scientists_who_became_product/

This book might prove useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-PM-Interview-Product-Technology/dp/0984782818

To me it sounds like you want to explore product management.

Check out this book:
Cracking the PM Interview

It has a chapter on transitioning into the role from a developer, why technical experience is vital and whether or not you actually need an MBA. It won't have all of the answers but it sounds like it's asking the same types of questions that you are interested in. Hopefully it gives you a better perspective on the role and whether or not you'd really like to pursue that world.

You might want to check out this book- Cracking the PM Interview .It's a little dated now, but talks about what it's like to interview at a number of companies, including Facebook. Can I ask a question in return? I'm looking to pivot into the PM role. However - I lack a technical background. Any recommendations on how to address that in general or in the interview? Can I ask what small/medium sized companies you worked at? All people talk about are the big 4-5 :)

Program Manager can mean different things at different companies but I'd highly recommend checking out Cracking the PM Interview. Even though it's interview themed it will teach you all the basics of product management (which may or may not align with what you're doing in your day job but will certainly be related and good to know).

Depending on what your current job entails I can also recommend some books on project management, user experience, soft skills, etc.