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Preparing for behavioral interviews? STAR is the best method to come across clearly. S - Situation - the context T - Task - what you had to do A - Action - what YOU (specifically YOU) did R - Result - the outcome, what went well or badly It's Amazon's recommended way to respond in their interviews and yet.... We all know STAR, but we've all had moments where we've word saladed to the max. Here's how to make sure it sticks * Practice with a colleague, friend, partner --> until it becomes second nature * Jot it down on your notepad and look down occasionally * Pro Tip - use our big Amazon Behavioral questions cheatsheet to get super used to the format Other things to remember * Use numbers in your answers * You're an I not a We * Ask for feedback - can I clarify anything? Do you have questions? Full article here - https://lnkd.in/eeUJgTZM

Announcing the launch of our 6th course - Product Analytics. Designed to give you a solid foundation in the skills needed to analyze and grow a tech business, including common metrics and forecasting impact, it's: * Self paced * Includes certificate of completion * 5 weeks long What you'll learn: Week 1: Metrics Foundations   Learn the fundamentals of metrics Discover what makes a good metric Understand how to set effective success metrics for your team to target   Week 2: Pirate Metrics   Understand the Pirate Metrics framework (AARRR) Uncover how this popular framework will help you model your core business funnel   Week 3: Common Metrics   Run through common metrics used by digital businesses Deep dive into product, marketing, operational and financial metrics   Week 4: Success Metrics   What a success metric is Why they are important Which metric to use to measure your team’s success   Week 5: Impact Modeling   Learn how to build your own impact model Discover how to connect product work to financial outcomes Includes multiple examples and a spreadsheet template to get you going   What you'll learn   The principles underpinning ideal metrics  The difference between leading / lagging metrics and inputs / outputs / outcomes Common product metrics like AARRR, conversion funnels and retention cohorts How to choose the right success metrics for your team How to estimate the impact a feature will have   Who it is for   Product Managers and emerging Product leaders Anyone working in tech who is looking for an introductory course for people who want a solid grounding in analytics   Check it out here - https://lnkd.in/eHy2iT4X

Jobs To Be Done is one of our favourite frameworks. This is how you understand your customers and their needs. As a result, this is how you understand what your business really does. JTBD is one of those frameworks where everyone has their own "mix". Think about it with 5 ingredients: 1. Use case 2. Alternatives 3. Progress 4. Value prop 5. Price 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 The “job” that your product does for your users. The need they have, rather than the action they are taking. Format: I want … I need … Examples: [Wise] I want to transfer money overseas [Trainline] I want to buy train tickets before I travel 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 What could customers "hire" to get the job done instead? What are they using right now? Examples: [Wise] International bank transfer, Post Office, Western Union [Trainline] Physical ticket office, National Rail website 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 Where are your customers dissatisfied, or getting blocked? What dimensions would a "better" solution improve on (Often price, speed, functionality) Examples: [Wise] Cheaper fees / Faster transfer / Simpler UX [Trainline] Cheaper prices / Simpler UX / Departure updates / Avoiding queues 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽 What unique benefits can you offer? How do you offer improvements along dimensions customers care about? Examples: [Wise] Transfer money up to 5x cheaper than high street banks [Trainline] Buy the cheapest train tickets really easily 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 What will customers pay for your value prop? Examples: [Wise] Variable (< 0.5%) [Trainline] £1-2 per ticket FREE guide + template here: https://lnkd.in/eR8nVZna 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒. 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘏𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘦

🎁 16x FREE templates for Product Managers 🎁 𝟭. 𝗦𝗻𝗮𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 Pull together a strawman strategy to get feedback from others 𝟮. 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽 Plot out how your users experience your product and how they feel 𝟯. 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 Understand what customers are really trying to get done with your product 𝟰. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗣𝗥𝗗) Streamline delivery by capturing context and decisions in one place 𝟱. 𝗣𝗥 / 𝗙𝗔𝗤𝘀 Amazon's famous way of kicking off projects 𝟲. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗴 Prioritise work and track what comes next 𝟳. 𝗢𝗞𝗥𝘀 Track impact and delivery progress 𝟴. 𝟳 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 Establish your sustainable competitive advantage 𝟵. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 Outline why a team exists, and what it plans to do 𝟭𝟬. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 Make better hiring decisions with a thorough process 𝟭𝟭. 𝗢𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 Get new hires up to speed quickly and effectively 𝟭𝟮. 𝗖𝗩 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 Highlight your experience and get a call back 𝟭𝟯. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 Use in your CV to maximise its impact 𝟭𝟰. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 Cheatsheet on common interview questions and how to respond 𝟭𝟱. 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 Map your experience to a job description to prep for interviews 𝟭𝟲. 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 How Amazon defines and reinforices its culture Get them all here: https://lnkd.in/efewjapP

We've got more memes in our Hustle Badger giveaway 🥳 Checkout the free giveaway here & maybe win yourself the chance to hang out with us all year - https://lnkd.in/er-zAk5a There's 4 days to go to enter. You don't have to send us memes, but we do like it. #product #productmanagement

CEO: “We need to replace our entire product team” “Um, ok, let’s talk about this for a moment…” Plenty of CEOs and execs are frustrated with the results they see from their product teams. Often they feel like all they need to do is replace the existing team with more experienced, “better” PMs. But really they're blaming PMs for some of their own shortcomings as leaders. Results from a product team depend on putting great PMs in a great environment. If you don’t have a great environment, it doesn’t matter how good your PMs are, you’ll still be disappointed with the results. Maybe your PMs really are awful, but before you fire them all and hire new ones, make sure you fix the environment: a) It’s much faster, cheaper and less painful b) You’ll have to do it anyway c) You’ll be surprised by what you can get from your existing team So how do you create a great environment for PMs as a leader? 🎯 Have consistent goals Of course you want to be agile, but try not to change the priorities all the time. Every quarter is ok, but every week or two and your teams will never get going. 🛡 Minimize distractions Progress is inversely correlated to the number of initiatives you have. Make sure your teams aren’t getting distracted by execs’ pet projects, internal requests or customer feedback. Have a very small (1-2) number of priorities for them to focus on. 🗺 Explain the context Spend the time up front to explain your goals and the features you’re asking for. If all you’re doing is demanding widgets from your product team, likely they’ll have a very different idea from you of what they are building and why. 💰 Talk about the money You can’t expect your PMs to make commercial decisions if they don’t have visibility of the business financials. Make this a part of every discussion (but just a part - it’s not everything!) 🛑 Be explicit where you will take risk Teams are usually quite conservative when it comes to risk, because when the site goes down they get blamed. If you want to move quickly, be very clear about the risks that you are willing to take. 👥 Manage their role breadth PMs can be excellent at lots of things - comms, analysis, delivery, user interviews… pretty much whatever you need them to, but they can’t do it all at the same time - there are only so many hours in the day. Make sure tasks as split evenly across design, engineering and data. 📄 Agree a lightweight reporting process As a leader you need status updates. To fly blind would be reckless. But bloated reporting burns many hours each week. Take 1-2 hours up front to co-create a reporting process with your PMs (i.e. tell them what you really need, and let them figure out the best way to deliver it) and you’ll save them huge amounts of time going forward. 🧡 Like Hustle Badger content? 🧡 Check us out here - https://lnkd.in/g-7YknBK

One of the challenges in our free membership giveaway is to share your favorite product management meme with us. We're loving this one. Want to share memes? Check out our giveaway here - https://lnkd.in/er-zAk5a #product #productmanagement

🎁 FREE Hustle Badger membership 🎁 We're running a giveaway for Black Friday, and you can win: 1. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 x 1 = 1 yr membership + 3x coaching sessions with Ed Biden! 2. 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 x 1 = 1 yr membership 3. 𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 x 2 = 6 mth membership 4. 𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 x 5 = 3 mth membership It's totally free to enter, all you have to do is go here and sign up: https://lnkd.in/er-zAk5a How it works: • Go to this page: https://lnkd.in/ewqmzskJ • Sign up to earn an entry into the draw * Complete further challenges to earn more entries • More entries = more chances to win • We run a draw on 𝗡𝗼𝘃 𝟮𝟲𝘁𝗵, give access to the winners straight after. The giveaway is live NOW, and ends in 6 days. You have that time to earn as many entries as you can in that time, and you can keep earning entries right until the close of the giveway. 🚀 Good luck to everyone! 🚀 Free Hustle Badger membership means: • Access to all our courses and certificates • Access to all our templates and guides • Access to our private community • Usually £29pm / £299 pm p.s. this is a Hustle Badger giveaway, promoted here, but not endorsed or run by Linkedin! Contact Hustle Badger at contact@ if you have any qs.

How do you become a CPO? Some things to think about... Firstly, it's a BIG jump from VP to CPO. It's as big as going from IC to manager. Things to think about: • You have three very different stakeholder groups to manage: people reporting into you / your exec peers / the board. These are all high-stakes relationships and very different from each other. • CEOs want execs to remove a top 5 anxiety from their plate. You need to be able to identify these worries and then totally own them for that to happen. • You'll be managing non product teams. That means you won't have your own technical expertise to fall back on. You need to be a master coach. • You're not just dealing with product problems. You'll get dragged into fundraising, M&A, major initiatives and so on. You need robust and flexible problem solving and execution skills. • You'll have VPs reporting into you. These are serious people. If you ever had the mistaken notion that your reports somehow needed to be "parented" this will be immediately knocked out of you. Needless to say, the things that you should have mastered at the VP level are now table stakes: • Setting a company strategy and vision • Designing and running the product operating model • X-functional collaboration To get a foot in the door you'll need to show: • 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 - you've got to look like a credible leader to your team and other execs. That will generally come down to the logos you've worked for and seniority you've already had. • 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 - if you're being hired to manage 100 ppl you need to have run a team of a comparable size • 𝗡𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 - previously having managed design, data, ops teams etc. demonstrates that you can abstract your leadership principles beyond product • 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 - you haven't just been along for the ride, you've really made things happen, resulting in clear commercial impact. Then you'll be tested on: • 𝗙𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘀 - is there good chemistry? Do you fill gaps that the current team has as a whole (e.g. visionary / empathetic / process machine)? • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗶𝘁 - have you solved the problem that the company has (e.g. build a product org / digital transformation / international expansion / etc.)? • 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 - can you come up with a solid strategy and vision? • 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - can you deliver consistently and effectively? • 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 - can you manage teams in line with company culture? • 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 - overweighted IMO, but lots of companies want you to know their sector really well. It will vary by company of course. For more career resources, check out - https://lnkd.in/ebFS9NYT

<10% of job applications get a call back The 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 job of your CV is to get past this 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳 Here's how to write an awesome CV 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗦 • 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹 - Your CV is a teaser to get an interview. Hirers only look at CVs for a few seconds, so your CV needs to be 🔥 . Keep it punchy. Don't dilute with details of stuff that doesn't impress. • 𝗙𝗶𝘁 - Fundamentally to get a job, you need to look like you can already do it. If you want to be a Head of Product, you've got to look like a Head of Product. Frame your CV accordingly. • 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗸𝗲 - Being really clear on your "spike" or "edge" is much better than being a generalist. Look like the perfect fit for something specific, rather than a poor match for everything. • 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 - Use power words. “led” / “built” / “shipped” not "facilitated" / "gathered" / "supported". Sound like a badass. • 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻 - On Linkedin, don't forget to update your photo, tagline and header image to something appropriate for the roles you're going after too. 𝟮𝘅 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔: 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 • 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 - How can people contact you? • 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 - What are the problems you can solve? Who do you solve these problems for? • 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 - What’s the evidence for your summary? • 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 - Where did you earn those achievements? 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕: 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 / 𝗠𝗶𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 • 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 - How can people contact you? • 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 - Where have you worked? What did you do? (2 bullets per role. Use numbers) • 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - Where did you study? • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 - To fill gaps in expected skillset (e.g. I didn’t study CS, but I’ve taught myself to code and built this app) 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗗 This is personal preference, but our 2¢ • 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 - Not generally relevant for PMs, and difficult to benchmark • 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 - Good if you can show a commonality with an interviewer. Not worth it if it’s all generic ("I enjoy cooking, movies and being outside" ... yeah, so does everyone) • 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 - High time investment and often won't get read. Only for your dream roles. And then... why not make a Loom? Examples / templates / tips here: https://lnkd.in/eMDvVJp9 Note: conversion rates in the chart are very roughly what we've seen in 5x scale ups over 7+ yrs. If your have better data, we'd love to see it!