In the last letter, I covered how FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) interviews are structured and why they are designed to be difficult and grueling.

In subsequent letters, I will highlight common mistakes I see PhDs make that lead them to fail FAANG interviews.

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I have done many, many mock interview sessions with my PhD clients. Two got their Meta offers last month.

I have also seen many failed interviews (myself included––back when I had little help and didn't know what the interviewers were really assessing).

My hope for this interview series is so that you go in with your eyes wide open. You know exactly what to prep for. You don't repeat these mistakes. Even if you're not interviewing right now, save this letter and re-read it when you have an interview coming up.

Vague Questions Are Intentional

🗣️ "Let's say user engagement is down. How would you design research to address this issue?"

❌ "I will design a survey to find out why engagement is down."

The most common interview pitfall is diving right in. (In general, diving right in never works, even at the beginning of a job search. You pay a hefty price later).

Answering a product question head-on is a deadly sin when it comes to FAANG interviews.

These questions are intentionally designed to be vague, so that the interviewer can access:

1. Your strategic product thinking
2. How you think on your feet

Let's go over these one by one.

1. Demonstrate Strategic Product Thinking

Real-life product questions are messy and ill-defined. The questions thrown at you, the researcher, don't usually have a clear-cut solution. Most times, they're not even the right questions.

This happens quite often when you work cross-functionally.

Boneheaded Designer

I can't tell you how many times a UX designer would throw a meeting on my calendar, only to ask "Hey can you talk to some users this week for me? I need to figure out some designs."

What do you mean by "figuring out some designs"???

• Do you need to see how users react to a design idea? ✅ Concept Testing
• Do you need to see what users think of an existing design? ✅ Usability Testing
• Do you need to see which one of the three rate cards is the clearest? ✅ Survey

I'd also need to touch base with the Product Manager of that vertical and find out:

• What is the research goal? To find out which design engages new users the most?
• How does this serve the business goal?

Third, if prior research has been done, I'd need to meet with that stakeholder (e.g., data scientist, business intelligent engineer, market analyst) so I don't repeat the same research.

P.S. This happens at Amazon, where 6 different teams have worked on the same thing with little communication among teams 🤦

Never Skip The Setup: Ask A LOT of Questions

This is why you should always answer product questions in 2 parts: setup and research design.

NEVER SKIP THE SETUP.

During the setup, you need to ask a LOT of clarifying questions to understand what the real question is.

For example, if an interviewer asks you, "What do you do if user engagement is down?"

You ask the following:

• Define metrics
  • What do you mean by engagement? Based on which metrics?
• Understand context
  • How long has this been happening? Are there temporal trends?
  • Are there geographical patterns?
  • Engagement is down within which demographic segments?
• Assess resources and constraints
  • What is the timeline for this research?
  • What are the recruiting resources we have?
  • What's the research budget?
• Define objectives
  • What is the research goal?
  • What is the business goal?

Only then do you have a clearer picture of what the real problem is. Only then can you formulate the right research hypothesis to address the real question at hand.

After you have a clear, testable hypothesis, you can then move onto the research design part of your answer, which most PhDs have little problems with.

2. Show You Think Quickly On Your Feet

If there is one takeaway from this whole letter, it is this: Do. Not. Ramble.

Interviews are meant to be stressful. They test how you function on the spot.

Stay Calm Under Stress

On the job, you will juggle multiple projects. You will face multiple deadlines. You will get ambiguous questions thrown at you from left and right.

How do you handle high-stress situations? Do you ask your manager for everything? Does your thinking process go all over the place?

Your interview is a peek into your performance on the job.

"Let Me Take A Moment To Jot Down A Plan"

One of the telltale signs an interviewee fails to think on her feet is if she starts rambling.

The way to prevent this from happening is to develop a set of go-to phrases to bring you back to the present. This could be:

• "Let me take a moment to job down a plan."
• "Let me think about this for a second."
• "I'm going to take some notes to organize my thinking."

Find your go-to phrase to help you stay calm when you start to panic. Practice saying this over and over again so it becomes a habit.

Structure Your Answers

Another way to not ramble is to develop a clear structure for your answers.

✅ For example, say "I'm going to answer this question in two parts. I'll first ask a few clarifying questions to understand the context of the problem. Then, I will suggest a few research methods to address the question. Does that sound ok with you?"

Show you are experienced, organized, and can think from the perspective of a product manager.

When in Doubt, Signpost

If you don't know if you're on/off track, always signpost and check with the interviewer:

✅ "Does this sound good to you?"

✅ "I'm going to assume we don't have prior research on this, but let me know if otherwise."

Want More Help?

If you are looking for a comprehensive blueprint to break into industry but missed the 2024 program cycle, join my 2025 Academic Trailblazer: Career Clear program by submitting an application today. We go in-depth in gaining clarity on your career path, targeting roles that highlight your competitive advantage, and develop a step-by-step plan that has landed multiple 6-figure industry offers for PhDs.

If you're actively interviewing and don't want to leave your outcome to chance, book a 1:1 mock interview intensive to drill your practice and ace your interview with confidence.

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Until next time 💕