How to read a job description better than 99% of other candidates
Since the Meta layoffs started, I have been getting messages every day from leaders with some version of the same question: How do I begin to prep for an interview? I have not interviewed in years. If you have the same question, this email is for you. The prep does not start with mock interviews or memorizing frameworks. It starts with crawling before we walk and run, and the crawl is learning to read a job description better than 99% of the candidates in the process. I want to walk you...
"Why can't I speak strategically in interviews?"
A client received a verbal offer from OpenAI! A recruiter reached out to them while we were deep in the prep for a different role at a different lab. They took the call, used the same answers they had been rehearsing, and received a verbal offer about 2 weeks later. We have been working together for about a year. It started when we worked on negotiations for their current role, and then we worked on their onboarding to fast-track their credibility and influence in the new role. After that we...
The interview skill AI cannot commoditize
Meta is testing for vibe coding. Anthropic is asking what frontier AI should and should not do. OpenAI hands you a hypothetical capability and asks how you would bring it to market. People talk about these rounds like they are new tests for new skills. But are they really that new? They are more like old tests with the safety net removed. The safety net was the framework. The pattern. The familiar product category. For years, a strong candidate could memorize a structure, apply it to a...
The decision you'd struggle to explain in one sentence
A reader sent me a note last week after we exchanged a few messages on LinkedIn. I had asked which of my posts had resonated with them, to learn what was landing for the people who read along. They wrote back with 4 things. A post on deliberate practice over volume. A post on the inability to see your own blind spots. A post on thinking on your feet, and how it comes from experience and pattern recognition, not from effort. And then they said one more thing: “These are things I subconsciously...
Inside Meta's Product Sense with Vibe Coding Interview
Meta added new AI PM interviews for the Central Products org a few months ago: Product Sense with Vibe Coding Analytical Thinking and Logical Reasoning Product Architecture. It's starting with Central Products, and other orgs will most likely adopt these rounds in the near future. The round getting a lot of attention is Product Sense with Vibe Coding, because it's the one that looks newest and feels least familiar. Here's the most important thing to know about it. Product Sense with Vibe...
The moment interviewers stop believing your success is repeatable
A client and I were working on their behavioral stories. They had a great one. They’d found a $7M opportunity at their company. They told the story well and $7M opportunity they found sounded impressive. When they finished, I asked, “If I’m the interviewer, can I imagine you doing this again at my company?” They paused. “I… I think so?” That pause is where most behavioral interviews stall. These are the tiny moments that can erode trust in an interview setting. They told me what happened, but...
Why “make it sound senior” keeps failing
A lot of candidates pour all their effort into one “perfect” story. Then they try to use it for many behavioral interview question. And that’s where I repeatedly advise our clients that clear communication first starts with clear thinking. Because interview questions aren’t asking for the same thing. They’re asking who you are through different lenses. What made you proud? What was most impactful? What was the hardest problem you solved? Different questions.Different dimensions.Different...
AI made building cheap — why thinking is now the real competitive advantage
Thinking has become the real bottleneck everywhere. In interviews and at work. Amit S. met with a team fresh off their internal AI hackathon.Everyone was buzzing.Everyone had something to demo.Everyone had their own “agent.”At first, it felt like momentum.But soon after... the team saw 10 versions of the same idea.All built in hours instead of weeks.But all drifting in slightly different directions.Different assumptions.Different interpretations of the “same” problem.You could tell no one had...
Speed without depth is why AI products miss the mark
A lot of Product teams are moving fast these days. Faster briefs, faster demos, faster experiments.But speed isn’t the same as depth.And in the rush to ship AI features, depth can get lost: Real discovery.The kind that uncovers what users aren’t saying.The kind that earns trust with execs, even when the answers aren’t ready yet.The kind that aligns teams before implementation starts.Building speed without losing discovery When we coach PMs on AI-first product craft, we help them build speed...
Are your metrics strong or is your framing weak?
Want to stand out in your next Execution interview? Let’s take the time to think about framing, especially for L6-L9 candidates. This is particularly true for multi-sided platforms where there are compelling arguments for different potential North Stars. Let’s use Uber as an example. Their North Star could be: of unique riders or of rides completed Both of these options reflect important aspects of Uber’s biz. Let’s explore the nuances and why the choice of North Star ultimately comes down to...