google tpm interview questions are not what i thought they’d be

had my tpm loop at google last week. not my first rodeo, been in big tech a while, but this one felt… different. not necessarily harder, just more confusing.

one round was standard cross-functional scenario, align eng and product, negotiate deadlines. clean. felt like i was back at meta.

but then i got two back-to-back rounds where they hit me with questions that felt borderline philosophical. like: “how do you handle situations where all stakeholders disagree and none want to back down?” i gave a decent answer (imo) but interviewer kept digging. not sure what they wanted clarity? diplomacy? miracles?

also had a tech round not coding, but systems-level. “how would you approach launching a new infra component across multiple teams with different roadmaps?” not a trap question, but you have to think in layers comms, sequencing, risk, edge cases, escalation.

not sure if these count as classic tpm interview questions google expects, but nothing here felt like textbook stuff. they want frameworks, sure. but they also want vibe checks. how you handle chaos. how you write. how you communicate when things get weird.

prep-wise: looked at a few google tpm interview questions threads on blind + exponents doc set. they helped. but honestly, half of what they’re screening for is just: do you have taste in how you operate? can you herd cats without sounding like you’re herding cats?

i don’t think i bombed. but i also don’t think it was a slam dunk. it’s one of those loops where you walk out going: “i either crushed it or they hated everything i said.” no in between.