PM interview

I recently interviewed for a Product Manager role at a trading firm. The process involved a detailed PM assignment that I spent several hours working on, followed by an interview. Before the interview, I informed HR that the person scheduled to interview me did not appear to have a Product Management background (i checked on Linkedin), and I was told that the interviewer was part of senior management.

After receiving a rejection, I reached out for feedback to better understand the decision. During the conversation, I was told my profile would be kept in their database, and I honestly shared that I would prefer it not be. That response was later described as “not very professional.”

What truly left me unsettled was realizing that the interviewer was actually a very recent engineering graduate (2023) without a Product Management background.

This experience made me reflect on how PM interviews are structured today, not in terms of age, but in terms of relevant experience, especially when candidates invest significant time, effort, and genuine intent into the process.