Culture-fit navigation: Avoiding common pitfalls

Culture-fit practice: Real scenarios and responses

Well, if I had to give a one-liner for this round, I would say

That’s right, you will be asked questions from your 

 under various situations from left, right and centre! Sounds fun, right? No? Hmm…

Let me break it down for you. So, when you interview for a Product or Growth position, 

they often do behavioural rounds to get a glimpse of your past experiences, your personality and your behaviour in certain situations

. The whole point is to figure out what makes you tick, how you handle problems, what drives you to work and to see if you're a good fit for the role. They'll ask you questions about real-world situations to see how you handle them, and this gives them a better idea of your capabilities and whether you're cut out for the job. This is super important because you'll be working with tons of different teams and stakeholders.

A sample question would look something like this:

 Just kidding, let’s take a look at what kind of questions are covered in this round.

What are the types of questions asked in this round?

If you google, behavioural round questions, you will get hundreds of results. But, what you need to understand is that all of these questions will mostly come under three types.

 to evaluate soft skills? Additionally, recruiters use several methods to assess candidates during interviews. For instance, 

 to test the candidates' ability to work under specific circumstances and situations while utilizing a particular set of skills.

Why are these questions asked in a product or growth Interview?

Mainly to assess your skills and abilities beyond the technical expertise. Or simply to check if you are a culture fit as well. Interviewers use these questions to evaluate a 

candidate's approach to challenges, communication with teams and stakeholders, and ability to navigate complex situations

, which are all crucial aspects of a Product or a Growth role.

Some of the core soft skills they want to evaluate here include:

We can go through one by one. But, I want you to remember a few key pointers before you check these out.

Awesome! Now that you have these in mind, we can go to solving these questions together in the next few modules!

Culture-fit rounds: What interviewers evaluate

How to answer an experience-based question?

Answering experience-based behavioural questions effectively requires a structured approach, and one popular method that we suggest at GrowthX continuously throughout our operators’ sessions, and mock interviews, and which is also popular across various interviews is the STAR framework. 

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. 

Here the S & T should show why you had to do something, and A will talk about what you did or how you did it, and the R will show the outcomes of your actions.

Describe a time when you worked with a person who did things very differently than you

In my previous role at XYZ, I collaborated with a colleague from the sales team, whose work style differed significantly from mine who was part of the product development team. And this was at a time when we decided to launch our new product, ABC. I am someone who has a very methodic approach where I analyse and then plan strategically, while they are more driven by actions exploring creative ideas in our work.

So, our goal was to develop a marketing strategy for the new product launch, requiring close coordination between our teams.

I realised that we had to somehow align our efforts to make this work, so I called up a private meeting first. We discussed our differences and brainstormed on how we can move forward to create a great strategy for our product. So, we agreed to split our tasks up and come together at the end of each day then share our ideas. Throughout the process, we maintained open communication and regularly shared updates. This also helped us complement each other's contributions and work better as a team.

We were finally able to come up with a marketing plan that combined both thorough analysis and a creative approach. As a result, the launch of the XYZ Widget exceeded expectations, achieving a 30% higher sales volume in the first month compared to our previous product launches. Also, I would like to mention that, this not only led to the success of the project but also helped us build mutual respect and understanding between our teams.

Now, I want you to try attempting this same question.

Write down STAR in your book or the Notes feature on ELEVATE. And try to at least write one-line pointers to answer this question.

Experience based questions: How to frame your stories

Growth PM culture-fit: Question breakdown

Growth PM culture-fit: What they're really asking

Growth manager expectations: Culture alignment

How to answer a hypothesis-based question?

Lol, no. But, let’s take this question.

📝 Firstly, since this is a hypothetical question, you can also ask a few clarifying questions which will help you answer the question.

Let’s assume the interviewer said, that due to unforeseen market changes, the stakeholders have decided to accelerate the timeline for the project to ensure they stay ahead of the competitors. Need to compress the development phase and expedite the testing process to ensure you meet the new launch date. Will need to reallocate some team members and possibly streamline the decision-making process to maintain momentum.

📝 The next thing to do is to reiterate the situation and task in your hand.

“The situation at hand is that we have encountered unexpected market changes necessitating the acceleration of our new product launch by two months. This means we need to reassess our current timeline, resource allocation, and testing processes to ensure we can meet this revised deadline effectively”.

📝 Now, take some time around 20-30 seconds, and share your approach.

“So, firstly, I would call up an emergency meeting with all the key stakeholders involved in this particular project to discuss the new timeline and gather inputs from each of them on how to proceed. After that, I would review our current project plan and identify any tasks that could be impacted by this new timeline. I would work with the project management team to reassess task durations and resource availability and definitely any potential bottlenecks that need to be addressed. Then, I would prioritize tasks based on their impact on the overall project timeline. I would allocate additional resources, maybe even reassign personnel from other projects, or maybe outsource certain tasks. And of course, I would communicate regularly with all the stakeholders, providing updates on progress, challenges, and steps being taken to avoid any risks. Finally, I would implement a rigorous testing and quality assurance process to ensure that the new timeline does not compromise the quality of the product. So yeah, I think to sum up, my approach would be to prioritize collaboration, transparency, and adaptability to ensure the successful delivery of our new product within the new deadline”.

📝 Do not end the conversation here. Take one step ahead and also validate with good reasonings why you think this approach will work.

“I believe this approach will work because it leverages a combination of strategic planning, agile methodologies, and effective communication to address the challenges posed by the new deadline. By gathering stakeholders and prioritizing tasks, we can ensure efficient resource allocation and adapt quickly to changes. Transparent communication fosters trust and collaboration, ensuring all deliverables are completed on time and to the required standard. By providing regular updates on our progress and any challenges encountered, we can foster trust and collaboration across teams, ensuring that everyone is working towards a common goal. This will serve as a motivation factor as well since tight deadlines can cause pressure and stress among team members. So, yes, I think this is what I would do or approach a situation like a moved-up timeline”.

So, to summarise the framework we used here is:

📝 Also note, brownie points if you ask the interviewer if they would like to know anything more in the end.

Hypothesis questions: Thinking process they want

PM culture-fit: Beyond the standard questions

How to answer a personality-based question?

This is the most common type of question asked in an interview. And like I said, as long as you are self-aware, these questions can be answered amazingly!

So, there isn’t really a framework to tackle these questions, since the questions can be very different. However, there are a few key points to keep in mind while answering any personal questions.

Weaknesses Strengths Michael Scott Michaelscott GIF - Weaknesses Strengths Michael Scott Michaelscott GIFs

Firstly, understand that having a weakness is human.

So, the first step is to acknowledge your weakness and provide a bit of context. 

Also, note it is good to provide examples if possible.

In this question, you can do this by giving an example.

One weakness I've identified is my tendency to be overly detail-oriented. For example, in my last job at XYZ Company, I sometimes got too caught up in small things, which occasionally delayed progress on the overall timeline.

Do not stop right there. Talk about the efforts you have taken to address it.

So, I am trying to address this. Now, I set clear priorities and objectives for each project with a proper timeline and ensure I follow them. And, I have asked my team members to help me out as well, so whenever I get too absorbed by minor details of a project, they point this out as well.

This is good, but what makes it better is when you show progress.

These efforts have led to noticeable improvements in my workflow and productivity. In fact, I am doing this for my personal goals as well, which can be considered personal projects. And, I am well on track with this method.

Now, finally, show your openness to improve and grow.

However, I recognize that this is an ongoing process, and I'm committed to further work on this.

Your final answer will look something like this:

The key points to exhibit with your answers to these questions are: