{"id":83064,"date":"2024-10-17T13:18:11","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T12:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/?p=83064"},"modified":"2025-01-13T16:24:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:24:40","slug":"hiring-product-managers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/blog\/hiring-product-managers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiring Product Managers: How to Get the Best Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 So you want to get a new PM? Firstly, congratulations, you\u2019ve made a great decision – Product Managers can be seriously effective people to have in your organization. However,  Hiring Product Managers is no easy task. What you need to do to find and secure the right candidate can vary significantly depending on what specific objectives you want to achieve by hiring a Product Manager.  

You might be sitting there in a startup, possibly as the Founder, realizing it\u2019s time that you stop wearing the Product Manager hat and pass the baton to someone who can dedicate their time to setting and executing the product strategy<\/a>, managing a well-thought out roadmap<\/a> and conducting proper research and discovery<\/a> to ensure you\u2019re making the right moves. 

Or maybe you\u2019re part of a large organization with multiple products and multiple teams and you\u2019re looking at hiring Product Managers to grow your existing battalion of PM troops. Maybe you\u2019ve identified a new market opportunity that you need someone to get their teeth stuck into, or maybe one of your products needs breaking out with different PMs managing different areas of the product.  

Whatever your situation, if you\u2019re thinking of hiring Product Managers, you\u2019ve come to the right place. We can help you understand the best ways to go about the hiring process and ensure you get the right kind of PM depending on what your business needs. Let\u2019s break it all down to help you hire the right Product Manager for your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you know when the time is right for hiring Product Managers? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a big call knowing when to get a new Product Manager. What should you be looking out for? What indicates it\u2019s time to open your doors and welcome a new PM in? Well, that depends on the situation of your company at the time. 

Getting your first-ever Product Manager will have different considerations than when getting a second, third or fourth. The timing for hiring your first PM largely depends on your founding team’s makeup and capabilities. In the early days of a startup, Founders often fill the Product Management role themselves. Many Founders have a “product” mindset, they\u2019re already focused on identifying market needs, talking to early customers, and iterating on an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)<\/a>. This phase is usually manageable without a dedicated PM, as the Founder is deeply involved in both product development and strategy.

However, the need for a PM becomes evident when the demands on the Founder\u2019s time grow too large. As the business scales, the Founder\u2019s focus shifts to other responsibilities, like fundraising, marketing, or hiring, leaving less time for essential Product Management tasks<\/a> such as customer discovery, iteration, and market positioning. When the Founder can no longer dedicate the necessary time to product direction, it\u2019s time to bring in a dedicated Product Manager.

At this stage, you\u2019re likely going to be looking for a generalist, someone who can do it all, as they\u2019re going to have fingers in a lot of different pies at this early stage of the company.


But say you\u2019ve already got an established product team structure<\/a>. You have your Product Manager, Engineer, and Designer working well in a Product Trio. How do you know when you need another one? 

Well, the signs are pretty similar, as you\u2019ll usually be bringing one in when your current PM starts to feel overloaded with responsibilities. If they\u2019re struggling to find enough time for proper product discovery, or finding it hard to keep momentum moving on initiatives, it\u2019s a big indication that they need some support.

This support may not necessarily be in the form of hiring more Product Managers. You could consider hiring someone junior to assist or bringing in a specialist to complement the first PM\u2019s skill set.

If you are hiring Product Managers, think more about the specific skills you need. Your first Product Manager is likely a generalist, handling every stage of the complete Product Management lifecycle<\/a>. If you\u2019re looking to hire a second or third PM, you may want to split the responsibilities and have a Product Manager who\u2019s dedicated to customer discovery while another handles internal processes.

Of course, as your company starts to scale and adds new products, your hands are pretty much tied and you\u2019ll need a PM to handle each product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes a good candidate when hiring Product Managers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When hiring Product Managers, you naturally want the best. The cream of the crop. The pic of the bunch. The creme de la creme. But what does that actually look like? Well here are some important skills to look out for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I love to see an application where the candidate has identified the problem we\u2019re trying to solve and then speaks about why they\u2019ve got the experience to solve that issue. Not only does it feel personal and show they\u2019ve taken the time to get to know our situation, but it highlights that they have an inquisitive mind and are a problem-solver. 

Too many applications just read like a list of all the things the person is great at. But if those skills aren\u2019t relevant to what we<\/strong> need from a new Product Manager right now, it may as well be a shopping list. 

Plus, many applicants go into detail about how this position could be good for them. They\u2019re looking inwardly in a selfish way, speaking of how the role can help them learn and develop their career. That\u2019s all well and good, but you\u2019re not running a charity. Ideally, you want a Product Manager who can help your business improve, not the other way around.

When hiring Product Managers, look out for those who detail what they can do for you. Something like:
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\u201cIt looks like you\u2019re struggling to grow your business from the start-up phase. I\u2019ve helped businesses get from there to here, here\u2019s how I\u2019ve done that. Here are some statistics of my outcomes, and some stories about my approach to this situation. I want to get on board and help get you from this point to the next one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now that\u2019s interesting. That\u2019s the mark of a great Product Manager. Like Giff Constable said in our webinar on how to become a CPO, It\u2019s all about demonstrating that they\u2019ve seen this movie before, and know the script for how to act it out. They\u2019ve been able to see your needs, so they\u2019re probably pretty good at seeing your customers\u2019 needs and building a better product off the back of that research. 

Giff said a lot more great things in our chat. If you\u2019re looking to climb the ladder and become a Chief Product Officer, or want tips on how to excel in the position, check out our on-demand webinar below: <\/p>\n\n\n

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[Webinar] What it Takes to Be a Chief Product Officer (CPO) with Giff Constable<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

\n Watch now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

Of course, the above is a general view of what makes a good Product Manager. To ensure you get a good candidate for your situation when hiring Product Managers, you need their skills to match what you need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to hire the right Product Manager for you<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You need to find a Product Manager that matches your needs and fits into your culture. A stunning candidate for one business may not be the best fit for yours, and you need to be aware of that when hiring Product Managers. Don\u2019t be tempted to get a PM that looks good on paper if they\u2019re not able to provide a solution to the problem you face. 

You could be stung by getting a generalist when you really need someone who can specialize in a function that you need for your business. Look at your needs. Is your product suffering from high customer churn<\/a>? You\u2019ll benefit from a PM who has experience in this over one who doesn\u2019t.  

You should be thinking about what problem you’re trying to solve for your business and what change you hope this role is going to make for the business. You also have to think about how your business operates and if the PM suits it. Are there particular rituals that they need to be part of? Things like daily stand-ups or scrums<\/a>, retros<\/a> or backlog refinement meetings<\/a>. Outline these things and figure out exactly the type of Product Manager you want for this role.

Also think about the non-negotiable skills you need, as this will shape the ideal PM for you. Of course, you need the general skills for the role, but there might be something specific for you that you can\u2019t look past. For ProdPad, that\u2019s an understanding and appreciation of agile, outcome-based roadmaps<\/a>. It\u2019s kind of our thing. If a candidate comes in declaring their unwavering love for Gantt charts and timeline roadmaps, that\u2019s an obvious tell that it\u2019s not going to work. <\/p>\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re in any doubt what Product Managers should be doing with their time, check out our Day in the Life of a Product Manager<\/a>.\u00a0 Familiarize yourself with the jobs in that article and think about interview questions to uncover the candidates approach to their work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How do you attract the best talent when hiring Product Managers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You won\u2019t attract the best minds in product<\/a> with any old job ad. To get the best when hiring Product Managers, you need to be perceived as the best and look like an exciting and rewarding option for applicants. Your job descriptions need to be compelling, showcasing the exciting opportunities that the role offers. 

When hiring Product Managers, you\u2019re selling the organization just as much as the applicant is trying to sell themselves. Talk about the attractive things about your role, be that the money you can offer, the education you can provide, or the prestige of the business. Whatever gets people through the door. It\u2019s like a lure when fishing. Sure, low-grade worms may be enough to catch a prime bluefin tuna, but you\u2019ll have a better chance of making a catch if you use premium squid bait. 

When writing our job specs here at ProdPad, we make an effort to cover why the job is important and where it fits in the bigger picture. We disclose what applicants will learn in the role, and we spell out the benefits. This helps us inspire the best applicants. You don\u2019t want to be seen as another job to add to the pile, you want applicants to be excited by the opportunity.

Just be detailed in what you offer. Different people are going to have different prerogatives for what they\u2019re looking for in a role. The best applicants for you are going to have wants and needs that line up with what you\u2019re offering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What interview questions should you ask when hiring Product Managers? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Interviews are your chance to learn more about your applicants and extract more nuggets of information that can indicate if they\u2019ll be a good hire or not. To do this, you need to ask the right questions. You want to hit them with meaningful questions that get them thinking, saying things that go further than rehearsed lines they think you want to hear. Try and have an actual conversation. The following questions are a good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n