I recently had an onsite at Amazon for l6/l7 tpm role which went odd. Crushed technical, had great convo with hiring manager and the team mates. Had horrible experience with bar raiser who was cutting me off in the middle of conversation and inserting his own imaginary answers. Obviously did not hear a word back after that. Today got a request through LinkedIn for principal TPM role interview in the same org. Different recruiter. Are they smoking something good in there? I am clueless to whether she knows I did not pass or that I am that same person who did not pass .. not sure how to respond to her Yo 17 tc 120 k (yes it is killing me)
The new recruiter has no idea that you interviewed for a different role. Recruiting is a shitshow and completely lacks any ability to have coordinated communication.
I find his answer adequate for his question. Yours too. But clearly he was looking for you to say that “technical” isn’t necessarily required to be successful as a TPM, paradoxical as it may sound. It does help, for many, but it is no guarantee. I have worked with non technical TPMs (musicans, artists actually) that are extremely successful and well-rounded, enlightened really, so they are able to comprehend everything technical and non-technical alike and are kicking ass and gaining respect. The T in TPM may refer to the kinds of projects you will lead and not to the skillset of the PM in question. I think he would have hired me. :)
Bar raiser: should TPM be technical? Candidate: it should ....story why Expectation: there is no one size fits all Bar raiser: Why should TPM be technical? Candidate: because.... Expectation: should it? Let’s challenge that assumption. Bar raiser: Your answer has to reflect deep thinking. Philosophy. Deeeeep thoughtsssss. Pass the bong.
Yep, you have just confirmed that he had a good answer for a different question :)
What were your technical questions? Was it system design or coding as well? Tips to prepare please?
It was specific to the hiring team’s parent org. Say, if you interview for prime video you’d better be able to name all the pieces of Netflix/YouTube etc
System design only
Did you ever hear back from amazon about an offer / rejection?
What did they ask during the interview?
Usual LP questions and some specific to the role and the org. Bar raiser asked why TPM should be Technical. I said because he has a higher chance to connect and rally engineering teams towards towards a common goal if he speaks their language and earns the respect faster. Since a cross-functional role has no leverage on people directly the success of your role depends on earning respect. So that you have valuable input in crucial conversations and people would be willing to follow your lead. The guy said he disagrees and went on rant that no technical background can make PgM successful. And that he saw people with technical background fail. Which basically has no direct correlation to neither my answer, nor the question he asked. His answer was good answer on its own but it was for a different question. End of rant
Give feedback on the bar raiser. He sounds like a dumbass.