Should I give up trying to join Google/Facebook?
I am currently a Principal Product Manager at chewy. Before that, I spent about 5-6 years at Amazon.
I’ve been trying to get into google/Facebook for 3 years now and this is how it is going: (for Product roles):
Google : all 3 years lost out in first case study round
Facebook:
2019: lost out in first round
2020: cleared all rounds but lost out in committee decision after final round
2021: just had my first round today and don’t think I will get through.
I have spent a lotttttt of time solving the case studies from pmexercises and exponent and candor and other places.. I’ve also spent a lot of time doing mock interviews and the feedback has been positive.
I’m really not able to understand why I keep missing out in these companies. The lack of feedback is seriously impacting ability to make improvements.
Now, I know that some of you will say that there are other companies and that I shouldn’t worry… and I’ve been successful at getting a lot of calls, but either I lose out in final round or the pay is less…
I’m just trying to see why there is this roadblock with these two companies.
I’m really trying to see if there are others here who are going through this or have some advice.
YoE: 7 years
Tc: ~250k
#product #productmanager #pm
comments
You’ve got to have something that sells. Whether it’s a flashy MBA from Ivy, a director PM position from a startup, or PM experience from FAANGMULA
You may be a kickass PM but I seriously think that’s just a pre-req. Your brand takes the lead after that. And of course there’s also luck (maybe someone would be willing to give you a chance and hire you).
Imho any company hiring via generalist roles isn’t worth interviewing after you’ve had 7-10 yoe. By this time, you know the type of people/team you want to work with and generalist hiring process where you don’t meet the people you’ll be working with is a dealbreaker for me personally. Having worked in shitty teams before, I will never gamble on that front
Before you bark at me regarding the team matching process, it is shitty I need to clear the hiring bar only to potentially meet a small chunk of the team when deciding the team vs meeting most of the team/peers are other places.
Worth looking beyond a particular brand or name and ask yourself what values and skills do you bring, where do they fit best and what kind of culture + people will support you, enjoy working with you in achieving results you can be proud of 🙌
There are a lot of excellent companies building awesome shit right now. And, there are PMs at G/F who are miserable. Keep on looking, my friend. Failing the interview may be the best thing that happened to you because your headspace and time is now free to chase other opportunities.