How to Land a PM Interview: A Step-by-Step Guide. Product Manager Resume Template.

In just a week: 9 interviews from job postings (no networking). ATS-verified and A/B-optimized resume template.

Hey, Paweł here. Welcome to the subscribers-only edition of The Product Compass!

Every week, I share actionable tips and resources for PMs.

Here’s what you might have missed:

• Free: Your PM Competence Map + Skills Assessment

• Free: Your Guide to Crafting a Winning Product Strategy

• Premium: The Ultimate Validation Experiments Library (32)

• Premium: The Product Frameworks Compendium (35)

For Test Assignment: Improving CSAT for Google Slides (premium), I’m extending the submission deadline to Tuesday, October 31, 2023.

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How to Land a PM Interview: A Step-by-Step Guide. Product Manager Resume Template.

Getting a job as a Product Manager might seem extremely difficult.

In recent weeks, I've been browsing job postings. It's now common to see 100+ candidates applying for a single position, even at an average company:

According to Glassdoor, on average:

• Each corporate job opening attracts 250 resumes.

• Of these candidates, four to six will be called for an interview.

• Only one will be offered a job.

Many PMs I spoke with in 2023 shared similar experiences. The most painful part is often the lack of meaningful feedback.

The situation might look hopeless.

The traditional wisdom is that you need to follow the rules:

• Step 1: Prepare a resume

• Step 2: Find 50-100 or more job offers

• Step 3: Adjust your resume to each job offer

• Step 4: Send all the resumes

• Step 5: Wait for the response

Unfortunately, it’s the most ineffective way of landing a PM interview.

Recently, I’ve been considering different career paths. And this is what my second week of PM interviews looked like (13 interviews, 9 from job postings, 4 from my network):

I got so many invitations that after 3 weeks, I:

• Stopped looking for a job.

• Canceled all processes from other countries as I didn’t want to relocate.

• Declined offers from Polish companies as I wanted to work in English.

• Rejected any offers that weren't fully remote to save on commuting time.

A week ago, I accepted a job as a Senior PM at iDeals because I loved the company, and I realized I couldn’t write about PM without working in the field.

But it involved breaking a few traditional rules and acting differently.

Let’s dive into those techniques.