How to become a product manager: an interview with an incoming Twitter PM

This week, we spoke with Yehong Zhu, a Harvard senior majoring in Philosophy and Government who is joining Twitter as a PM after graduation. Yehong has had a fairly non-traditional path to the PM role, with internships in VC/private equity (Northern Light Venture Capital, New Horizon Capital), journalism (Forbes), and on the business team at Amazon before going through the product management recruiting process. She also ran a college admissions company, Harvard Square Consulting, for the past two years.

Yehong shared with us her tips for navigating the internship process, what to expect in a PM interview, and working in tech as a Philosophy major. Make sure to also check out Yehong’s “10 Tips for Landing a PM Job Offer” article for more detailed advice!

You’ve had a lot of awesome internships throughout your time at Harvard — how have you approached the internship process?
The underlying theme of my work experiences has been curiosity and passion — doing things I like has usually led to other opportunities I wanted to pursue. For example, I’ve always been interested in writing. By sophomore year, I’d built up a pretty sizable portfolio through my involvement with on-campus publications, which is also how I got my summer internship at Forbes. But in the process of writing about stocks and technology, I realized I didn’t just want to write about tech — I wanted to actually create things.

Going into my junior year, I made a list of 100 tech companies I wanted to work for. My philosophy was that if I applied to all of them, I’d get an offer from at least one. I was on #5, Amazon, when I got the call to interview. It was a great way to get my foot in the door at a major company.

How did you approach the tech recruiting process with a non-technical major?
It’s not easy to get a tech job as a liberal arts major, and I got a lot of questions about how I would use my major in my job. But I didn’t pursue philosophy for monetary purposes — it was something I really loved, and I wanted to learn how to think differently. Ultimately, it made me a lot more analytical and helped me solve problems more efficiently.

Especially as a non-technical major, it’s important to craft a story about how your major is relevant to what you want to do. My story was contingent on things I had done outside the classroom, as well as my thesis on cybersecurity policy. While that’s not pure tech, I was able to make a lot of comparisons to the problems companies are facing around privacy and regulation.

How did you know that product management was a good fit for you?
I often compare being a PM to being a project lead in college, whether that’s in classes or extracurricular activities. As a PM, it’s important to be able to take initiative and make sure people are motivated without being overbearing. You should be able to communicate a problem, talk through potential solutions, and inspire people to get behind your vision.
These skills aren’t confined to a certain major — anyone can develop them. You shouldn’t be scared by the technical aspect of the PM role, especially if you develop a baseline knowledge of how to communicate around a technical problem. I had taken an intro CS class at Harvard, and dabbled in a Python and a few other languages before my interview, which was very helpful.

What are your tips for the PM recruiting process?
It’s really important to build good relationships with recruiters. They tend to operate on historical data about who makes a good PM, which is usually CS majors with internships at big tech companies. You need to have enough legitimacy so that recruiters don’t look at your resume and wonder why you are applying for the job.

Unless it’s through on-campus recruiting, dropping your resume into an application link is rarely the fastest way to get a first round interview. More often than not, resume drops are black holes. Referrals, on the other hand, are your best friend. The best type of referral is from close friends or co-workers who can vouch for your performance, though you should also try tapping into your network or contacting alumni from your school. I had a great response rate to cold emails when I had a specific ask, like a quick informational interview or specific advice on the job application process. When you reach out with a clear purpose, people are typically very willing to help.

Finally, study hard for the interviews. PM roles are so competitive that you have to dazzle a hiring committee and make them think that they can’t not hire you. The best way to do that is through practice — I called every friend who had experience and was willing to help, and did 20–30 minute mock interviews until it was almost like muscle memory.

What does a PM interview look like?
A standard PM interview has three components — technical, product, and analytical. For the technical component, you need to be able to communicate around a question like “How would you build this app?” For the product component, you’ll usually get a prompt that has something to do with product design — like “Design a kitchen for the elderly.” The main thing to remember here is to structure your answer so you can communicate clearly. For the analytical component, you’ll get more consulting-type questions like “How would you size the market for this product?” The best way to prepare for these is to actually go through the consulting process, but there are also online resources that outline the types of questions you can expect.

Any other advice for students going through the recruiting process?
In terms of internships, you shouldn’t be afraid to try things — you never know what you will love. A lot of students think they need to get into finance or consulting to have the most optionality later on in their career, but at the end of the day, you need to be happy with your career choices. I think it’s worth it to take risks and try things you are passionate about.
Finally, remember that nobody ever makes it alone. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for all the people who were willing to invest time in me, vouch for me, or give me feedback I didn’t even know I needed. I’m really grateful for all the help I’ve received, and it’s important to me to be able to help others who are going down the same path.

We’d love your feedback on this post and other career questions we should cover — you can reach us at [email protected] and [email protected]. You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Accelerated, for more tips on finding the perfect job or internship: http://eepurl.com/c4CjuX