7 Questions to Answer to Land a Product Marketing Job

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As a Product Marketer, hiring manager, and career coach, I’ve seen the product marketing interview process from multiple angles and lenses. As an aspiring product marketer, I was also once in your shoes, looking to break into the role. Through my experience, I’ve come up with seven critical questions that are important for anyone looking to land a product marketing job to be able to answer, as well as some great resources to get you started on your product marketing journey.

#1: What is Product Marketing?

The first question you want to be able to answer in your journey to product marketing is, “What is product marketing?” While this may seem like a pretty basic question, getting a straightforward answer isn’t as easy as it sounds. Product Marketing teams can be found in diverse types of companies, markets, and industries, each with different business models, which is why it’s important to understand what product marketing is, why it matters, and how it makes an impact.

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#2) What skills are needed to be a product marketer?

Hiring managers and recruiters want to hire candidates who have the skills needed to succeed in the role. Ensuring you understand the critical skills needed to be a successful product marketer is important to landing your PMM role. Moreover, it is essential to understand those specific skills, which will help you understand if you are a good fit for the role.

A note here. There aren’t hard and fast rules about skills, as every role is going to be different. However, there are some generally accepted skills that PMMs typically have.

 

#2 Do I want to be a product marketer, and why?

We all want to enjoy the work we do, and we  think product marketing is pretty great. But after you’ve learned about what PMM is and what it takes to be a great PMM, you’ll want to ask yourself, do you want to be a PMM, and why? Having a why is important because it will help you understand what strengths and skills you will bring to the role, and it will further validate why you’d be a great candidate. It will also help you when it comes time to interview. You will have a confident and robust answer when the question comes up (because it will come up!)

#3: What are some different types of product marketing roles?

One thing that you’ll learn about product marketing is that the role can differ depending on a variety of factors. For example, both Apple and Stripe have product marketing teams with responsibilities that are typical of a product marketer, but due to a number of factors, what they are specifically responsible for and how the PMM makes an impact on the business can differ significantly. Ask any product marketer what product marketing looks like, and they will tell you, “It depends.”

The key reason why PMM roles can differ is that companies (and thus their products) operate their businesses in different ways; thus, the teams that support their products (aka product marketers) are structured differently and have different roles. There are a couple ways to think about this:

  • In a B2B enterprise software company that sells software to CIOs (e.g., ServiceNow), it might be common for a product marketer to focus on sales enablement and helping the sales teams drive revenue.
  • In a B2C consumer tech company that sells hardware (e.g., Apple) to customers like you and me, you might have a product marketer that is focused on product launches and working with product managers to understand customer sentiment.
  • In a Marketplace Tech Company like Upwork, you might be on the Enterprise team in a sales-focused role, or perhaps on the talent side of the business focused on marketing to new freelancers.
  • In a product-led company like Atlassian, you might focus on figuring out how to drive conversion from free to paid products; thus, you may need a combination of experimentation, consumer insights, and data analysis skills.

 

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#4: What does the Product Marketing Career path look like?

While the most immediate job or internship is probably most pressing, you’re probably also wondering what the potential options are for spending the next few years in a product marketing career. In an ever-changing workplace environment and in fast-moving industries (like tech), it’s difficult to accurately predict the next 3 to 5 to 10 years of our careers. But by investigating the career paths of product marketers, we can figure out if this is a field we want to commit the next few years to pursuing.

#5: How do you break into product marketing?

If you’re a career switcher or coming from another role, sometimes it can be a little bit harder to break in. It all comes back to the “chicken or egg” conundrum. The good news is that lots of current Product Marketers (almost all) never started in product marketing; rather, they had to break in themselves. There are lots of examples of how people coming from diverse roles, functions, and even industries have managed to pivot into a product marketing role.

The goal of answering this question is to make sure you are aware of the work ahead for you to find your product marketing role. Furthermore, you’ll also be able to learn strategies as well as tactics that you can deploy to increase your chances of breaking into PMM.

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#6: What does the Product Marketing interview process look like?

Make sure you understand the different types of interviews and what hiring managers are looking for when they interview PMM candidates.

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#7 How do You Prepare for a Product Marketing Interview?

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Furthermore, getting a PMM job requires you to nail the interview. Make sure to learn how to prepare for interviews, the different types of interviews, and what skills and behaviors hiring managers and recruiters are looking to see at each stage of the interview process.

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Conclusion

Product Marketing is an exciting career path. Taking the time to research and understand the answers to these seven questions will accelerate your journey to a career in product marketing.

Do you still have questions or are you looking for other resources? Let us know!