The questions in Vivian Lim’s book “Product Management Interview Secrets: The Whole-Brain Method That Lands and Keeps FAANG Jobs” are from 2025. By the time you’re reading this, they’ve probably changed.
This is the living version—actively updated with questions real PMs are getting asked at Google, Meta, Amazon, LinkedIn, Stripe, and other top tech companies. New questions added monthly. Old ones retired when they stop showing up in loops.
These aren’t the softball questions you’ll find on Glassdoor. These are the ones that make candidates freeze. The ones where your prepared frameworks suddenly feel inadequate. The ones that separate people who memorized CIRCLES from people who can actually think like a PM.
How to Use This Library (The Right Way)
Don’t do this: Download the list, tell yourself you’ll “practice them all,” get overwhelmed, quit after 3 questions.
Do this instead:
For Theoretical Questions (Estimation, Product Sense, Analytics, Strategy)
Pick 5-10 questions that absolutely terrify you. Not the easy ones. The ones that make your stomach drop when you read them.
5 days before your interview:
– Pick 1-2 questions per category (estimation, product sense, analytics, strategy)
– Timebox each to 60 minutes maximum
– Record yourself or write out your full answer
– Be brutally honest about where you got stuck
Each subsequent day:
– Re-do the same types of questions
– Use 5-10% less time each day
– By day 5, you should answer each in 20-25 minutes confidently
Why this works: You’re not memorizing answers. You’re building muscle memory for your thinking process under time pressure. By the 5th iteration, your brain recognizes the pattern and retrieves frameworks faster.
For Behavioral Questions
You need 7-20 stories depending on your level:
– Entry-level/New grad: 7-10 stories
– Mid-level (3-5 YOE): 11-15 stories
– Senior+ (5+ YOE): 16-20 stories
The strategy:
– Pick 1-2 questions per leadership principle (if interviewing at Amazon)
– OR pick 1-2 per competency area: customer focus, teamwork, conflict, ownership, innovation, results
– Map your real experiences to each question
– Practice the “Landing the Plane” structure (50K→0K altitude—taught in the book)
Why this works: This is exposure therapy at its best. The terror you feel reading “Tell me about a time you failed” will subside after the 10th practice run. Embrace the challenge.
The Question Library
Estimation Questions That Will Make You Sweat
These aren’t “estimate YouTube’s daily views.” These are the curveballs that require you to make assumptions about things you’ve never thought about.
The ones that test lateral thinking:
– Estimate the total weight of all the food wasted in US restaurants every day. Now estimate the carbon footprint of that waste.
– Estimate how many people are playing a mobile game at this exact moment globally. How would you verify your estimate?
– Estimate the market size for prescription eyeglasses for dogs in North America.
– Estimate how much money changes hands in informal peer-to-peer transactions (Venmo, cash, etc.) versus formal retail transactions in a week in the US.
– Estimate the total number of hours of human attention spent on “notification checking” (not using the app, just checking the notification) per day globally.
The ones with cascading complexity:
– You’re launching an AI writing assistant for lawyers. Estimate TAM, SAM, and SOM for the next 5 years. Now estimate customer acquisition cost and defend your assumptions.
– Estimate the economic value created by all ride-sharing platforms globally per year. How much of that value goes to drivers vs. platforms vs. riders?
– A city wants to replace all parking meters with dynamic pricing. Estimate the revenue impact in Year 1 vs Year 5.
The ones that require domain knowledge you probably don’t have:
– Estimate the number of prosthetic limbs manufactured globally each year. What percentage are 3D-printed?
– Estimate the total value of B2B SaaS contracts signed in the last 24 hours globally.
– Estimate how many industrial robots are performing welding operations right now.
– Estimate the number of clinical trials currently enrolling patients for rare diseases.
The meta ones that make you question your process:
– Google asks: “Estimate X.” Then the interviewer says, “Your estimate is off by 10x. Walk me through what assumption you got wrong.” (They don’t tell you if you estimated too high or too low.)
Product Sense Questions That Require Real Judgment
These aren’t “improve Google Maps.” These are ethical dilemmas, ambiguous tradeoffs, and problems where every answer has a downside.
The ethical landmines:
– You’re a PM at Meta. Design a feature to reduce misinformation without becoming an arbiter of truth. What’s your framework for deciding what gets flagged?
– Design a parental control feature for TikTok that actually works but doesn’t rely on kids’ honesty. How do you balance safety with privacy?
– You’re designing a hiring platform’s algorithm. How do you ensure fairness without explicitly using protected characteristics? How would you measure success?
– Design a credit score alternative for people with no credit history. What data would you use? What could go wrong?
The ones with no good answer:
– You’re a PM at Uber. Drivers are demanding higher pay. Riders are price-sensitive. How do you redesign the pricing model to balance both without destroying the business?
– Design a feature to help people reduce their phone usage… for a company whose revenue depends on engagement. How do you measure success?
– You’re building a medical symptom checker. How do you balance accuracy (which requires asking invasive questions) with user trust (which suffers if you ask too much)?
– Design YouTube for a market where internet costs $0.10/MB. What features do you cut? What do you keep?
The ones that test strategic thinking, not just UX:
– Google is considering making Gmail a paid-only product. How would you design the transition? What would you grandfather in?
– Design a B2B product that competes with Slack. You can’t just copy Slack—what would you do differently and why?
– You’re launching a social network in 2025. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter already exist. What’s your wedge? Who’s your first 1000 users?
– Design a product that helps small businesses manage cash flow. You have no access to their bank accounts. What would you build?
The ones that require you to challenge the premise:
– An exec asks you to “add AI to our product to stay competitive.” How do you respond?
– You’re asked to design a feature to increase session length. What if that’s the wrong goal?
– Design a better ad experience for users. How do you do that without destroying revenue?
Analytics Questions Where One Wrong Assumption Tanks Your Answer
These aren’t “DAUs dropped 10%, investigate.” These are the ones where the interviewer is testing if you know what you don’t know.
The ones with hidden confounding variables:
– Conversion rate on our checkout page went up 15% after a redesign. Should we ship it? (Hint: There’s a data quality issue you need to find.)
– YouTube Shorts engagement is up 30% but overall YouTube engagement is flat. What’s happening?
– Your A/B test shows Feature A increases revenue by 8% with 95% confidence. Your CEO says ship it. What do you ask before agreeing?
– Mobile app retention is declining but web retention is stable. Three possible explanations—rank them by likelihood and explain your reasoning.
The ones that test statistical literacy:
– Your product has 100M users. You run an A/B test with 10K users in each variant. Variant B wins with p=0.03. Your exec wants to ship to all 100M users tomorrow. What’s your concern?
– You see a correlation between users who upload profile photos and users who subscribe to premium. Should you force profile photo uploads?
– NPS score dropped from 42 to 38 quarter-over-quarter. Your exec is panicking. What questions do you ask before declaring this a problem?
The ones that require business context, not just data analysis:
– Marketing spend went up 40%, new user sign-ups went up 25%. Good or bad?
– Average revenue per user is up but total revenue is flat. What’s the most likely explanation?
– Support ticket volume is down 30% after you launched a new feature. Is this good news?
The nightmare scenarios:
– Your data team reports that 15% of user sessions in the past month were bots. How does this change your analysis of every metric you track?
– You notice that power users (top 10% by engagement) have 2x higher churn than average users this quarter. Why might this be happening?
– Your product’s core metric improved in the A/B test but worsened after full rollout. Walk me through your investigation.
Strategy Questions That Have No “Right” Answer
These are the questions where the interviewer is evaluating your thinking process, not your conclusion.
The build vs. buy vs. partner questions:
– Google has Google Maps. Should they build a full ride-sharing service, partner with Uber, or stay out of it entirely?
– You’re the PM for Microsoft Teams. Zoom is eating your lunch in the video conferencing space. Do you build a better video product, acquire a competitor, or lean into a different positioning?
– Your company makes project management software. Should you build time-tracking features or integrate with Toggl/Harvest?
The market entry questions:
– Meta wants to launch a professional networking product to compete with LinkedIn. Should they? If yes, what’s the GTM strategy?
– Apple wants to enter the search market. What would differentiate Apple Search from Google? Is this a good idea?
– You’re a PM at Amazon. Should Amazon build a competitor to Figma/Canva for SMB graphic design?
The existential ones:
– You’re a PM at Twitter (pre-Musk acquisition). Should Twitter have remained a chronological feed or committed fully to algorithmic?
– Google is losing search market share to AI chatbots. What’s the 5-year strategy?
– You’re a PM at Spotify. Apple Music and YouTube Music are gaining share. What would you do differently?
The resource allocation nightmares:
– You have 10 engineers for 6 months. You can either: (A) build 3 new features, (B) fix technical debt that’s slowing the team down 30%, or (C) rebuild the onboarding flow (current conversion is 40%, you think you can get to 60%). What do you choose and why?
– Your CEO wants to expand to 5 new markets. You have budget for 2. How do you decide?
– You can either build features for your existing customers or features to win new customers. Your existing customers are threatening to churn without improvements. New customer growth has stalled. What do you do?
The ones that test vision vs. pragmatism:
– If you were CEO of Dropbox today, what would your 10-year vision be?
– What product should OpenAI build next after ChatGPT?
– Pick a struggling tech company (Snap, Pinterest, Peloton, etc.). What would you do to turn it around?
Behavioral Questions That Expose Your Actual Experience
These aren’t “tell me about a time you led a team.” These are designed to catch people who are fabricating stories.
The ones that drill into details:
– Tell me about a time you launched a product that failed.
– Tell me about a time you had to say no to a powerful stakeholder.
– Tell me about your biggest technical mistake.
The ones about conflict (where the real answer is usually messy):
– Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a peer that didn’t resolve cleanly. How did you work with them after?
– Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager and were overruled. How did you handle it?
– Tell me about a time when someone on your team wasn’t performing. What did you do? What was the outcome 6 months later?
The ones that test ownership vs. observer bias:
– Tell me about a metric you moved.
– Tell me about a time you improved a process.
The ones about failure (where fake stories fall apart):
– Tell me about a time you misread a market or user need. How much time/money was wasted? What did you learn?
– Tell me about a launch that went badly. Not “we recovered nicely”—one that stayed bad. What happened?
– Tell me about a time you hired the wrong person. How long did it take you to realize? What did you do about it?
The Amazon Leadership Principle deep cuts:
– Earn Trust: Tell me about a time you lost someone’s trust. How did you try to rebuild it? Did it work?
– Bias for Action: Tell me about a time you moved too fast and it backfired.
– Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: Tell me about a time you committed to a decision you disagreed with, and it turned out you were right to disagree. What did you do?
– Deliver Results: Tell me about a time you missed a goal despite doing everything right.
– Dive Deep: Tell me about a time your deep dive uncovered something uncomfortable that leadership didn’t want to hear.
The meta-questions about self-awareness:
– What’s a piece of feedback you’ve received multiple times from multiple people that you still struggle with?
– Tell me about a time you were wrong about how to solve a problem but right about the problem existing.
– What’s something you believed about product management 2 years ago that you now think is wrong?
Want the Methodology That Makes These Questions Actually Useful?
This question library is the raw material. The book teaches you **HOW** to answer them.
“Product Management Interview Secrets: The Whole-Brain Method” includes:
– The Whole-Brain framework (adaptive thinking vs rigid memorization)
– 50+ worked examples with real interview dialogue showing exactly how to structure answers
– The HYPER framework for analytics questions (works for every “what would you investigate” question)
– Landing the Plane structure for behavioral stories (50K→0K altitude)
– Cognitive enhancement protocols (the study-cardio-study method that helps you actually retain this stuff)
Without the methodology, you’re just reading questions and hoping you’ll magically know how to answer them in the room.
Get the book on Amazon: [YOUR_AMAZON_LINK]
Need Help Applying This to YOUR Interview Timeline?
The question library + book gives you the tools. Coaching gives you personalized feedback on YOUR answers.
Kalena Advisors 1-on-1 Coaching:
– Mock interviews with real-time feedback
– Behavioral story development and optimization
– Company-specific prep (we tailor practice to Google vs Meta vs Amazon cultural expectations)
– Personalized study protocols based on your timeline (2 weeks vs 2 months looks very different)
Who this is for:
– You’ve read the book, practiced the questions, but want expert feedback before the real thing
– Your onsite is in 2 weeks and you need focused, high-impact prep
– You’re getting to final rounds but not converting to offers (behavioral stories likely need work)
Book a coaching session: https://kalenaadvisors.com/product-category/professional-training/
—
## Download the Full Question Library
**What you get:**
– 300+ questions organized by company and difficulty level
– Updated monthly with new questions from real interviews
– “Nightmare Mode” questions that will break your frameworks
– Recommended practice sequence for 1-week, 2-week, and 1-month prep timelines
[DOWNLOAD BUTTON / EMAIL CAPTURE]
*By downloading, you’ll also get monthly updates when new questions are added.*
Why These Questions Are Different
Most interview prep sites give you the questions everyone’s already seen. The ones with Medium posts and YouTube walkthroughs. The ones where you can pattern-match and sound smart without actually thinking.
These questions are designed to:
– Expose gaps in your frameworks (what happens when CIRCLES doesn’t apply?)
– Test ethical judgment (there’s no “right” answer, only defensible reasoning)
– Require domain knowledge (you can’t fake understanding healthcare, finance, or supply chain)
– Punish memorization (if you’re reciting a script, you’ll get caught in follow-ups)
The companies aren’t asking “How many golf balls fit in a school bus?” anymore. They’re asking questions that simulate the actual ambiguity and complexity you’ll face as a PM.
This library prepares you for that reality.
Quick Start Guide
1 week until interview:
– Pick 5 questions that scare you (1 per category)
– Practice daily using the 60min → 50min → 45min → 30min → 25min progression
– Focus on behavioral stories (you need 7-10 minimum)
– Book a mock interview for Day 2 or 3 to get feedback
2 weeks until interview:
– Pick 10 questions (2 per category)
– Week 1: Master the methodology (read book chapters on each question type).
– Book a mock interview for Day 4-5 to get feedback
– Week 2: Timed practice using the progression above
– Get feedback on your behavioral stories (most people get this wrong)
1 month until interview:
– Week 1-2: Read book, understand frameworks
– Book mock interview for Week 2 to identify weak spots early
– Week 3: Practice 15-20 questions untimed (focus on quality of thinking)
– Week 4: Timed practice, reduce time each day
Don’t have the book yet? You can still practice the questions—you’ll just be guessing at what “good” looks like. Get the book here: [AMAZON_LINK]
FAQ
Q: Are these questions actually used in real interviews?
A: Yes. These come from client debriefs after their interviews (August 2025 onwards). Some have been slightly modified to protect client confidentiality, but the core challenge remains.
Q: Why are these so hard?
A: Because real PM interviews are hard. If you can handle these, the actual interview will feel easier. That’s the point.
Q: Can I just practice all 300 questions?
A: You can, but you shouldn’t. You’ll burn out and retain nothing. Pick 5-10 that scare you. Master those. The pattern recognition transfers.
Q: Do I need the book to use this library effectively?
A: No, but you’re making it harder on yourself. The book teaches the methodology. This library is the raw material. Trying to learn without the framework is like trying to learn piano by randomly pressing keys.
Q: What if I get stuck on a question?
A: That’s normal. The hard questions *should* make you stuck. That’s when you learn the most. Review the methodology in the book, try again, or book a coaching session to get unstuck.
Q: How often does this get updated?
A: Monthly. Sign up for the email list to get notified when new questions are added.
Ready to start practicing?
Get the book: <Amazon Link>
About The Author
I’m Vivian Lim, founder of Kalena Advisors. I’ve coached thousands of students and career switchers to land PM roles at Google, Meta, Amazon, Stripe, and other top tech companies.
Learn more about 1-on-1 Coaching Services >
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to discuss how these resources can accelerate your specific career goals.
Related Product Manager Interview Resources
Are you sure you’re covered on all things Product Management Interview-related? Check out these free resources:
- Product Management Interview Secrets: The Whole-Brain Method That Lands and Keeps FAANG Jobs
- 300+ PM Interview Questions Library
- Free Resume Template for Product Managers
- Super-Memorize Your Interview Prep (Cognitive Enhancement Guide)
Last updated: November 2025