The Ultimate Guide to PM Homework Success
More than 50% of PM jobs now assign homework.
In the current market, the companies most likely to hire are the ones who are most likely to hand out homework: growth stage, intense companies.
Check out the whole 3800 word post if you wish to go deeper.
Use this 10-step strategy to rock your homework assignments:
Step 1 — Do One At a Time
You should try to focus your evenings & weekends on your homework assignment in the time allotted. Else, you won’t be able to differentiate from the pack.
So you should only say yes to homework for roles you really care about, vs any random role.
Step 2 — Get Advance Notice
Ask your first interviewer about the complete process.
If there’s any homework, get usable components ready:
- Product vision
- Product strategy
- Top problems product solves
- Company’s go-to-market vision
- Co’s high-level market segmentation
Step 3–2x the Expected Time
Keep double the amount of time you think the homework will take. (Unless they explicitly tell you to time box your efforts)
This also means if you have limited number of days, cancel all social events and consider taking a day off work.
Step 4 — Use Their Fav Format
There is no such thing as a best format. Before putting the pen to paper, don’t decide what you’re most comfortable with.
Choose what the company actually wants. Ask the recruiter/hiring manager who assigned you what format they’ve seen work best.
Step 5 — Start With Your Outline
Once you’re in the right tool, don’t just start writing your doc from 0 to 1.
Start with your outline first. Then edit with dedication.
What you end up spending time on is the most crucial decision you can make. Spend it on the important stuff.
Step 6 — Make and State Your Assumptions
The first thing to do is to look at your outline & fill in your best guess at the ‘final answer’. Then, you have your set of assumptions.
These are the things that many people would probably put into their homework but you shouldn’t.
Step 7 — Go Above and Beyond by Talking to Customers
Now it’s time to go out there and convert your guesses into real insights.
It is time to find customers of the product. If this product is a small startup, then you may not be able to.
In that case, find their target market.
Step 8 — Build an Impact Sizing Model For Your Recommendation
Now that you’ve collected customer validation & have conviction in what you want to build — you need one final input, some data.
I suggest to try to estimate basic values & create an impact sizing model.
Step 9 — Go the Level Deeper with Product Design Guidance & Mockups
The last input is to create before writing is design. There are 3 levels to this. Do the one that fits best:
- Design guidance
- Product mock
- Napkin drawing
- Slide art
- Wireframe - Prototype
Step 10 — Edit for Quality & Creativity of Your Insights
Now that you’ve got the major components, you’re ready to write!
Then, it’s time to edit. First, edit as your biggest fan. Then, edit as your biggest critic. Finally, edit with Claude.
