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Technical Program Manager (TPM) Interview Structure

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So, you might be wondering how TPM interviews actually work... Here’s an overview on how TPM interviews are structured. The standard structure is a phone screen followed by an onsite. There are different strategies for both of these phases.

Phone Screen

Let’s start off with the phone screen. There are a few possible variations. Variation A is more common among bigger companies while the shorter Variations B and C are typical in smaller startups.

Variation A (45 mins total):

  • Interview introduces himself/herself and sets agenda (2 min)
  • Behavioral questions (15 min)
  • Technical exercise (20 mins)
  • Time for interviewee to ask interview questions (8 mins)

Variation B (30 mins total):

  • Interviewer introduces himself/herself and sets agenda (1 min)
  • Behavioral questions (10 min)
  • Technical exercise (15 mins)
  • Time for interviewee to ask interview questions (4 mins)

Variation C (30 mins total):

  • Interview introduces himself/herself and sets agenda (1 min)
  • Behavioral questions (25 min)
  • Time for interviewee to ask interview questions (4 mins)

To understand what your interview format will look like, you can ask the following questions:

  • Will there be behavioral questions or will I be expected to go through a technical exercise or both?
  • If there are technical exercises, should I know how to use certain tools like CoderPad?
  • How long will the interview be?
  • Will the interview be done by phone or video conference?

Depending on these answers, you can modify what content you study, how long your answers will be, and how many questions you have for the interviewer.

Here are some tips for acing the TPM phone interview!

  • If it’s by phone, you can have all of your prep materials physically laid out in front of you for easy viewing. If it’s by video, it’s better to keep your prep materials on your computer so that you can make eye contact often with the video camera.
  • Read the job description and reference it during the interview.
  • Make sure you know what’s on your resume as it is common for the interviewer to ask about it.
  • Do research on the company so that you can display why you’re interested in it.
  • Look up the interviewer on LinkedIn so you can understand your interviewer a bit better; make references during the interview if you have something in common.

Great, head on over to our behavioral question portions or the technical question portions of this course so you can hit the first part of the TPM interview out of the park!

Onsite

Ok, phew. You’ve made it to the onsite. Now what? Here are two possible variations at a high-level; each individual session looks pretty similar to the format of a phone screen.

Variation A (2.5 - 5 hrs total):

  • Interview with a TPM (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with an engineering manager or engineering leader (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Lunch interview with an engineer or product manager (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with a product manager or product leader (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with hiring manager (30 mins - 1 hr)

Variation B (2.5 - 5 hrs total):

  • Interview with a TPM (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with a TPM manager (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with a product manager or product leader (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with a stakeholder from another department (Legal, Finance, etc.) (30 mins - 1 hr)
  • Interview with hiring manager (30 mins - 1 hr)

To understand what your interview format will look like, you can ask the following questions:

  • How many and what kinds of technical exercises should I be prepared for?
  • How long is each session?
  • Will I have breaks?

Regardless of the exact structure, you’ll meet with various team members (3-6) and you’ll go through many behavioral questions and at least one technical exercise with the whole onsite interview lasting roughly half a day or a full day, depending on the company. To prep for the onsite, go through as many behavioral and technical questions in this course as possible.

Tips:

  • Look up every person you’ll be interviewing with and know something about them that you can reference during the interview.
  • Have plenty of questions ready about the technology, the business, the team, career growth, and more.
  • Write down and keep in mind answers to common behavioral questions such as the biggest failure you had or if you had to deal with difficult co-workers so that you bring up stories quickly.
  • Do research on the company through Google, the company’s social media, and more; show passion and interest in the company by referencing your research.
  • Use the product or service to test it out.
  • Take hydration, fuel, and bio breaks as the on-site is an intense and long day where you could be talking for 6 or more hours. On the note of fuel, let the recruiter know about any dietary restrictions and don't eat too much if you have a lunch interview as it could affect your afternoon energy levels.
  • Imagine what kinds of questions they might ask depending on the company. (e.g. Lyft might ask you a transportation-based technical exercise).
  • Email the recruiter after the interview thanking the team for their time.
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