What to expect in a Product Management Interview with Coinbase
In this article, I will share how the interview process is really like for different crypto firms such as Coinbase and Binance
If you have been following my articles, you would know that I have been busy interviewing for new product management roles in the United States.
After having interviewed for so many companies, I decided to write this article to share with you what kind of interviews to expect in certain companies so that you are better able to prepare for them.
Introduction
To me, interviews are like a game — There are many stages you have to clear in order to complete a game, with every subsequent stage becoming harder.
But things become easier when you are able to search for online walkthroughs or tutorials to complete a certain stage. Similarly, I believe that if you enter an interview process knowing what to expect for each company, you are better able to prepare for those interviews and secure your dream job.
Hence, I will be sharing the interview structure/process for some of the companies I have interviewed with in the past few weeks and some tips on how you can better prepare for them.
Due to confidentiality agreements, I am unable to share the questions that were asked. This will simply touch on the number/type of rounds you will have to go through as a candidate
Coinbase
Role Applied: Product Manager II
Interview Stages:
- Initial Screening with HR (30 mins) — Quick and simple interview to learn more about you as a candidate
- Pre-onsite Interview (2 hrs) — Two 1-hour interviews with Senior PMs in Coinbase, with each interview focusing on either Product Sense or Execution questions.
- Virtual-onsite Interview (2hrs) — 4 30-minute interviews with Senior PMs that focus on Product Sense, Execution, Behavioral, Engineering questions
Outcome: Reached the final stage but was not offered as Coinbase is currently having a hiring freeze for the next two weeks :(
Thoughts: A typical FAANG-style product interview structure. Spend lots of time memorizing model product case interview answers from online resources and you should do fine. Interviewers generally seemed disinterested and simply read off questions from a script.
Binance.US
Role Applied: Product Manager
Interview Stages:
- Initial Screening with HR (30 mins) — Quick and simple interview to learn more about you as a candidate
- Interview with Senior PM (45 mins) — A mix of behavioral, product sense questions. Mainly focused on your past product management experiences.
- Interview with VP of Product (1 hour) — A mix of behavioral, product sense questions. Will contain a product case related to your past product management experiences.
- Interview with Head of Product (1 hour) — A mix of behavioral, product sense questions. Mainly focused on your past product management experiences.
Outcome: Was successfully offered the role but I decided to reject it in the end.
Thoughts: The interview was relatively easier than Coinbase. While it is not as structured, you must have a deep understanding of the past products you have done in order to do well. The overall interview process was really smooth and chill. Interviewers seemed genuine in engaging in a conversation with me.
Boku
Role Applied: Product Manager
Interview Stages:
- Initial Screening with HR (30 mins) — Quick and simple interview to learn more about you as a candidate
- Initial Screening with Hiring Manager (45 mins) — A mix of behavioral, and product sense questions. Relatively simple as it is similar to a casual chat with your manager
- Interview with Senior PM (45 mins) — A mix of behavioral, and product sense questions. Mainly focused on your past product management experiences.
- Interview with Director of Business Analytics (45 mins) — Behavioural interview focused on past product management experiences and how you collaborated with other teams
- Interview with Software Engineers (45 mins) — Behavioural interview focused on past product management experiences and how you collaborated with other teams
- Interview with Head of Product (45 mins) — A mix of behavioral, and product sense questions. Mainly focused on your past product management experiences.
Outcome: Was successfully offered the role but I decided to reject it in the end.
Thoughts: One of the best interview experiences I ever had. Everyone I met was really nice and genuine. Interviews focus a lot more on how you act as an individual and situational questions, rather than cookie-cutter product questions.
Crypto.com
Since we are on this topic, I decided to include this as well to help anyone who is aspiring to enter Crypto.com in Singapore.
Present Role: Product Manager
Interview Stages (2021):
- Initial Screening with HR (30mins) — Quick and simple interview to learn more about you as a candidate
- Interview with Product Lead A (1 hour) — Behavioral interview which focuses on situational questions
- Interview with Product Lead B(1 hour) — Product Sense interview with the typical FAANG questions
- Interview with Product Lead C (1 hour) — Product Execution interview with the typical FAANG questions
Thoughts: A much shorter and faster interview process than other companies. Need to have a really good command of knowledge for product sense/execution questions in order to pass the interviews.
Conclusion
There are a lot of other companies that I have interviewed for (e.g. Robinhood, Kraken) that I have not listed here. I will update this document periodically to include all these other interviews in due time.
I hope this article helps you in preparing for an interview with any of these companies. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any specific questions relating to product management interviews!
And if you like my articles, please do give me a follow and subscribe. I would really appreciate it if you would sign up for a Medium membership using my referral. I really appreciate your support!
(side note: finally hit 25 followers!! small milestone but really happy :) thank guys!)
