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How to hire a product manager

A behavioral outline for hiring a product manager produced by an early stage venture capital fund translates well to media organizations transitioning to audience-centric products.

Bringing in new talent, or putting existing talent into a new role, can boost a transition to audience-centric thinking, but a wrong hire can tank an organization’s momentum and morale. This guide, particularly the interview rubric (“The Ideal Interview Process”), outlines the skills and mentality of successful hires from tech startups. The general outline and the behavioral interviewing technique hold in media, too.

A PM basically sits at the center of UX, technology and business. You may have heard the quote: “The PM is the CEO of their product.” I think that’s pretty accurate, but it also means they have to do a lot of diverse things well, and good ones are extremely hard to find.