Learn a thing or two about yourself
No matter the years of experience, practicing for interviews will make things 10X easier and better for you in the actual round.
One milestone at a time, together
90 days, 4000+ minutes of 1:1 mocks and uncountable hours of relentless self-practice. The result? Over 65% of members cracked their interview rounds
at organisations like Zepto, Salesforce, Zomato, Battery Smart, Ninjacart & more.
Ranging from 2-15 YOE, 37 members cracked a round for product roles,
6 in marketing and 22 in growth and adjacent functions in the last 60 days. While some members made functional transitions, others cracked breakthrough roles after career breaks.
Now, coming to today’s topic
Interviews aren’t just about answering questions; they’re about showing your potential as a problem solver, a strategic thinker, and a leader. For those in product, marketing, and growth roles, interviews demand not just functional expertise and industry insights but also storytelling, quick thinking, and confidence in your expertise.
In this edition, we’ll break down a practical, high-impact approach to interview practice, covering why it’s essential, how to do it effectively, and how to reflect and improve each step of the way. Let’s dive in!
Why does interview practice matter?
In an interview, you get just 60 minutes to show why you’re the right fit for the role. In that short time, you need to prove your skills and be ready for any type of question—even the tricky, unexpected ones.
With 4 or more years of experience, you’ve likely mastered the core skills in your field. So why is practice still essential? Because how you communicate your expertise is as crucial as what you know. For leadership and high-impact roles, it’s not just about solving problems; it’s about showing how you think, prioritise and strategize in real time.
Practice helps you with -
#1 Confidence: Familiarity with key stories and pointers lets you focus on delivering them smoothly.
#2 Articulation: You can refine how you present your thoughts, ensuring clear and concise answers.
#3 Real-time thinking: Practicing different questions trains your mind to think on your feet, which is vital in product, growth, and marketing interviews.
Step 1/ Set up your practice routine
Think of interview practice as a structured routine, not just a few prep sessions before the big day. Here’s a breakdown:
Define key stories and skills: Identify your strongest achievements and skills relevant to the role. Prepare stories that reflect challenges, strategies, and results.
Focus on core themes: For product, marketing, and growth roles, common themes might include:
Product roles: Prioritization, roadmap decisions, product-market fit challenges.
Marketing roles: Campaign strategy, ROI and metrics, brand messaging.
Growth roles: Customer acquisition, conversion optimization, growth hacking strategies.
List common questions: Make a list of role-specific questions. Use job descriptions, industry blogs, and your network to source questions that recruiters in your field are likely to ask.
By having these essentials ready, you’ll save time during practice sessions and ensure you’re always refining your most impactful answers.
Pro tip: Aim to be both specific and brief in each of your stories. Not only does this show a clear thought process, but it also keeps interviewers engaged.
Step 2/ Proven practice techniques
Different practice methods can simulate the interview experience. Here are four effective ways to practice and when to use each:
A] Solo practice
Stand in front of a mirror and go over key responses. Focus on your body language, tone, and facial expressions. Are you coming across as confident or nervous? Are you making eye contact (in person or virtually)? It’s a low-tech approach, but it works wonders for identifying any nervous habits.
Practice your elevator pitch here. Try starting with a question like, “So, tell me about yourself.” Rehearse until it feels like you’re speaking naturally.
B] Recording yourself on Zoom
Record your answers on Zoom. This not only helps with reviewing your performance but also builds familiarity with virtual interview settings.
How to start?
Pick 3-4 questions relevant to your target role (examples below) and record your responses.
Sample product manager questions:
Tell me about a time when you had to prioritize features. How did you approach it?
How do you measure the success of a product feature?
Watching playback can feel awkward, but it’s incredibly helpful in spotting filler words, weak points, or areas where you could improve your pacing. Try otter.ai or Descript for automated transcription, which can be useful for analyzing and refining word choices.
C] Mock interviews with friends/ experts or mentors:
If you’re looking to take your practice to the next level, mock interviews with a friend, mentor, or coach can provide a different perspective. A peer can offer insights on what works and what doesn’t, while a mentor with industry knowledge can give specific feedback. Both are equally critical and value-adding, you can start with whatever best options are available around you.
How to set up a mock interview:
Choose a theme for each session:
In one session, focus on handling high-level strategic questions, like how you would lead a team or manage a budget.Ask for realistic questions:
You might find questions from online databases (e.g., Glassdoor or Product Alliance) or ask friends who have interviewed recently.Tools for mock interviews:
Pramp and Interviewing.io both provide structured, peer-based mock interview sessions with a variety of roles to choose from, helping you simulate the actual interview environment.
Pro tip: Aim for at least 2-3 practice rounds using different techniques to polish your answers from multiple angles.
Step 3/ Plan and track your progress
Just as you would for any project, create a practice plan with measurable steps:
Set milestones: Break your preparation into stages:
Initial practice: Focus on building your baseline by practising core answers.
Midway checkpoint: Assess your comfort level and refine complex answers.
Final review: Sharpen delivery and review any recent industry trends or case studies.
Document and reflect: After each session, jot down notes on:
Questions that were difficult or could be improved.
Instances where you were concise and impactful.
Areas needing more clarity or energy.
Track improvements: Progress isn’t always linear, but noticing small gains—whether in confidence, speed, or articulation—helps keep motivation high.
Step 4/ Reflect, refine, repeat
Reflection is where growth happens. After each practice session, take a few minutes to ask yourself:
Where did I feel most confident? Identify strengths to leverage.
Did any question catch me off guard? If yes, add it to your practice questions.
How was my pacing? Ensure you aren’t rushing or dragging out answers.
Is my answer structure clear? Make sure each response has a clear beginning, middle, and end to maximize clarity.
The goal here is to continually polish your approach, building confidence and clarity with every round of practice.
Some additional tips
As someone with several years in the field, it’s crucial to position yourself as a high-value contributor who understands the company’s needs. Here’s how to make your interview practice even more relevant:
Customize your answers for each role: Tailor your achievements to each company’s goals, showing how your experience aligns with their needs. For instance:
Product: Mention recent trends or specific product development tools (e.g., roadmapping tools, prioritization techniques).
Marketing: Emphasize metrics that matter, such as CAC, LTV, or ROI.
Growth: Talk about real strategies that show an understanding of scalable growth.
Frame achievements with impact metrics: Quantifying your impact is key, especially at senior levels. Use specifics:
Led a campaign that boosted engagement by X% in Y months.
Increased monthly active users by Z% through targeted product improvements.
Answer the “Why” behind your decisions: Hiring managers want to see thought processes, so practice framing answers that clarify why you took specific actions. For any and every question asked, you should be prepared to answer up to three levels of ‘Why’ to it.
Additionally, here’s something you can refer to for choosing questions you can ask to the interviewer at each stage.
Putting it all together
Confidence is one of the most valuable qualities you can bring to an interview, especially where leadership and decision-making are essential. Practicing consistently makes your responses feel second nature, so you can focus more on connecting with the interviewer and less on recalling information.
Each round of practice helps remove self-doubt and builds the confidence to handle unexpected questions & communicate clearly.
Remember, it’s not about memorizing answers; it’s about building the muscle memory to present your ideas effectively, answer thoughtfully, and lead with confidence.
Featured roles ✨
Business Analyst at Zerodha
As a Business Analyst at Zerodha, you'll be at the intersection of finance, technology, and user experience. You'll own and optimise critical processes across various aspects of the business.
Head of Field Marketing (India, ME & Asia) at greytHR
greytHR is a Full-Suite HRMS, with THE most advanced People Operations and Payroll products for businesses in India, the Middle East and South East Asia.
Product Manager at Pickyourtrail
Pickyourtrail, started in 2014, is India’s biggest online D-I-Y holiday booking platform that empowers users to curate customised holidays. This is your chance to be a part of the Product team catering to a new business category (TAM - $40B).
Curated resources 🚀
How to master career transitions? by Senior Director at MoEngage
Salary negotiation and things to consider, from a member who spent 5+ years at Swiggy leading growth & monetisation
Price calculator template for D2C brands, check here.
What has worked for you when preparing for interviews? Reply back to share it with us and we’ll curate it in the next edition.