top of page
Interviews: The Different Types
Pre-Interview Screening
Companies may ask for a screening call before offering an interview. A few companies that have been known to do this are Ferrara, MongoDB, Plante Moran, DE Shaw.
Questions are normally about your qualifications and career interests. Some examples are:
Tell me about yourself
What are you looking for in an internship?
Why did you choose to apply for this role instead of another role at this company?
Tell me about your experience working in a team
Behavioral Interviews
These interviews involve employers screening candidates based on past work and life experiences to determine their future success.
What employers are looking at:
Ability to demonstrate what you’ve done and learned (show off your soft skills!)
Whether you can tell your story
Curiosity in their company/industry
To Answer These Questions: Use the STAR Method
The STAR method is a technique that helps the user tell their story, while ensuring that it answers the question. When answering questions in behavioral interviews, it is important to keep in mind:
S
ituation
T
ask
A
ction
R
esult
Situation:
Set the Scene
DO NOT say unnecessary details - keep it to a minimum
Task:
Describe the responsibility you had or goal you wanted to achieve
Explain it like it's a challenge to overcome
Action:
Steps you took to address the problems - majority of the
time taken
How did you fix the situation?
Result:
Share the results that you had achieved
Numbers and hard data are always better
Common Questions Asked in Behavioral Interviews
Within the past year, what has been your biggest challenge with a project or campaign, and how did you overcome it?
Explain a time when you were pushed outside of your comfort zone, either by management, your team, or clients. How did you go about it?
Explain a situation where you faced a big challenge in having to balance your time and priorities to effectively control your workflow. How did you work to meet deadlines?
Describe a time when you had to work in a team and there were problems. How did you solve them?
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer or client. How did you handle the situation?
Tell me about a time when you had to take on a leadership role. What was the situation, and how did you handle it?
Tell me about a time you had to learn something completely new.
Do you have any questions for us?
Product Marketing Interview
This also tends to be a behavioral interview, but it focuses on a few different topics. These topics are marketing strategy, collaboration, and stakeholder management.
Example Product Marketing Interview Questions
Tell me about a time that you managed stakeholders effectively?
As a marketing manager, what steps would you take to improve the CTA system?
Take-home portion
Product Management Interview
Again, this will also be in a behavioral interview format. However, it will focus more on business scenarios, market sizing, product and prioritization.
Example Product Management Interview Questions
When creating Uber, would you develop its rider or driver side first and why?
What is the market size for coffee in the Midwest?
How many windows are in New York City?
Suggest a new feature for Amazon. What metrics would you use to measure its success?
Tips & Tricks
Research the company
Bring up what you know or would like to learn more about in the interview.
Dress appropriately
Even if the interview is on Zoom. Dressing the part helps getting in the right mindset.
Be aware of the time
Plan to arrive early, in case of any unexpected events
Prepare stories, not answers
You want to engage with the interviewer and give them a sense of who you are.
Be Positive
This shows the interviewer that you have a good attitude, and it will help ease any nervousness
Follow up with emails after an interview
This puts you in a group of very few applicants that actually do this
Be prepared by always knowing everything about your resume
If they ask “Tell me about yourself,” you can say a few things from your resume that are the most important
Prepare a lot of questions
Here are some examples:
Ask about workplace culture
Ask about the team you could be working with
Ask about what the best part of working for the company is
Ask what skills beyond the job description a top applicant would have
Ask about their path to their current job if there’s time
For internships - ask about what people tend to become (like full time job) after their internships
Turn an interview into a conversation
Read the Room (do you have to hold questions to end)
Set the tone from the moment you enter the room
Interest is the easiest way to stand out in any situation
Interviewing goes both ways, you are choosing the job, they are choosing you
Ask consistent natural follow ups (about role or more personal)
Establish your personal brand (sprinkle in your values, passions, goals)
Leave hooks (related skills/experiences interviewer can ask more on)
Know how you’ll enter and leave the interview
Other Helpful Resources
Here are some YouTube channels that have more helpful interview information:
This YouTuber was a previous CEO and gives advice on all kinds of interviews and the hiring process.
This is Mark Wolters’ channel, who is a marketing professor at Gies. Other than BADM 320 videos, he also gives interview advice.
Click the photos below to see some other websites that also have helpful interview information:
bottom of page