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How to Get More FAANG Product Manager Interviews

FAANG companies are some of the hottest places for Product Manager job hunting. We have been getting numerous questions about how to get more FAANG Product Manager interviews. Who doesn’t want to work for one of these companies? Buckle up: We are about to share six proven tips to help you get more FAANG Product Manager interviews ASAP!

The six best ways to get a FAANG Product Manager interview are: reapply, follow up on LinkedIn, network with recruiters, networks with PMs, attend events, and be consistent.

Before we unpack that list, know that this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint. Please understand that this process takes time and patience. Most candidates who successfully got into Product Manager roles at FAANG companies managed to do this after landing their first PM job. At Product Gym, it is our top priority to help our members not only land their first Product Manager job but also the right Product Manager job. Let’s get started.

1. Reapply

Most of the time, you have to reapply to the same position a couple of times before you get a response. Many people believe that they get rejected when they apply for a job and don’t hear back. That is incorrect! Yes, there is a possibility that you might have been rejected, but remember this: What have you got to lose by trying again?

So, to land FAANG Product Manager interviews, make sure you are consistently applying. Keep on sending your resume for the second, third, or even fourth time. Consistency is the name of the game.

Recruiters only need to send 10 to 20 resumes a week to the Hiring Manager. So what can we do to make sure that your resume is at the top? Does applying on a Sunday night so that your resume is the first thing that the recruiter sees the following morning work? Well, sometimes it might, but it’s not a very strong strategy.

This is where reapplying comes into play. One thing to keep in mind while reapplying to FAANG companies: make sure you apply through the company website. Now, you might be thinking about the possibility of getting blacklisted by the company. Well, you are as good as blacklisted already if you don’t contact them. Do everything you can to convert FAANG Product Manager interviews. You already spent time applying the first time, and you might as well do everything you can to increase your chances.

Reapply after five business days after you’ve applied the first time. Do it directly through their website underneath their career page, and not on third-party job boards.

2. Follow Up On LinkedIn

Make sure you connect with the Product Managers of that company on LinkedIn! This advice goes beyond FAANG companies, and it should be a common practice with all of the companies you are seriously considering. Remember that there is nearly an infinite number of people who want to get into the company as much as you do, so you have to separate yourself from the pack.

Imagine this: You have reapplied three-four times on the company site, and you haven’t heard anything. What do you do? We always urge our members to connect with 5-10 Product Managers of their target company through LinkedIn. Also, keep in mind that you should connect with senior PMs, VP of products, or PM directors. That is because the role you’re applying for probably doesn’t report to Product Managers directly, so try to contact those in the senior levels!

After you find the person you want to connect with, you have to send them a LinkedIn request with the following note format:

Hey [Person X],

I am a big fan of what your company is doing right now. I’ve applied directly through your company website twice, and I’ve never heard back from anybody. Do you have 15 minutes to go ahead and chat about this opening Monday at 11:30 [or Wednesday at 11:30]?

Make sure you space out the days, so you don’t seem desperate to the person. Also, you want to make sure that the time you suggest is either 11:30 AM or 4:30 PM since, during these times, people are at their most unproductive state.

As you do this more often, you will understand what time and which message works the best. So takes this opportunity to A/B test this approach and up your virtual networking game!

3. Network with Recruiters

Specifically speaking, network with internal recruiters. Keeping up with the recruiters is very important since recruiters are the ones who know which roles are hiring immediately and how the hiring budget is allocated. Also, remember that people quit their jobs or change their cities all the time. The recruiter and not the PM, only know have this type of knowledge, so you would want to network with the recruiter as much as possible.

Recruiters have all the information you need to land an offer, but how do you connect with recruiters? First of all, you should be connecting with 5-10 of them a day. Also, if they are speaking at a particular event, you might want to go ahead and attend those events. Even if they are posting on LinkedIn, looking for roles or other technical verticals (doesn’t matter if it’s network engineering or software engineering), like and comment on all the messages they post up on LinkedIn. If you, yourself, or anybody you know might be a good fit for the roles they posted, make sure you let them know. Be a value provider and be a source of value. That way, whenever they need something, your name will pop up in their mind.

4. Network with Product Managers

You should make sure that you have a relationship with the Product Managers at the company you want to work for. Why and how should you this?

The first thing you should know is that the more Product Managers you know at a given company, the better your chances of landing an offer. Remember, the larger companies that you are going for have hundreds of Product Managers, so you have infinite possibilities of connecting with new people.

You can connect them through LinkedIn or attend their events. At Product Gym, we make sure that influential PMs write for our guest blog and interview with us to propagate their best practices in this field. So, make sure you check our blog to learn more about some of the leaders in this field. Also, note that these people are very active on social media. Read their blogs on LinkedIn, subscribe to their YouTube channel, follow them on Twitter. It’s the 21st century, and the number of ways of connecting with a person is infinite!

5. Attend the Events

Connecting with random strangers on LinkedIn is quite challenging. Perhaps the best way to mitigate that awkwardness is to sustain a personal relationship by attending their meetups. Many Product Managers working for larger companies hold events regularly.

Truth be told, this might be the fastest way to land Product Manager interviews. Yes, we are indeed living in the digital age, but nothing is as precious as some quality face time.

Also, make sure that you bring your resume to the event. This is the best opportunity to introduce yourself professionally, and so your resume needs to be on point. If you need further help with crafting the ultimate Product Manager resume, don’t forget to watch our video.

6. Be Consistent

We wanted to remind you just in case you forget, or you decide to quit your Product Manager job hustle after your first failure. These tips will only work if you consistently try connecting and networking. As we have been repeating throughout the article, the fruits of your labor will be available to you in months or even in a year!

We always get questions like “How do I get a PM interview from Google tomorrow?” and our answer is still the same, “You can’t.” Those who are patient and work consistently will score a role at these mega-companies. Remember, you are not the only one who is after these roles, so you should be consistent with staying ahead of the competition in the race.

Dig Into FAANG Product Manager Interview Prep

Once you’ve landed the FAANG interview, you’ll want to be as prepared as possible. Start by doing a company deep dive to learn about the company culture, their product, and history. We’ve put together handy company research guides so that you can find all the info you need in one place and win the FAANG Product Manager interview:

Need more advice on how to land more interview and convert them into job offers? Schedule a call with our in-house team of career coaches for your free coaching session, and find out how Product Gym can help you kick-start your PM career.