👀 Zynga Rotational Product Manager: Application to Offer – iykyk

Poker, University, & General Background

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi! I’m Tyler, a current Rotational Product Manager at Zynga, a mobile games company. I’m currently in my first rotation and work on the Poker team.

I went to a small university called York University in Toronto, Canada, and studied Business Administration with a focus on operations and information systems. In terms of my general background, before starting at Zynga I worked at a couple of FinTech companies within the grocery delivery and sports teams space, and even had the chance to work with the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs.

I also have a newsletter called Tyler Talks Product, where I try to democratize information for those trying to land tech internships and break into Product. We break down a lot of really common product terminology, talk about people's experiences, and show people that starting a career in product is totally possible with the right resources.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link: https://tylertalksproduct.substack.com/ 

Program Structure & Timeline

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

Sure, so Zynga has two sets of 6 month rotations, where you work on a different game each rotation. After that, the hope is that you get fully placed on a game. In terms of recruiting timelines, applications came out around September, interviews typically happen around November, and final rounds + the offer come out around January.

Becoming a Data Expert

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

I think what's really important to understand about Zynga is they're really data focused.

While a lot of companies do say that, I think Zynga stands out whether it’s in the form of their experiments or the way that they handle reporting, and they’re really focused on making sure that they're analyzing as much granularity as possible from their data. I think that's really great for someone that's starting out though, because I think being an expert at analyzing data is a superpower that many product managers want to develop.

The culture’s also great, and everyone’s been really nice and welcoming.

Interview Structure, Resources, & Processes

What did your interview structure look like and what is your advice for acing them?

While the interview process does vary each year, I would say that the typical questions contain a lot of product design questions and my advice would be to read The Product Manager Interview: 164 Actual Questions and Answers and to go watch the product management mock interviews on the Exponent YouTube Channel. If you do that, you will find questions that will not only be replicated during interviews at Zynga, but also a bunch of other PM programs.

In terms of my approach for interview questions, I would say that it's not so much about getting the right answer, but more about diving into the right process and putting yourself in a position to articulate well, and to be able to explore insights that other candidates won't. For example, following the standard structure will probably reveal insights that a lot of candidates will reveal. But, if you look at the problem from different viewpoints, you're probably going to get different insights compared to your peers which can help you stand out.

Company Awareness & Side Projects

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and what recruitment strategies would you recommend to others?

So standing out is definitely important, especially with how competitive rotational programs in products are. That said, here are my top three pieces of advice:

1. Be hyper aware of what the company does: I think a lot of people think that being aware of a company is a really easy thing to do, but I think it extends deeper and it's about finding insights that other people don't have. For me, I think games are really fun since there's a lot of opportunity to understand it from a human psychology perspective. So while applying, I over-indexed on that.

2. Meet as many people as possible: Whether that comes in the form of drawing a connection with someone and hoping it helps you stand out on the panel applications or asking for a referral, it all helps.

3. Work on side projects: I obviously wrote my newsletter, which was a really big thing that I used to show my passion about product and to show that I wanted to help people at scale, but side projects can really vary. If you want to start a side project, my main advice would be to do something you truly enjoy, not just to do what someone tells you to do.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

Yeah, I think one thing I really appreciate about Zynga is the idea that they're really focused on the idea of connecting people through games.

I personally really enjoy the social component of any product, and hopefully in the future I’m able to continue working at Zynga, or at least on a product that emphasizes the social aspect in a similar way. Apart from that, I heavily value learning, and for the time being I’m just focused on doing whatever helps me learn the most!