👀 Landing APMM Offers in Big Tech — iykyk

Hi there — Vicky here! 

Earlier this year, I began my full-time recruitment journey as a December 2021 college graduate. I knew I wanted to be part of a rotational program of some sort and ended up receiving offers for Associate Product Marketing Manager programs at Atlassian and Google.

I realized from the recruitment process that there weren't a lot of up-to-date resources out there for APMM roles while there were a ton for future APMs: APMList, Product Buds, etc — just to name a few.

So — I'm writing this guide and including what I wish I had known prior to starting my APMM recruitment journey for future APMMs. 

Here's every tactic and resource I used to land APMM offers in Big Tech:

1. Your Candidate Positioning

2. My Networking Strategy

3. Company Deep Dive Template

4. Practice Interview Questions

5. Best No-Cost Resources

Your Candidate Positioning

When you apply to APMM opportunities, you want to think like a product marketer. How can I position myself uniquely in the "market" of candidates that solves a "problem" for the customer — in which, this case, is the company. 

Thinking about this before you apply will help you form a strategy around how you may write about achievements on your resume or experiences you showcase.

There's a couple of ways to inform your strategy around this:

Linkedin Posts — Search for Linkedin posts regarding the application going live. There are bound to be reactions and comments on those posts. Look at the profiles and backgrounds of other students or early-career folks who commented or liked the post. What is their story? Why do you think they are interested in this program? Okay. Now, how can you tell a story different from theirs based on the past experiences you have?

Job Role Descriptions — On every job listing, most posts list down attributes or characteristics they look for in an ideal candidate. Do they want someone who is...creative? a storyteller? self-starter? Write those traits down because we'll use them later.

Current APMMs — Lastly, we'll look through the Linkedin profiles of current APMMs. Are there any patterns in background or experiences of successful applicants? Try to notice if there are differences between newer and older program participants. 

Now that you've done all three we can put the insights together! 

1. Use the background and highlighted experiences of current APMMs to inform what experiences the company prefers. This helps with knowing how you get past the resume screening process with the right experiences on your resume.

2. Pick a noun you want to describe yourself as a candidate. Are you a book writer? The videographer? The political campaignist? Try to position yourself as someone who you don't as commonly see in other candidates. This will help with standing out during your interviews.

3. Finally, remember those traits from the job posting? Make sure to include examples in your behavioral stories about how you showcased those traits. So for example, if you describe yourself as a filmmaker and videography — when was a time you needed to be a self-starter? Or maybe scrappy with your production process?

My Networking Strategy

Step 1: Defining the Networking ScopeLook up common questions from past interview databases like Glassdoor or online blogs. If there are no common questions, try to figure out what are the company's most common or highest revenue generating products. This will help you scope down who to talk and learn more about the company from.

Step 2: Linkedin OutreachFind 8-10 current employees to talk to (usually about 30-40% reply, so maybe reach out to about 20-ish people). Preferably those working in the product areas you've identified in the previous step. Reach out and ask for a 25-minute coffee chat. I usually find that to be the sweet spot for having enough time to get the information you need. 

Step 3: The Coffee ChatDuring the coffee chat, focus on these 3 core questions:

• How does product marketing work at ________?

• How do you think I can stand out as a candidate?

• What do you think are the biggest challenges your team is facing?

At the end of the call, let them know you'd love to give them an update on your recruitment process in the future if it's something the professional would be open to!

Step 4: Getting the ReferralI personally don't like asking for referrals if I've known the individual for less than 6 months. Others may not too much of an issue asking someone they just meet, but I tend to find the professional is more comfortable doing it if they've known you for awhile already.As a result, for my personal preference, I like to start talking to folks much earlier in the recruitment process (~1 year out) to help build the relationship over time. That means — if you start the outreach process now, you'll have roughly 7-8 months of leeway before applications open in the summer time around July and August!

Company Deep Dive Template

There are four main areas I like to research:

• Podcast ft. Company Leaders

• Blogs or Recent News Articles

• Competitors for their Most Popular Products

• Preferred Marketing Channels

Podcasts — Find podcasts where PMM leaders of the company talk about their experience working on their team and product. Listening to these episodes will give you a better sense of general company direction and imminent challenges leadership is thinking about. 

Blogs or Recent News — This can be from the company's personal blog or media websites such as Tech Crunch, Wirecutter, The Verge, etc.

Competitors — As a product marketer, it may become part of your job to understand the landscape of your products! Competitors will give you valuable insight as to where the industry is headed and how others may be solving the same problem as the company you're interviewing for.

Marketing Channels — Knowing which channels the company is currently utilizing helps when answering case study campaigns around campaign launches. You can bring up existing channels and their names (ie. Google's blog is called The Keyword") in any take home or live case questions. It's also good to know which channels the company may be underutilizing! 

Practice Interview Questions 

Your Basics:

1. Why product marketing?

2. Why [the company]?

3. Why this APMM program?

Behavioral Stories Categories:

1. Data

2. Ambiguity

3. Disagreement

4. Leadership

5. Stakeholder Management

Case Study:

1. What is your favorite marketing campaign?

2. What is your least favorite campaign?

3. How would you manage and launch a campaign?

4. Imagine a product has a high user base. How would you maintain that user base and acquire the remaining market?

5. What is your favorite product? How would you increase profit?

The Best No-Cost Prep Resources

There are 4 resources I found super useful throughout both of my recruitment processes:

1. PMM Interviews — tactical PMM Interview advice from FB, Amazon, etc PMM leaders

2. Sharebird — weekly AMA’s with big tech product marketing VPs, Directors, and more

3. YT Explainer Video — Product Manager vs. Product Marketing Manager

4. Product Marketing Careers — a podcast by Al Dea, former Sr. PMM @ Salesforce

And that's it — hope you found this guide helpful.

Lastly, I want to end by saying I truly believe anyone has the potential to land their dream role. It's just a matter of doing the right preparation and having the right cheerleaders to support you in your endeavors. 

Good luck — you got this!

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