Highspot Product Manager Interview Questions
& Process

First a recruiter screen, then met with the hiring manager, and finally a panel of three team members. Pretty standard process. It's useful to know the company's core values and be ready to share examples of how you've lived them.

My interview experience with Highspot was really bad. The first phone screen call with the recruiter dropped. I tried calling back multiple times but kept getting an automated system. I emailed them, and later got a voicemail implying it was my fault and giving no way to call back. We exchanged emails to reschedule, and I asked for a direct line, but the recruiter was hard to schedule with and wouldn't give me one. I decided to pass. The second time, the head of PM at Highspot, who I know from my previous job, reached out. I had a 30-minute call with them, where I was questioned a bit, and then I was put back in touch with the same recruiter. They had two product openings: Principal and Senior. In my second phone screen with the recruiter, I mentioned I was a better fit for the Senior PM role. He condescendingly said I needed 5 years of experience for senior, despite my resume showing 7 years. He also wrongly assumed I was fired from my last job. I clarified I left on good terms. He questioned my skills and experience, then said I'd move to the next round, which would involve three more stages: a one-hour phone screen with a PM, a homework assignment with a 30-minute presentation, and a full-day loop. The one-hour phone screen was tough but went well, with questions on issue tracking systems like JIRA and business growth. The final round was a homework assignment, which turned out to be a 15-minute presentation (not 30) on issue tracking systems (choosing from Trello, JIRA, Atlassian). This was followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. They estimated 90 minutes for the assignment, but it took me much longer, requiring a full roadmap, business plan, rollout plan, specs with UX mockups, success metrics, and pricing strategies. I presented for 15 minutes via Zoom to three people, who asked questions for about 5 minutes. They abruptly ended the call 10 minutes early and didn't say when I'd hear back. I waited three business days, then emailed to ask about my status. The recruiter replied saying no. I probably wouldn't have heard anything if I hadn't followed up. After three phone screens and the assignment, I found this very rude. A note for minority candidates: I noticed all my interviewers were white men. Given industry data, I questioned the lack of diversity. I found out the entire PM team, including the hiring manager, were white men. For a new company like Highspot, I'd expect more effort towards DEI in hiring, especially since they've made most hires in the last year. They've hired two women since then, but I don't know if they are POC.

I spoke with a recruiter and then the hiring manager. The recruiter conversation was really quick and felt a bit much, but it was fine. They asked a bunch about my past. The hiring manager chat was... different. They wanted a career overview then just launched into a brainstorming session with a lot of "what if..." questions for over 20 minutes.