How I got my job

Maahir Shah has been working as a Product Manager for eight years. Here’s how he got his job as a Product Manager at Facebook.

Roles and responsibilities

I lead and work in a large cross-organizational team. I introduce new product initiatives that have well over 100 people involved in them.

How did you find out about your current job and why did the role appeal to you?

I found out about this position through friends who work at the company. It’s a fusion of enterprise SaaS and consumer tech since we’re building for 100s of millions of organisations across the world.

What were you doing before this job?

I worked as a Product Manager for three companies prior to Facebook. These were MediaMath (Director of Product), Citigroup (Product Manager) and Applied Predictive Technologies (Product Manager).

What was the job process like?

I submitted my resume then went through a very rigorous interview process, these included two rounds that I had to progress in.

Round 1 focused on product sense, execution and metrics, while Round 2 focused on product leadership.

What is your educational background and, if relevant, how did this help you to get this role?

I have a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and a Master’s in Engineering Management. What I learned in grad school around building blue oceans was pivotal in me landing the right type of product role for me.

Tips on landing a role in product

• Break your interview question down into a series of decisions and if you are not convinced by a decision, do not move ahead.
• Have a rough idea of the end in mind before you even begin with the first decision so you don’t put yourself into a dead end.
• If you end up at a dead-end in deciding what you want to do in your career or how to approach an interview question, don’t hesitate to revisit previous decisions.

How did you get your job in product?

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Discover how others have forged their product paths in our How I got my job content series.