How to get into Product Management at Google from a Non-Tech Background: An interview with Justin

Justin Lipton is an incredible Product Manager at Google. In this video we dive into his advice for other entering the space from a non-tech background, how to rotate into the field within a company and how he learned about Product during his MBA at Columbia.

Send me your feedback in the comments below and share this with others who are interested in Product Management.

Video Chapters
0:00 Video Introduction
1:06 Justin’s background and story
2:36 How did you learn about Product?
3:51 What was your path to becoming a Google PM?
5:58 How did you bring up rotating into PM with your manager?
7:55 What was your experience rotating into PM?
9:50 How did you prep for your PM rotation?
11:57 How did you prep for the Google PM interview?
14:40 What did you do to practice interview questions?
16:27 How technical do you need to be for the interview?
20:55 Highs and lows of being a Product Manager at Google
22:26 Rapid fire, fun irrelevant questions

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn:

[vaondapa]

Liam I laughed out loud @0:35😂20 mins is not long. I love the short & concise content but there's somethings that deserve the birds eye view and boots on the ground. This video is so timely and necessary, great job!

[sj]

Finally! Good to have you back, Liam! And looking forward to this :)

[iverportillo]

Can’t wait for this one. Liam making a YT comeback 🤘🏽

[misterhanwee]

Thanks for the generous sharing! Really eye-opening

[neoxochitl]

Thank you! This is such a great video and welcome back!

[shariqueshaikhh]

Wow! Almost after a year. Gald to see you. Thanks for this video :)

[alltradingsecrets]

Hey, would be good to have a video around tackling product strategy questions in interview.

[archanapullela]

Hi Liam, can you please make a video on Google APM program, and how students pursuing their masters can prepare and build their resume for it.

[NidhiKakkar]

Liam, can you interview with someone with a PhD (not in CS) and not with a MBA? I am wondering what the chances are if you dont have CS background or MBA to get into PM. Thanks!

[jaimesmith]

Thanks Liam for creating this video.

I am wondering If I can get your thoughts on this - I recently discovered product management but my impression so far is that I can be paid well (sweet sweet tech salary), don't need to code, don't need any special certifications/MBA/MS Computer Science (or any specific degrees for that matter) or specific experiences.

Seems too good to be true. Wondering if I am missing something?

[amolpangarkar]

thanks Liam for this. How open are you to help with a Mock interview ?

[amtrax]

I am running a startup xyz currently series A, and I am thinking about hiring product manager. But, the more I look at the job, and I do research about it. I cannot justify the creation of the job at the company. Most of this can be handle from engineering. The product is really just a system. So, right now I am thinking about whatever I create a new position with the requirements/scope that I want, or try a PM just to test if it works. The problem is that I cannot justify the position, and I don't see a strong foundation in Product. I don't see something concrete. I wonder what you think about it? 😆

[monafang]

Hey Liam! Currently hiring for a product manager for my startup. What’s your tips on finding stellar talent?

[akechmalual]

Hi Liam, do you have an opportunities at google? I got laid off recently in the middle of the holidays season 😢

[abtheerth]

Hey Liam, welcome back. I had a question on chat during the premiere -
The earlier videos of yours referenced a slack channel. How do I get an invite to it? Do I message you on LinkedIn?