Facebook RPM Interview: Jewel Lim's Tips on Getting an Offer Source: https://medium.com/@jewellim/facebook-rpm-program-from-prep-to-offer-2d1be3772db8

1. 10/22/2017 Facebook RPM Program: From Prep to Offer – Jewel Lim – Medium
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Jewel Lim Follow
Sep 15 · 5 min read
Facebook RPM Program: From Prep to O er
I’ve been getting a lot questions about my experience with the
Facebook Rotational Product Management (RPM) interview process
and was encouraged to write this blog in hopes of paying it forward. I
wouldn’t have gotten my o er without the help of other aspiring and
current PMs. Though this prep is Facebook speci c, I hope this will be
useful to you wherever you decide to go as an aspiring or transitioning
PM.
Facebook Interview Process
The FB interview process, which I understand to be similar regardless
of whether you are applying as a PM or RPM, is:
First Round (Phone): Recruiter screen (15 minutes)
Second Round (Video Call): Product Sense (45 minutes),
Execution (45 minutes)
Final Round (Onsite): Product Sense (45 minutes), Execution
(45 minutes), Leadership and Drive (45 minutes)
There are no coding interviews. From what I gathered from my
experience as well as others who have gotten an o er from Facebook,
you do not have to worry about serious number estimations questions.
However, don’t quote me on that!
The Prep
Obviously, there is a lot that goes into prepping for your PM interview
and there are many resources available online. For the sake of scope,
here is my must-have recommended list, especially if you are short on
time:
Glassdoor. Gather all these questions up! Many of these appear again
in interviews. Be sure to pay attention to the types of questions your
recruiter might ask, such as key lessons from your latest project, your
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2. 10/22/2017 Facebook RPM Program: From Prep to Offer – Jewel Lim – Medium
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favorite product (both speci c and nonspeci c to Facebook), why you
want to work at Facebook, and why you want to get into product
management. You won’t have much time so practice making these
concise.
Decode and Conquer by Lewis Lin. This book showed me that having a
great framework is more than half the battle. The CIRCLES Method and
AARM Method helped me navigate where I needed to go during my
interview. When doing both your Product Sense and Execution, use a
whiteboard (yes, even in a video interview!) to articulate your thoughts
and ll in your framework. It’s also great for discussing tradeo s with
your suggested features and how you would implement a Minimum
Viable Product (MVP) by drawing either a table or wireframe.
Here is a cheat sheet Lewis Lin made for the Facebook interview. Check
out this blog post as well to know more about what to expect for each
type of interview.
The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen. I know this book seems
large and intimidating, but it’s an amazing and easy read. Having a
great framework can only get you so far. A deeper understanding of
product-market t and how those metrics play in will make you 100%
more con dent and help you when your interviewer interrupts to test if
you are ‘too stuck’ to your framework. In fact, I would highly
recommend getting the audio book version of this for your commute
(also great for when you’re cleaning or doing laundry!), in addition to
the hard copy. I “read” the rst 8 chapters during long drives. It made
me truly understand that user needs and satisfaction are the most
important factors to consider when building new features. Chapter 13
and 14 also gave me a deep understanding of how metrics work in
larger business sense and how to put it in the context of Facebook’s
company mission and nancial goals. The graphs in these chapters,
which I re-drew in some of my interviews, helped me convey why I
made certain decisions. Pair what you learn here with Decode and
Conquer’s Chapter 10 sections on The Three Loops (Retention Loop)
and A/B Testing.
Cracking the PM Interview by Gail Laakmann McDowell and Jackie
Bavaro. While I personally preferred Decode and Conquer, this is worth
at least a skim for sure! This book has great tips on how to tweak your

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resume and has some great practice question samples. If you have more
time, I would de nitely recommend reading this more indepthly.
The PM Community! I cannot stress enough how important it is to
practice with other people. Even though I read the books, doing mock
interviews with others anywhere from two to twelve times a week was
key in building my con dence. Observing how other people answered
the same questions also gave me perspective on di erent ways to think
about the problems. You can nd practice partners in Women in
Product, StellarPeers (Meetup + Blog), and Lewis Lin’s PM Practice
Slack Group. Also, check out Advancing Women in Product! Don’t
forget to seek out your experienced PM friends and colleagues because,
if they’re willing to give you the time, they’ve got tons of knowledge to
share. The worst they can say is no. An experienced PM is really helpful
for the Execution interview where he/she can poke real holes into your
proposed roadmap and key metric. They can also help you with your
Leadership and Drive interview.
The Heart of the Interview
At the end of the day, as cheesy as it sounds, the interview comes down
to who you are. If thousands of people equally prepared and are
quali ed for the role, it would come down to your motivation, drive,
and passion. How did you end up in your previous roles and what made
you choose them? What is important to you long-term? What was the
common denominator among all the seemingly disparate experiences
that you’ve had? Have you processed your failures and owned them as
a learning experience? What would you have done di erently, if you
could do it again?
While talking about success metrics is good and well, remember to
make your story human and relatable. Aside from how I processed my
failures and felt proud about my successes, I talked about the
challenges I faced and the people who helped me. In late 2015, after
two immediate family members had cancer and I split from my partner
of ve years, I decided to move across the country with nothing but an
o er from a friend to occupy his couch in Mountain View. Since then,
other people have supported me, whether it was in a GoFundMe
campaign to do a Virtual Reality eight-week course or in a communities
like Oculus Launch Pad and the PM community, where your peers are
competing with you but help and cheer you on anyway. Even when I

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failed on a large scale, I found the courage to keep pursuing my goals
because of my community. Find your story! I promise it will be more
memorable than the numerical success metrics you’ve already
mentioned on your resume.
I hope this blog post has helped in some way for your interviewing
process. Please feel free to send me a note and add me on LinkedIn! :)
Good luck!

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