Scale AI Product Manager Interview

So, the interview process typically kicks off with a call from a recruiter. They're typically interested in your resume and want to dig deeper into your past experiences. Be ready to answer questions like, "Why do you want to work as a product manager?" This will set the tone for the conversation and help the recruiter understand your motivations and drive.

They're also assessing your personality; they want to make sure you're not just good at what you do but also someone they'd enjoy working with. So, be genuine and prepare ahead; show them that you're not just a qualified candidate but also a decent human being.

As for your past experiences, make sure to gather your thoughts and narrow down specific examples that highlight your product management abilities. Focus on topics like what your contribution was, how things went and what you could have done better.

• Share your product management background and how it aligns with Scale AI's objectives.
• Discuss a complex project you've handled and your approach to overcoming challenges.
• What draws you to the role of a product manager specifically at Scale AI?
• How do you prioritise and manage tasks effectively, especially in a fast-paced environment like Scale AI?
• Provide examples of how you've effectively collaborated with diverse teams in your past experiences.

After your chat with the recruiter, you'll move on to a phone interview with a current PM at Scale AI. You'll have approximately 45-50 minutes to tackle a product, estimation, or analytical question. Consider this your chance to showcase your problem-solving skills and demonstrate your ability to think critically and strategically.

Once you've tackled the main question, you'll usually have around 5-10 minutes for a Q&A session. You may also ask any burning questions you might have about the role, the company, or anything else you'd like to know.

Now, here's the important part: your performance in all interviews, including this phone screen, will be evaluated and considered in your final hiring decision. So, give it your best shot. Practice estimation scenarios and product strategy questions. Show that you can think critically and analyse problems from multiple angles with potential constraints, trade-offs in mind.

If you are interviewing for the Associate Product Manager (APM) role, you'll also be tasked with a homework assignment. You'll have approximately 2 hours to complete the project, and it typically revolves around a product question. 

Now, there's no one right way to approach the APM exercise, but your submission should include several key elements:

• How you came up with your ideas
• Why you chose certain areas to focus on
• What features you think the product needs
• A plan for the basic version of the product (MVP) including wireframes
• Ideas for how to test and improve the product
• Your thoughts on how the product could grow in the future.

Treat the exercise like any other product question in an interview. Clearly outline your approach, acknowledge any assumptions you've made, and present your solution in a well-organised PDF format to preserve formatting consistency.

Following the submission, you can expect the interview to delve deeper and ask additional 'what if' questions to assess your adaptability and problem-solving skills in various scenarios. For instance, “What would your response be if X occurred and the engineers were already occupied with Y tasks?”

This stage is where things get intense, with a typical onsite interview consisting of 5 rounds: 4 product/analytical and 1 technical question.

1. Technical and Execution Questions: Be prepared to answer technical questions related to your role as a PM. For example, "How would you make sure everyone can log in from different websites?" or "Explain 'protocol' like you're talking to a little kid."
2. Product Estimation and Analytical Questions: In this round, you'll face analytical questions assessing your problem-solving and data analysis skills. Additionally, you'll typically be presented with a scenario and asked to estimate various aspects of a product or feature. This means tackling questions like "How much money is spent on gas in the US every year?" or "How many millennials own homes in the US?". The objective is to assess your ability to think critically, make informed assumptions, and work through a problem methodically.
3. Product and Design Ideas: This round tests your product intuition and design acumen, covering aspects of product strategy, user experience, and design principles. Expect questions like "If you were the CEO of Scale AI, what new product would you come up with to increase revenue?" or "Design a washer and dryer".
4. Behavioural Questions: They'll ask about your past experiences to see if you'd fit in at Scale AI. You'll talk about what you've done before and how you handle things at work.

At Scale AI, they believe in testing candidates in multiple dimensions throughout the PM interview. For example, you might start with a product question in one round, but the interviewer could pivot and ask you to estimate the size of the market or provide analytics and gauge your response.

However, the mix of questions you receive in your onsite interview can vary based on your prior performance. Let's say you excelled in product questions but struggled with analytical questions during the phone interviews. In that case, you might encounter more analytical questions during your onsite interview.

Each interview round will last roughly 45-50 minutes, with a brief 5-10 minutes at the end for you to ask any questions you may have.

• How would you determine the pay structure for data labeling teams?
• Name a mobile application you like. Why do you like it? How would you improve it?
• Would you build a new product at Scale AI and why? What size market do you think this product would have?
• Give me an example of a feature you've built based on data.
• How would you structure a product roadmap for Scale AI?
• We'd like to know how Scale AI aligns with your long-term goals.
• What would you do to manage stakeholders' expectations and ensure the development team's productivity remains high?
• Why are you interested in joining Scale AI as a Product Manager? What skills do you bring to the company that make you unique?
• Which of your recent projects failed to achieve success in a key metric and why?
• What one thing might you change about Scale AI if you had the chance?
• Could you tell me about a project you are very proud of?