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�erI’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 ProcessThe 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 PrepObviously, 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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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 andConquer’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

10/22/2017 Facebook RPM Program: From Prep to Offer – Jewel Lim – Medium

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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 inProduct, StellarPeers (Meetup + Blog), and Lewis Lin’s PM PracticeSlack 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 InterviewAt 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

10/22/2017 Facebook RPM Program: From Prep to Offer – Jewel Lim – Medium

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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!

10/22/2017 Facebook RPM Program: From Prep to Offer – Jewel Lim – Medium

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