Vijay Bhardwaj: Placed at Sprinklr
Vijay Bhardwaj BTECH Mechanical, studying in IIT Kanpur will be joining Sprinklr, Product Analyst. Here are some brief insights.
Shortlisted Profiles & Companies:
Sprinklr, Product Analyst Alvarez and Marsal (Business Analyst) Capital One (Business Analyst) Finmechanics (Associate Consultant) Uni Cards (Business Analyst) MasterCard (Product Development) Meesho (APM) Tata 1mg (APM) Hilabs (APM) Navi (APM)
Selection Process of the Company you are selected in 1) Resume Shortlist, 2) GD, 3)Test
Aptitude test on Hackerearth, followed by 3 rounds of case interviews and 1 HR round.
Insights on the interview process
The first three rounds were product case rounds, which included guesstimates and varied problems on product design, feature ideation/improvement and metrics. In guesstimates, the interviewer was not looking for hard figures or calculations, but rather a structured approach and attention to detail (say, for example, figuring an edge case out – an example would be to solve for a metric dip in Spotify and not forgetting to count in podcasts!) In product design problems, coming up with innovative insights to the problem based on personal experience, or recommending novel solutions seemed to leave a good impression on the interviewer. It goes on to show that the candidate has a strong sense of products, in general. Overall, I consider a basic knowledge of technology and digital products and how they work, a necessary element to navigating this interview.
Sample Interview Questions?
Product Design - 1. In India, there are challenges related to legal awareness and accessibility. Individuals often lack information about their legal rights and processes, such as renting an apartment or filing taxes. Furthermore, the accessibility of legal proceedings is hindered by the difficulty of finding qualified lawyers and booking public interest litigations (PILs). Design a digital product designed to address these issues by improving access to legal information, facilitating the search for lawyers, and streamlining the process for booking PILs. (35 mins) 2. You are a PM at Hero MotoCorp. Design a new motorcycle for the average Indian, akin to a ‘Splendor’, considering their needs of today. (10 mins) 1. You are a PM at WhatsApp. There are plans to make WhatsApp a super-app of sorts. How will you approach ideating the features you may want to introduce? (5 mins) 1. You are a PM at Airbnb. Your CEO has ordered you to prepare a dashboard of 5 absolutely crucial metrics that they need to see every morning, to gauge how the company is doing. Devise these 5 metrics and supply reasoning. (5 mins) The usual Why Sprinklr? Why you? Why product? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Preparation Resources
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGaFxw9XFTw&list=PLqtwvdE26B_RqemTzPe1NwfufeNV5USEI PM School Explainers a great playlist on nailing absolute essentials for a fresher PM interview (PM interview skills != PM skills!) Following startup, unicorn, tech news on LinkedIn/X and reading on them further Going through a case deck or two every day on LinkedIn/PM School everyday (in peak placement prep season) in case you wish to sit for other product companies as well )
Advice for students (do's and don'ts)
For PM Roles- 1. PM prep, like design, involves building a product sense and it involves a lot of "unorganised” knowledge acquisition in the form of random internet browsing, reading, looking at real life examples and making inferences. So, follow product managers and unicorn founders on LinkedIn and X, and keep reading on what they have to say; look at upcoming YC companies/Indian unicorns and read on their business models, product design, etc. You get the point! 2. Don’t be afraid to take time to think in an interview. Always think out aloud, draw-and-show, and let the interviewer know your assumptions, raw thoughts, hypotheses etc., however learn to think independently as well, so as to avoid getting biased by thoughts like these. The key is to always maintain a certain logical structure to solving a problem. For placements - 1. I CANNOT emphasize enough the importance of confidence! As my friend (Advait) Vashi said, GIVE your interview with the assumption ki “tera nahi hi hone wala”. No amount of interview rejections define your ability. There is literally nothing to lose, and life has great things for you!