One of the areas where I find PM candidates trip up most often is they get interviews using my system, they even get good feedback, and then… silence.
No offer.
The feedback?
We found someone else more qualified than you.
That is a polite lie.
When I go in and diagnose the problem, what I almost always learn is the reason this is actually happening is they are messing up the behavioral interviews.
Because the reality is, even in 2025, basic behavioral questions really matter to whether you get the offer.
So this week, I’m releasing two articles:
The PM Behavioral Interview Guide
The AI PM Behavioral Interview Guide
Today is the foundational piece.
Today’s Post
After coaching 100+ mentees this year and hiring over 50 PMs over my career, I’ve distilled behavioral interviews into 3 universal laws that govern everything.
We’ll be applying them to the 12 most common behavioral questions:
The mindset you need to win
The 12 questions you must prepare
The 3 laws that govern your responses
Applying the laws to the 12 questions
The improvement framework
Most common mistakes
1. The Mindset You Need to Win
Before we get into the questions and the laws though, we have to talk mindset. Because if you get your mindset wrong, you are hopeless to begin with.
Here’s the mindset you need to have: confidence you are enough and can do this.
I’ve worked with countless candidates who have “all of the buts” syndrome.
It looks like this.
When I say that they need to speak with confidence:
But I struggle with imposter syndrome.
Or when I say they need to speak in a more concise manner:
I understand, but interview time I just can’t do it.
These ‘buts’ are endless!
And it’s what holds them back.
I was coaching someone who didn’t land a job for four months due to insecurities after a layoff. Week after week, we talked confidence. 2 weeks ago? He landed a $280K TC PM job.
So you need to start this article by changing your frame.
Throw out the ‘buts.’
We’re going to have the confidence. I like how one of my favorite public speaking coaches, Vinh Giang, puts it:
You already know how to do all this well. You already are great at using your voice to talk about yourself.
Trust us.
This piece is going to give you the scaffolding and frameworks to pull it out of you.
2. The 12 Questions You Must Prepare
Before we dive into the laws, you have to know what you’re up against.
These are the tough questions you need to prepare for, ranked by prevalence:
Tell me about yourself
What is your current pay?
What are your compensation expectations?
Why do you want to work here?
Why this job?
Why are you leaving your current job?
What is your greatest weakness?
What is your biggest failure?
Fast forward three years. What will you be then?
What’s something everyone takes for granted that you think is hogwash?
What work accomplishment are you most proud of?
Describe a scenario in which you had to say no
The top 3 account for the majority of rejections I see. Not because they’re hard conceptually. Because candidates completely misplay them.
Let’s fix that.
3. The 3 Laws
The rest of this piece is for paid subscribers only. I cover:
The 3 laws, plus:
Real question responses to the 12 most common questions
My mega prompt + Claude skill for feedback on your transcripts
All of the advice I’ve learned to give after getting 100s of students offers
(Honestly, just the Claude skill alone is worth the $15 subscription)
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