How to get into Product Management at Google from a Non-Tech Background: An interview with Justin

Justin Lipton is an incredible Product Manager at Google. In this video we dive into his advice for other entering the space from a non-tech background, how to rotate into the field within a company and how he learned about Product during his MBA at Columbia.
Send me your feedback in the comments below and share this with others who are interested in Product Management.
Video Chapters
0:00 Video Introduction
1:06 Justin’s background and story
2:36 How did you learn about Product?
3:51 What was your path to becoming a Google PM?
5:58 How did you bring up rotating into PM with your manager?
7:55 What was your experience rotating into PM?
9:50 How did you prep for your PM rotation?
11:57 How did you prep for the Google PM interview?
14:40 What did you do to practice interview questions?
16:27 How technical do you need to be for the interview?
20:55 Highs and lows of being a Product Manager at Google
22:26 Rapid fire, fun irrelevant questions
Connect with Justin on LinkedIn:
/ justin-lipton-258a4a40
Setup time to chat with me: liambolling.com/contact
Add me on LinkedIn: / liambolling
Follow me on Twitter: / liambolling
My personal website: liambolling.com/

[@misterhanwee1030]

Thanks for the generous sharing! Really eye-opening

[@neoxochitl]

Thank you! This is such a great video and welcome back!

[@liambolling]

Thank you!! Back and better than ever

[@BrianBruzemera]

love this!

[@alltradingsecrets2859]

Hey, would be good to have a video around tackling product strategy questions in interview.

[@iverportillo2405]

Can’t wait for this one. Liam making a YT comeback 🤘🏽

[@liambolling]

5 videos coming soon!

[@aniketpandey5725]

@@liambolling Thanks for dropping upcoming videos. I waited so long for your next video to come out, Now finally I can't wait anymore🙂

[@vaondapa999]

Liam I laughed out loud @0:35😂20 mins is not long. I love the short & concise content but there's somethings that deserve the birds eye view and boots on the ground. This video is so timely and necessary, great job!

[@liambolling]

Thank you so much and glad it made you laugh! Sometimes people tell me the 10 min videos are too long. I start with 40 mins of content and usually try to shoot for 10

[@dmd2803]

super helpful! thank you

[@sj90210]

Finally! Good to have you back, Liam! And looking forward to this :)

[@liambolling]

Started a company last year which took up all my time but finally figured out how to balance things 😊

[@sj90210]

@@liambolling Congratulations!!! I had recently visited this channel to see if I had missed out on anything and wanted to check with you. I'm glad you figured things out. I look forward to connect with you soon.

[@shariqueshaikhh]

Wow! Almost after a year. Gald to see you. Thanks for this video :)

[@liambolling]

I’m back! New video next week

[@shariqueshaikhh]

Awesome!

[@jaimesmith1086]

Thanks Liam for creating this video. I am wondering If I can get your thoughts on this - I recently discovered product management but my impression so far is that I can be paid well (sweet sweet tech salary), don't need to code, don't need any special certifications/MBA/MS Computer Science (or any specific degrees for that matter) or specific experiences. Seems too good to be true. Wondering if I am missing something?

[@amolpangarkar7188]

thanks Liam for this. How open are you to help with a Mock interview ?

[@NidhiKakkar2012]

Liam, can you interview with someone with a PhD (not in CS) and not with a MBA? I am wondering what the chances are if you dont have CS background or MBA to get into PM. Thanks!

[@archanapullela]

Hi Liam, can you please make a video on Google APM program, and how students pursuing their masters can prepare and build their resume for it.

[@liambolling]

I have a video on my channel about getting into PM from undergrad. I’d say it’s similar tactics for masters. Watch the video :)

[@amtrax368]

I am running a startup xyz currently series A, and I am thinking about hiring product manager. But, the more I look at the job, and I do research about it. I cannot justify the creation of the job at the company. Most of this can be handle from engineering. The product is really just a system. So, right now I am thinking about whatever I create a new position with the requirements/scope that I want, or try a PM just to test if it works. The problem is that I cannot justify the position, and I don't see a strong foundation in Product. I don't see something concrete. I wonder what you think about it? 😆

[@ScienceSimplifiedAcademy]

Hey i wonder the same honestly. Do you think the salary PMs get is justified?

[@slayden633]

As engineer myself you really do need a pm, engineers will just keep engineering with no end in sight and really have no clue about what a customer really wants. On top of that they really are terrible with communication as well nd marketing is out the window. The biggest downfall of engineers is they really think pm’s and really everyone on the business side is useless. It’s the main reason successful companies are never founded by true engineers. Steve Jobs himself was a great example of a product manager

[@akechmalual1837]

Hi Liam, do you have an opportunities at google? I got laid off recently in the middle of the holidays season 😢

[@monafang5799]

Hey Liam! Currently hiring for a product manager for my startup. What’s your tips on finding stellar talent?

[@liambolling]

People who comment on my videos ❤️

[@dmd2803]

Also, Delta is the best haha

[@abtheerth]

Hey Liam, welcome back. I had a question on chat during the premiere - The earlier videos of yours referenced a slack channel. How do I get an invite to it? Do I message you on LinkedIn?

[@liambolling]

Hey! Thank you! I removed the Slack channel a while ago, it just turned into people expecting free resume reviews / felt my time would be better used creating more videos

[@abtheerth]

@@liambolling Thanks for the response. That's too bad. I was hoping it'd be a community to practice mock interviews and case studies.