Product Management interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about your most impactful product launch or feature.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why edtech product management - and why this segment vs consumer or general SaaS?
5. Which product area would you want to own, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's product + edge in your own words?
8. How does product management actually drive value at an edtech firm?

Technical concepts to master

• PM craft adapted for edtech

  Teacher-in-the-loop discovery · Outcome-driven roadmap · Academic-calendar planning · Procurement + district sales partnership

• LMS / SIS interop + integrations

  LTI 1.3 + LTI Advantage · OneRoster 1.2 · SSO + roster sync via major identity hubs (Clever / ClassLink + major productivity-suite identity) · Caliper Analytics + xAPI

• Learning outcomes + efficacy evidence

  ESSA evidence tiers (1-4) · What Works Clearinghouse standards · Engagement vs learning outcomes · Formative + summative assessment design · Mastery + adaptive learning

• Privacy + safeguarding for edtech PMs

  FERPA - Family Educational Rights + Privacy Act · COPPA - Children's Online Privacy Protection Act · State student data laws + SDPC DPA · Safeguarding + content moderation · Data subject rights + parental access

• Accessibility + inclusive design

  WCAG 2.2 AA conformance · Section 508 + VPAT / ACR · UDL framework (CAST) · Multilingual + ELL support

Practical drills

• the firm wants to launch a feature targeted at lifting renewal in mid-market districts. Walk me through how you'd approach the V1 design.
• the firm's 30-day course-completion rate is 35%; the strategy calls for 50% over 2 semesters. Walk me through your plan.
• Sales wants 3 district-specific customisations for top accounts in Q3; the curriculum team wants a content overhaul; the strategy calls for launching a new AI-tutor pilot; engineering needs accessibility-debt paydown to keep the VPAT clean. You have one squad. Walk me through the prioritization.

Smart-question anchors

• Product + segment - the firm's surface, grade band, the customer the PM would serve, the strategic bets
• GTM + procurement - district / institutional vs DTC; pilot-to-deploy motion; sales + CS partnership rhythm
• Learning outcomes + evidence - the firm's North Star outcome, ESSA tier posture, evidence-generation pipeline
• Interop + standards - LTI / OneRoster / Caliper depth, LMS partnerships, integration roadmap
• Privacy + safeguarding + accessibility - FERPA / COPPA posture, WCAG / VPAT cadence, safeguarding practices

Sourced from

EdSurge + ISTE edtech product + market references · IMS Global Learning Consortium - LTI 1.3 + OneRoster + QTI specs · US Dept of Education - FERPA + Student Privacy Compass · W3C WCAG 2.2 + US Section 508 accessibility standards · Intercom + ProductPlan + Aha! - RICE + PM frameworks · Visible Learning (Hattie) + What Works Clearinghouse evidence references