Skip to content
Gannon's PM Hiring Playbook
Hiring Philosophy
Sourcing Candidates
Assessing PMs
Conducting Interviews
Cases and Jams
Sample Interview Questions
Calibration
DATA
More
Share
Explore

icon picker
Cases and Jams

As part of our interview process we want gain a demonstrable understanding of how the candidate works through problems, identifies solutions, and ultimately makes a convincing argument for the solutions presented.

Case Studies

A case study is a homework assignment given the the candidate a week prior to coming in for an interview. It's important to keep the instruction vague and open to interpretation. This way we gain insight into what the candidate thinks is important. If we provide too much information, we are "leading the witness" and will have less clarity about how they would approach the problem. The assignment should not be specific to Choco, but use a fictitious scenario. This ensures that our own biases won't come into play when assessing their work.

Assessing Case Studies

In general we are looking for evidence of remarkable talent. This can take many forms, but what is important is that we are impressed by one or more aspects of their presentation
Was the presentation well formatted and clearly organized
Did the candidate identify the core user problem
Was her proposed solution well articulated and logically sound?
Did she leverage technology in an innovating way to address the problem?
Did she identify potential risks?
Did she explain how the solution would be validated and executed?
Did she establish success criteria for the solution?
Did she identify the scope of an MVP, including what would not be included and why?

Jam Sessions

Similar to Case Studies, Jam Sessions provide insight into how the candidate approaches problems. However Jam Sessions are conducted in real-time, and provide insight into how the candidate thinks on their feet and collaborates with others. A Jam session is essentially a brainstorming session, with the candidate playing the role of lead or facilitator.

Assessing Jam Sessions

Like Case Studies we are looking for remarkable talent, however, unlike Case Studies, Jam Sessions are primarily about learning how the candidate thinks on their feet and collaborates with others. Jam sessions are conducted at a whiteboard. We are not looking for the right solution, but how they approach the problem.


Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.