Once I got the email inviting me to take part in the first round of the Google APM internship recruitment process, I instantly started trawling the internet to find as many resources, articles, and first-person accounts of how to successfully land the Google APM intern position. Although there were many great resources in relation to the full-time role, I found it harder to find a thorough first-person account by someone who successfully landed the internship position — which is why I am writing this article!

If you don’t know about the Google Associate Product Manager (APM) program, it is a program designed to teach, guide, and inspire the next generation of Google’s product managers. There is a full-time program for new/recent graduates, as well as an internship program for students. You can find much more detail on Google’s website, here. I will be joining this year’s cohort of APM interns — working in the London office!

The processes for the full-time and intern roles are fairly similar, although there are some differences.

Google APM Internship recruitment process:

1. Apply
2. One 45-minute interview with an APM/PM
3. Onsite interviews (three 45-minute interviews with APMs/PMs/SWE) and a written assignment
4. Hiring committee and final decision

I believe the full-time role requires five 45-minute interviews for the on-site, and a final interview after this with a more senior member of staff within Product.

I would also add that it seems that the expectations for both the APM full-timers and interns are pretty similar, so don’t skimp on prep just because it is an internship position!

Step 1: Apply ✍️

This time last year, I hadn’t really heard of product management or APM programs. It was when I was doing a business internship at Google last summer and I was exploring technical positions that I came across it. I then spoke to a few APMs and APM interns during my internship, and hearing more about the role solidified my interest, so I decided to internally apply for the APM internship for the following year.

Because I was so new to product, I didn’t have any specific product experience to put on my CV. However, I managed to adapt my current CV to showcase the skills they are looking for through my other experiences. I have written in more detail about how I did this in my other article: How I crafted my Google APM internship resume with no product experience .

From what I have read online- you can optimise your chances of being called to interview by getting a referral from a Googler and/or applying on the exact day applications open. Try to ensure you’re ready before the application opening date.

Step 2: First round interview 🥊

Fast forward from summer to November — I received an email from the recruiter inviting me to interview for the role! The first stage was a 45-minute interview with a current Google PM and would test my Product, Strategy, Analytical, and/or Technical skills. I found this daunting, as it seemed any of these areas could come up, and I would need to be sufficiently prepared for all of them so that I was able to answer any question that came my way. Luckily, there were ample resources, videos, books, and frameworks that equipped me to answer these questions. My main resources for preparation were:

• Cracking the Coding Interview: This is very helpful for reviewing basic data structures and algorithms, as well as some system design elements and concepts.
• Cracking the PM Interview: Focuses specifically on how to land Product Management roles within tech companies, provides a lot of good frameworks and example questions and answers.
• Decode and Conquer: A great and easy-to-read book that gives amazing examples as well as provides useful frameworks.
• The Design of Everyday Things: A great insight into the principles of good design.
• Exponent YouTube channel: A fantastic channel that conducts mock interviews with APMs, PMs and senior PMs from a range of large tech companies — very useful in understanding the best way to communicate your ideas in interviews.
• Lewis C. Lin’s Interview Community: Probably the best resource of all, this is a slack community of people looking to mock for product roles. It was using this that I was able to mock and connect with other people interviewing for PM/APM/APM internship roles. I did ~20 mock interviews in total during my preparations.

I would recommend starting to read through resources before starting mock interviews. It is helpful to know some frameworks and expectations of answers beforehand.

The actual interview was not as daunting as I thought it would be, the interviewer was very friendly and made me feel at ease. I got asked a warm-up question to start and then we focussed on a product improvement question for the remaining time, as well as some follow-up questions around success metrics.

Step 3: On-site interviews 🤓

I heard back around 2 weeks later that I had passed the first round. From here I needed to complete a written assignment and complete three 45-minute interviews.

1. Written Assignment: There is not really much you can do to prepare for this segment of the process. You receive a brief and have 3 days to complete the assignment. All expectations and details are shared with you as part of the brief. I have heard some stories of people not focussing enough time on this part of the process as interview preparation — so ensure you balance out your time accordingly to produce your best work!
2. Three 45-minute interviews: These were all fairly similar in format to the first round interview, but the interviews delved a bit deeper into testing your Product, Analytical and Technical skills. The preparation I would recommend for this step is to just continue doing mock interviews, ensuring you also include practice of estimation, analytical and technical questions.

The technical interview

During this step, you are sure to be having a technical interview as part of your on-site. From speaking with others, this is the interview a lot of people are most nervous about. I was also very nervous but felt slightly more comforted by the fact I had been preparing for coding interviews in the months beforehand. So my advice for this interview would be to ensure you know basic data structures and algorithms – and also review system design fundamentals and know the main concepts behind well-known products such as Google Search and Twitter.

I used this System Design course for beginners on YouTube, which I thought was very easy to understand and covered all of the essentials.

Step 4: Hiring committee and final decision 🚀

Although there is now no more preparation to be done at this stage, it is by far one of the hardest parts. I had done my on-site around mid-December, so I was waiting until the new year for the final outcome. A word of advice from someone who was badgering their recruiter for updates — the recruiter genuinely is on your side, and will of course get back to you with updates as soon as they become available!

Some key learnings throughout this whole process:

• Don’t let lack of preparation be your barrier: A conversation sticks in my mind during a coffee ninja chat with an SWE intern during my business internship at Google. The guy said he had been preparing for his shot at Google for months even before he got the call to interview. This stuck in my mind and was one of the reasons why I started prep even before I got invited for the APM internship interview. Be ready for when your opportunity arrives… it will massively improve your chances of success!
  
• Helping others inadvertently helps yourself: Don’t underestimate the experience of sitting on the other side during mock interviews. Hearing other people’s answers not only improves your own understanding of certain questions but also provides an insight into how others think and approach problems, which is super helpful (especially in Product where you need to be able to empathise with others!) I learned so much from other people during my mock interviews, including seeing things from other points of view.
  
• Know your superpower: People hire people… and what that means to me, is that Google is not looking for clones to fill their positions, they are purposefully trying to draw out what you have to offer. Everyone has different experiences and values that they can bring to the table, know what that is for you and own it. To give an example, I am passionate about diversity and inclusion and have been part of D&I initiatives in the past; I tried to showcase this perspective as one of my unique strengths throughout the interview process. Whether you are particularly technical or entrepreneurial, make sure sure that side of you is apparent when engaging with interviewers — it will really help you stand out.

Last but not least, I wish you the best of luck with your preparation for the process. Work hard, but don’t lose yourself in the process. Everything you learn will be valuable to you, even if you don’t end up getting the outcome you want.

Take Action 🎬

📅 If you ever have any questions, feel free to book time with me for a quick PM consultation session.

📝 Access the Ultimate Google APM internship guide. A summary of all the important aspects of the Associate Product Management program at Google, written by a 12+ year Google PM.

📚 I found it helpful to read the book Who, which explains the hiring process and teaches you how to think about the other person at the table. It helps ‘reverse engineer’ the process and come up with better questiosn, better information, and ultimately, a better job / manager.

📚 The book How to Talk to Anyone helped me build trust with individuals quickly when I needed to. It is a bit of a ‘guide to sure fire icebreakers’, applicable in any situation. Trust is the number one path to more objective information, especially so when the odds are stacked against you.

🦉 Consider upleveling your skills by taking the Product Management for AI/ML course from expert PMs on how to become a PM for AI/ML companies.