Benjamin got an offer as a Product manager at Google

That I'm working at the highest echelon of product management methodology.

I was product manager at Wayfair.

I'd say I did about 50 hours of prep overall, with a large bulk of that being peer-to-peer mock interviews. First I concentrated my prep on the first-round interview question categories, and not until I'd passed that did I expand into the categories relevant for the onsite. Initially I researched the general question categories by reading the IGAO blog articles and watching some YouTube videos. Then I started to write down a general framework I saw across the board of how to respond. I created my own google doc with an answer framework, expectations, questions, links to resources, etc - it ended up being a 15 page document. I also got hold of a crowdsourced question spreadsheet shared by PMs. When I did mock interviews, I wrote down the feedback and went over it before I did another one. I soon had action items under each topic in my prep document detailing how I could improve. I also went updating the answer framework with things I noticed as I practiced interviews, so the framework evolved and gradually became truly mine. When I thought I was close, I hired a coach to see where I was at - they gave me some good feedback and I was ready to go.

During the prep stage, my learning definitely followed a curve. I was seeing huge improvements in the beginning, but there was a point of deterioration. It's easy to start over-studying, over-analyzing, and I was starting to get stuck in the frameworks. Then at interview stage, the lack of time was hard. The interviewers would drill down on a particular question, before suddenly pivoting into a whole different category. If it wasn't for the coaching session, I wouldn't have been prepared for that rapid-fire situation.

Prepare answer frameworks that work for you but don't let them become a box you get stuck in. Oh, and put the hours in!