How to find a PM job and not go crazy?
What 58 weeks of job hunting taught me about getting hired
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You open LinkedIn for the fifth time today.
Another rejection. Another recruiter who never replied.
Another job that looked perfect — and just disappeared.
If you’ve ever tried to break into international product management — or shift into a PM role from another background — you know the feeling.
The doubt. The noise. The pressure to “sell yourself” while trying to stay sane.
A year and a half ago, I was there too.
Despite years of experience, launching a funded startup, and building a strong career in my local market — abroad, none of that mattered.
New rules. New expectations. New speed.
And a lot of moments where I thought: “Maybe I’m not cut out for this.”
I kept going. I adapted. I made mistakes, fixed them, made new ones — and eventually landed a role as Product Manager at a large international company.
This article is not a feel-good story.
It’s not about “believing in yourself” or “manifesting success.”
It’s what actually helped me — practical things I learned, applied, and still use today.
If you’re serious about getting into product management internationally — keep reading.
I wrote this for you.
1. Set up your LinkedIn and CV properly
Let’s start with the foundation — because if this part isn’t right, everything else gets harder.
A few years ago, a solid CV could carry you.
Today? It’s just the starting point.
Your LinkedIn profile is your storefront, your pitch deck, your SEO layer — and often, your first filter.
More than 70% of the roles I applied for came through LinkedIn.
So don’t treat it as a digital version of your resume. It’s something else entirely — and you need to approach it that way.
What are my key takeaways here?:
🔹 CV ≠ LinkedIn
Your CV should be short. 1–2 pages PDF max. Focused on the last 3 roles or the past 10 years.
But LinkedIn - that’s where you show the whole story.
Your career arc. The pivots. The side quests. The glue between roles.
📌 Before publishing it, take a step back and ask:
“Does this show a coherent path — or just a list of jobs?”
“Would someone who doesn’t know me see what I’m good at — and where I’m headed?”
Don’t assume recruiters will Google your past companies. They won’t.
Always add one line explaining what each company does.
🔹 Use the XYZ formula
When describing past roles, don’t list responsibilities. Show impact.
Use this format:
Achieved X, measured by Y, through Z
Example:
Increased retention by 17% (X), measured over 3 months (Y), by revamping the onboarding journey (Z).
This simple structure makes results easier to scan and remember.
🔹 No PM title yet? That’s fine
I didn’t have it either when I started. But product work doesn’t start with the title.
If you’ve done anything related to discovery, prioritization, experimentation, or working with devs — it counts.
Don’t invent things. But don’t hide the product-shaped parts of your experience either.
You can absolutely tell a PM-shaped story — even if you were a BA, designer, marketing lead, or founder.
🔹 Fill out the “About” section
Most people skip it. You shouldn’t.
Keep it short and informative. Include:
Your domain (e.g., SaaS, marketplaces, fintech)
Your industry
Your specialization (e.g., B2B growth, onboarding, retention)
Your current focus and responsibilities
A solid list of relevant skills
📌 The more relevant skills you add, the more visible you become in recruiter searches. LinkedIn's algorithm works like a search engine.
🔹 Add a clear one-liner under your name
This helps recruiters understand who you are at a single glance.
For example:
Product Manager • E-commerce | SaaS | PLG | Monetization | Retention
It doesn’t have to be flashy — just accurate and keyword-aware.
🔹 Skip the “Open to work” badge
Yes, really.
It might feel like a helpful signal, but it often backfires.
Some recruiters skip profiles with the badge — assuming the candidate is too junior or too desperate.
Instead:
Add your email to the About section
Include a line like “Currently open to new opportunities”
That’s more than enough. And it keeps the tone on your terms.
📎 At the end of this article, I’ll share the exact CV I used during my job hunt — feel free to steal what works.
2. Apply smart
At some point, you realize: sending out 50 applications is easy.
Getting even one meaningful reply — that’s the hard part.
But here’s the thing: you don’t need to become a full-time cover letter writer.
You just need to stop doing it blindly.
Here’s the approach that worked for me — and kept me (mostly) sane.
🔹 Personalize just enough
Everyone says, “Write a personalized cover letter for each role.”
Sure. Sounds noble. But if you’re applying to 20+ jobs a week, that advice will crush your soul.
What I did instead:
Wrote one solid base letter in my voice
Tweaked 1–2 sentences depending on the company
Always updated names and context
That was enough to show I cared — without burning out after the third application.
🔹 Don’t rewrite your CV — just reframe it
I never built a new CV from scratch. But I always adjusted the focus:
Moved up the most relevant bullets
Reworded key lines using phrases from the job description
Highlighted results that matched what the company clearly cared about
You’re not “optimizing for ATS.” You’re making it easy for humans to see the match.
🔹 Start networking before you need a job
When I first got serious about the international market, my LinkedIn felt like a museum — polished, but quiet.
So I started connecting. Not spamming — just reaching out to PMs, recruiters, team leads. People whose work I respected. People I wanted to learn from.
Networking isn’t asking for favors. It’s showing up consistently — with curiosity, not an agenda.
A few weeks in, people started replying.
A few months in, some of them became interviewers. Or referrals.
🔹 Why networking actually boosts visibility
LinkedIn is a visibility game.
The more 1st-degree connections you have, the higher you appear in recruiter searches.
It’s not just about who you know — it’s about who can see you.
Engage with people. Comment on posts. Add context when you connect.
You don’t need to be loud — just present.
🔹 Don’t be afraid to reach out
Frankly, this was a game-changer for me. I used to hesitate: “Why would they reply to me?”
Then I tried. Once. Twice. Dozens of times.
And they did reply. PMs. Recruiters. Founders. People I’d never met.
If you’re polite, specific, and not pushy — your odds are better than you think.
From personal experience, I got replies in about 60–70% of cases.
Not always long answers. But often helpful. Occasionally, transformative.
📌 At the end of the article, I’ll share my exact stats:
How many applications I sent, how many interviews I had, and how many responses came through cold outreach or networking.
3. Prepare for interviews
Here’s something that genuinely surprised me - A lot of people don’t prepare at all.
They show up to the interview, open Zoom, and just… wing it.
They think, “I’ve got experience — I’ll improvise.”
Spoiler: that usually doesn’t go well.
Because interviews — especially in product — aren’t about dumping your resume.
They’re about narrative clarity, strategic thinking, and self-awareness under pressure.
And all of that? It’s trainable.
You wouldn’t launch a product without testing it, right?
So why would you launch yourself without prep?
Here’s what worked for me — not just in theory, but in real interviews:
🔹 Read: Cracking the PM Interview
It’s a classic for a reason. It's an absolutely must-read book and industry standard.
The book breaks down the whole process:
Interview stages
Typical PM questions
How to structure product cases
What good answers actually sound like
🎯 Don’t just read — practice out loud.
There’s a huge difference between knowing what to say and being able to say it smoothly when the pressure’s on.
🔹 Watch: YouTube mock interviews
My favorite channel: @tryexponent
They publish real mock interviews with PM candidates for companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta.
Watching them helped me:
Spot common patterns
Learn how top candidates think
Understand where people stumble
It’s like watching game replays before a big match.
The more you observe, the sharper your instincts get.
🔹 Practice: Pramp.com
Yes, it’s awkward at first.
Yes, it’s 100% worth it.
Pramp pairs you with other job-seekers for live peer interviews. It’s free for the first few sessions.
I did 5-6 in total. By the third, I noticed something shift —
I stopped panicking. I started flowing. I began to recognize question types and structure my thoughts faster.
It wasn’t magic. It was muscle memory.
🔹 Build your prep doc — and use it
Just a simple Word document or piece of paper.
Mine included:
A “Tell me about yourself” script
STAR-format stories from real experience
Answers to 10+ common PM questions (I always update it when I see more patterns)
Specific product examples I could reference
A few notes on each company I applied to
I reviewed it before every call. Sometimes for 3 minutes, sometimes for 10. And here’s why:
Because the real secret to nailing interviews is to stay calm, focused, and well-prepared.
Normal life is already chaotic. Your prep doc becomes your anchor. This is your personal command center.
Believe me, that one habit made a huge difference. I didn’t sound robotic — I sounded ready.
4. What does the hiring process actually look like?
When the interviews started rolling in, I didn’t feel confident. I felt disoriented.
“What do they expect? Where are we in the process? What’s coming next?”
I knew there were resources out there. YouTube is full of mock interviews. Books like Cracking the PM Interview break the whole thing down stage by stage.
But what I really needed back then was clarity — a sense of what actually matters.
In reality, the process almost always boils down to three core stages.
Sure, companies might split them into more steps, shuffle the order, or add their own flavor depending on size and maturity — but the essence stays the same.
This is how it usually worked for me — and what I learned at each point.
🔹 Stage 1 — Intro call with HR
Think of this as the first gate. You don’t need to prove you’re a product genius here — but you do need to come across as sharp, structured, and credible.
They’ll ask you to walk through your experience. They’ll ask why you applied.
Sometimes, they’ll throw in light product questions like:
“How do you define a successful product?”
“How do you prioritize features?”
One recruiter even asked me to explain what a product manager actually does —
not because she didn’t know, but to see if I could explain it clearly.
📌 My takeaway: This call isn’t just a “formality.” It’s a screen.
And they’re often talking to dozens of candidates. You need to stand out — fast.
What helped me:
Having a clear, practiced intro
Showing curiosity about the product (even from a user’s point of view)
Researching the company’s latest news, blog posts, or funding updates before the call
🔹 Stage 2 — Deep dive with a PM, CPO, or CTO
This is where it gets real.
You might be asked to walk through a past project. You might get a product case. You might get hit with a take-home assignment and 48-hour deadline.
They’re trying to understand:
How you approach ambiguity
How you break down complex problems
How you think about users, teams, data, and priorities
And whether you can explain your decisions clearly
Some interviews were more conversational. Others were structured like exams.
One even asked me to critique their own onboarding flow — live.
What helped me:
Building 3–4 strong product stories (with real metrics, not fluff)
Speaking in structure, but not sounding rehearsed
Saying, “Let me take a second to think,” instead of panicking
And the big one:
I stopped trying to impress — and focused on showing how I think (but more on that later).
🔹 Stage 3 — Final call with hiring manager or executive
This one’s different.
Here, they’re not testing your frameworks. They’re trying to feel the fit.
Would they trust you in a high-stakes meeting? Would they enjoy working with you every day? Would you mesh with the team and culture?
Sometimes it’s warm and friendly. Other times it’s quiet and intense.
A few of mine felt more like long coffee chats. Others? Straight-up curveball hour.
I’ve been asked:
“Tell me about a failure you never talk about.”
“What’s something you’ve built that no one asked for?”
“What frustrates you about product management right now?”
📌 The goal here isn’t perfection — it’s presence.
They want to see if there’s energy, honesty, and depth behind the title.
🔹 And yes — “Tell me about yourself” always comes first
Please, don’t underestimate it. This isn’t a warm-up. It’s your moment to shape the rest of the conversation.
In 3–5 minutes, you need to show:
What drives you
What connects your experience
And why you’re a match — now
I iterated mine over and over. Practiced it like a mini-pitch. Not robotic — just fluent.
If you fumble here, the interview never really recovers.
If you nail it, everything else flows.
This is your moment to shine, so make it count!
🧭 Final note — don’t try to be perfect
Sounds weird, but there are no right answers in most PM interviews.
Seriously.
Interviewers aren’t looking for rehearsed scripts. They’re trying to understand how you think — how you weigh trade-offs, navigate ambiguity, make decisions under pressure. Just like in real product work.
And for that, showing your thought process is way more powerful than delivering the “perfect” answer.
So here’s my advice:
Pause when you need to
Ask for clarification if needed
And most of all: be yourself.
If you get hired pretending to be someone else, you’ll either burn out — or have to maintain a role that doesn’t fit you. Neither ends well.
The best interviews I had felt like real conversations — because I wasn’t trying to pass a test. I was trying to find the right fit.
5. Run a retro after every interview
Here’s something no one told me when I started:
The best way to get better at interviews… is to treat them like product sprints.
You don’t need to guess what went wrong. You can learn what worked — and what didn’t — if you actually take the time to look back.
So after every interview, I did a quick retro. Nothing fancy. Just 10–15 minutes with a blank doc and a few key questions.
What I wrote down:
What questions did they ask?
How did I answer them?
How did they react?
Where did I feel strong?
Where did I hesitate or ramble?
Did I prepare enough — or miss something obvious?
Sometimes I wrote bullet points. Sometimes just messy thoughts.
But after a few rounds, patterns started to emerge — and that changed everything.
One time, I realized I always fumbled when asked about cross-functional collaboration.
Another time, I noticed I gave the same example three interviews in a row — and it was starting to feel thin.
By reviewing each round, I stopped repeating mistakes.
I got faster at spotting weak points.
And my answers started feeling more grounded — less like guesses, more like practiced judgment.
Not everything is in your control — but reflection is
You can’t control if a company ghosts you.
You can’t control if they already had an internal hire in mind.
But you can control how you show up next time.
And that starts with seeing each interview not as a pass/fail moment — but as a step in a bigger loop.
PMs run retros after every sprint.
This is the same mindset — just applied to yourself.
6. Avoid common mistakes
After enough interviews — both good and bad — I started noticing a strange pattern.
Some people with less experience got through.
Others, with great backgrounds, dropped out early.
Why?
Often, it came down to simple, fixable things.
So before we move on, here’s a quick list of the most common mistakes I saw (and made).
🔻 1. Not reading the job description carefully
It sounds basic. But I’ve seen candidates jump into interviews without even knowing which product line the role was for.
One time I asked a recruiter, “So… what’s the product exactly?”
She blinked and said, “It’s in the job post. Line three.”
Lesson learned.
🔻 2. Talking about salary too early
Bringing up compensation too soon can shift the tone.
Unless they ask — don’t make it the headline.
When they do ask (usually at the end of stage 1), it helps to:
Research via Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, or local benchmarks
Give a reasonable range, not a fixed number
Be honest about flexibility, but don’t undersell yourself
This isn’t a trap. But it is a test of how you handle negotiation and uncertainty.
🔻 3. Freezing on curveball questions
Every PM interview will have one unexpected moment.
Something like:
“How would you improve our onboarding flow — assuming you had no dev resources?”
Or:
“What would you do if your team completely disagreed with your roadmap?”
There’s no perfect answer. But panicking and blurting out “I don’t know” — that’s where most people lose the thread.
📌 Better approach:
Take a breath. Say: “Let me think this through.”
Then walk them through your reasoning — even if you’re unsure.
Interviewers don’t expect certainty. They want to see how you explore ambiguity.
🔻 4. No prep, no post-mortem
We already covered this in the last section, but it’s worth repeating:
Walking into an interview without prep is like launching a product without a prototype.
And skipping the retro after? That’s just leaving insight on the table.
🔻 5. Trying to be someone else
And let me also repeat this one. This one’s subtle and dangerous.
It’s tempting to perform. To sound like the “perfect PM.”
But here’s the truth: you’re not just interviewing for them. You’re testing the match for yourself.
If you show up as someone else and get the job, guess what?
You now have to be that version of you. Every day.
That’s exhausting. And unnecessary.
The best interviews I had were the ones where I was clear, honest, and relaxed —
not flawless, just real.
7. My path, in numbers (no sugarcoating)
This whole journey took 58 weeks — just over a year.
In that time, I:
Sent 599 applications (mostly via LinkedIn)
Got 233 responses
Took part in 38 interviews
Completed 9 take-home tasks
Got 3 offers — 2 full-time, 1 part-time
And finally chose one — the right one
That’s it. No overnight success story.
No lucky break. No, “I just knew a guy.”
It was a strategy. Persistence. Growth.
And more than once — it was just about showing up again the next day.
✅ CV I used during my job hunt → [link]
Before we wrap — one last thing
Before you send out your 200th application, take a moment and ask yourself:
“Do I actually meet the core requirements for this PM role?”
And if not — what am I doing about it?
It’s okay to admit gaps. Everyone has them.
What matters is what you do next.
📌 If you’re light on product analytics or Agile — study it.
📌 If English isn’t your first language — get a tutor. I used Preply and italki.
📌 If you’ve never touched a roadmap — start one. Even as a side project.
And when it gets frustrating — because it will — remember this:
Think of yourself as a product.
You’re iterating toward product-market fit.
Every application is top-of-funnel.
Every interview is a conversion point.
Every rejection is feedback — not a verdict.
Your job search is a product.
Test. Analyze. Improve.
📚 And while you’re doing that — keep sharpening your skills.
Not just tools or certifications, but actual product thinking.
Read books. Watch breakdowns. Join communities. Build tiny things.
Talk to users, even if they’re imaginary.
Think in hypotheses, not assumptions.
This mindset doesn’t just get you hired — it makes you better once you are.
And above all — don’t quit too soon.
Even when it feels like nothing’s working, momentum is quietly building.
Every action counts. Every attempt matters.
You’re not lost. You’re in progress.
Stay with it.
And keep reading The Atomic Product.
— Dmytro