Maya is a seasoned product manager interviewing for senior product roles. In today’s market, you all know that it’s not trivial. Luckily for Maya, she has multiple opportunities in great companies, but making it to the desired role isn’t easy. She shared with me what her past few weeks looked like:

“Week 1: Spent 6 hours on a product strategy assignment for Company A, followed by a 2-hour presentation to their team.

Week 2: Had three separate interviews with Company B, culminating in a 4-hour wireframing exercise on site.

Week 3: Completed a market analysis and thoughts about roadmap ideas for Company C in preparation for an on-site interview next week. That ended up consuming most of my evenings.

Week 4: Shared my ideas with Company C and started on yet another home assignment for Company D while waiting to hear back from the others.”

Listening to Maya makes it really clear why juggling interviews and assignments with her current job and personal life isn’t trivial. No wonder many candidates see it as abuse.

So, we have to ask ourselves if we honestly believe that this is the best way for companies to assess candidates.

Here is my take on it:

As a recruiter (either directly in the past or when I help the companies I guide these days), I love home assignments. As a (past) candidate, not so much.

I do believe, however, that home assignments are a critical tool in evaluating candidates for senior positions, and product management — even in a beginner’s role — is a senior position.

When done right, home assignments provide an opportunity for the candidates to shine and are not only a necessary evil.

Unfortunately, I see it done wrong many times. It is causing so much frustration that people are starting to protest against it. It’s especially true when AI can do it for you. Or can it? I wrote a note about it at the end.

Since I don’t want to lose this important tool, I wrote a quick guide on how to do it right. If you have anything to add — don’t be shy. That’s what the comments are for. Let’s make this a productive discussion.

This article is aimed at hiring managers and recruiters. Next week, I’ll write one about the candidate side of home assignments. Stay tuned.

Rule #1: Save the Assignment for Last

And even if you don’t adhere to this rule entirely, never give the home assignment as the first step.

I mean it, seriously. Just don’t.

Assignments are taking a long time and effort from the candidate. Give them the minimal respect and do your screening process by investing your time as well. Give them the opportunity to meet you and consider whether or not they want to invest this time and effort in your company. The good product managers — the ones you are looking for — are interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them, even in tough markets. Respect them to gain their respect.

I personally believe that a home assignment should be the last step in the process (or one before the last if you are big enough for the CEO/relevant executive not to be deeply involved in hiring). You should be able to assess your candidates in other ways before you make them work hard to help you to know them better.

I only give assignments to candidates I am highly impressed by, and I use the assignment as a final validation of what I think, not as a time-saver mechanism.

Rule #2: Be Clear on What You’re Testing

Much like in an A/B test, you want to be very clear on what it is that you need validation for.

Hint: it can’t be everything.

Hint #2: the assignment you plan needs to be connected to what you want to test.

For example, if you want to see how someone thinks (this is usually what I am looking for in the assignment), there is no point in asking them to design screens. Some companies even go as far as forbidding notes, asking for screens only. If you want to test their design skills — that’s a great test. The outcome should speak for itself (and even that is not always true; see rule #5).

But if you want to see how they are thinking about a problem — the final outcome has to be able to tell you that. If you want to see their thought process, the outcome should explain the process — so it should be a document or a presentation.

Rule #3: Keep the Domain Neutral

Following the previous rule, unless you want to test domain expertise, use a product from another domain as your test case. Otherwise, you are adding pressure and bias where you don’t need to. Don’t use their current product domain, either.

A good product manager should be able to understand new domains, and that happens all the time as part of our work.

I found throughout the years that a neutral domain also works best for me as a recruiter since it allows me to objectively assess the product skills and not be biased by domain expertise — mine or theirs.

Rule #4: Set Very Clear Expectations

Note that I didn’t say instructions. I said expectations, and I meant it. Expectations should include:

• How much time are you expecting them to invest in it (be honest; don’t say 1–2 hours just because it sounds good. You can fine-tune your answer by asking candidates how much time they really put into it eventually. And if you conclude that it should take 10 hours, find another assignment. It’s too long.)
• What should they do about the information they are missing (they will always miss information since you are asking them to do a product manager’s job for a company they don’t work in. I always tell the candidates that they can assume anything reasonable as long as they state their assumptions clearly.)
• How you will evaluate the assignment
• What is most important for you to see, since time is limited (let’s admit it, doing it right always takes much longer than we give them)

Acknowledge that you know they will not be able to complete it the way they want to, that there are many things they can’t know coming from the outside, and that the task is (deliberately) broad and blurry.

What you are asking for is not trivial. See it from the candidate’s perspective and make it easier where you can (without compromising what you are trying to test).

Rule #5: Give the Candidate a Voice

The outcome of a product manager’s job rarely speaks for itself. The same goes for their home assignments. Let the candidate explain how they got there and why.

Since there is never a correct answer in product management, just a well-explained and thought-of answer, you can see “correct” outcomes that were achieved by coincidence and “incorrect” outcomes that become right when explained.

Plus, you will learn so much from how the candidates present and how they answer questions or respond to objections — all of which are an important part of a product manager’s job.

Ideally, there should be a number of people in the room from a variety of disciplines who can help assess the outcome and discuss it from multiple perspectives.

A Final Word About AI

As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into the workplace, some recruiters are concerned that candidates might rely on AI tools to complete their home assignments. It’s a valid concern — after all, you’re trying to assess their skills, not the capabilities of the latest AI tool. But here’s the thing: AI is now a part of the toolkit for modern product managers, just like any other technology. In fact, you want candidates who are comfortable leveraging AI to enhance their work.

The key isn’t whether candidates used AI but how they used it. If a candidate can integrate AI effectively into their problem-solving process, that’s a skill you’ll likely value in the role itself. AI can help streamline research, gather data, and even generate ideas, but it can’t replace the human insight required to define strategy, understand users, or make complex product decisions. In fact, if you follow the advice laid out in this article and dive into how candidates reached their conclusions, it will become clear whether they used AI to assist them or relied on it to do the job for them.

A candidate who simply lets AI produce an assignment without adding their own critical thinking will be exposed during the presentation and discussion phase. The nuances of a product manager’s thought process — their ability to defend their choices, explain their reasoning, and adapt to feedback — are impossible to fake with AI. Those are the very qualities you want to uncover during the interview process anyway.

Remember, home assignments remain a powerful tool in the product management hiring process, but like any powerful tool, they must be wielded with care, consideration, and respect for all involved. Use your judgment for the recruiting process and not just for evaluating the candidates.