# Hiring Guide

> |

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-qingxuantang-lennys-to-sop-and-skills-hiring-guide`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [qingxuantang](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/qingxuantang)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [qingxuantang](https://github.com/qingxuantang)
- **Source:** https://github.com/qingxuantang/Lennys-to-sop-and-skills/tree/master/skills/hiring-guide

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-qingxuantang-lennys-to-sop-and-skills-hiring-guide
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Hiring Guide Skill

Help users hire product managers and leaders effectively.

## When This Skill Activates
- "Should I hire a PM?"
- "Hiring my first PM"
- "How to interview PMs"
- "Hiring a VP/Head of Product"
- "What to look for in a PM"
- "Building a PM team"
- "Reference checks"

## Framework Selection Guide

| Situation | Use This Framework |
|-----------|-------------------|
| Founder hiring first PM | First PM Hiring |
| Hiring executives/leaders | Hiring Leaders Playbook |
| Designing PM interviews | PM Competencies for Interviewing |

---

## Framework 1: First PM Hiring (For Founders)

**Source**: Gokul Rajaram - Lenny's Podcast
**Key Insight**: Hire for what complements you, not a mini-CEO.

### When to Hire First PM

**Signs you're ready:**
- You're the bottleneck on product decisions
- Too many priorities competing for attention
- Execution is suffering because of product debt
- You need to focus on other parts of business

**Signs you're NOT ready:**
- No product-market fit yet
- Unclear what the PM would own
- Hiring to "fix" a struggling product

### The Complementary Hire Approach

Don't hire a "PM" in the abstract. Hire for YOUR gaps.

**Step 1: Assess Your Strengths**

| Area | Strong | Gap |
|------|--------|-----|
| Vision/Strategy | | |
| User Research | | |
| Data Analysis | | |
| Technical Depth | | |
| Execution/Shipping | | |
| Stakeholder Management | | |

**Step 2: Define the Complement**

If you're strong on vision → Hire execution-strong PM
If you're strong on data → Hire user research-strong PM
If you're strong on tech → Hire customer-facing PM

### What First PMs Actually Do

**Reality for first PM:**
- Less strategy than expected
- More execution than expected
- Fill founder's gaps
- Build processes from scratch
- Wear many hats

### Interview Focus for First PM

**Must-haves:**
- Execution track record (shipped things)
- Ambiguity tolerance (no playbook exists)
- Communication skills (represent product to all)
- Hunger (willing to do unglamorous work)

**Nice-to-haves:**
- Domain experience
- Specific framework expertise
- Management experience (not needed yet)

### Red Flags

- Wants to "own strategy" immediately
- Can't give specific shipping examples
- Talks in frameworks, not results
- Uncomfortable with founder involvement
- Expects large team/resources

### Pitfalls to Avoid
- Hiring senior/expensive before you need it
- Hiring someone exactly like you
- Hiring for title rather than work
- Not involving PM in interviews

---

## Framework 2: Hiring Leaders Playbook

**Source**: Gokul Rajaram - Lenny's Podcast
**Key Insight**: Great leaders excel at three things: functional excellence, team building, and organizational influence.

### The Leadership Triangle

Every leader needs strength in all three:

**1. Functional Excellence**
- Deep expertise in the domain
- Can do the work themselves
- Respected by ICs for craft
- Makes sound functional decisions

**2. Team Building**
- Attracts and retains talent
- Develops people effectively
- Creates healthy team culture
- Manages performance well

**3. Organizational Influence**
- Gets things done across org
- Builds relationships with peers
- Manages up effectively
- Navigates politics skillfully

### Assessing the Triangle

**Interview questions by dimension:**

**Functional Excellence:**
- Walk me through a product you built. What were the hard decisions?
- How do you approach [specific functional challenge]?
- What's your framework for [domain-specific skill]?

**Team Building:**
- Tell me about someone you developed. Where are they now?
- How do you handle underperformers?
- Describe a team culture you built.

**Organizational Influence:**
- Tell me about a time you needed resources from another team.
- How do you build relationships with peers?
- Describe a conflict with another leader and how you resolved it.

### Reference Check Framework

**The key question:**
> "On a scale of 1-10, how likely would you be to hire this person again?"

**Follow-ups:**
- What would make it a 10?
- What's the gap?
- What environment do they thrive in?
- Where do they struggle?

**Reference selection:**
- Always talk to former managers
- Talk to former peers (reveals collaboration)
- Talk to former reports (reveals leadership)
- Be wary if they can't provide references

### Stage-Appropriate Leadership

| Company Stage | Leadership Focus |
|---------------|------------------|
| Early (0-1) | Functional excellence (do the work) |
| Growth (1-10) | Team building (scale through people) |
| Scale (10+) | Org influence (work across complex org) |

### Red Flags in Leader Candidates

- Can't give specific examples of team development
- Blames others for past failures
- Overemphasizes strategy vs. execution
- Doesn't ask good questions about your context
- References are lukewarm

### Pitfalls to Avoid
- Overweighting pedigree (company names)
- Hiring for stage you'll be, not stage you're at
- Not checking references thoroughly
- Ignoring cultural fit

---

## Framework 3: PM Competencies for Interviewing

**Source**: Ravi Mehta - Lenny's Podcast
**Key Insight**: Use the 12 PM competencies to design comprehensive interview coverage.

### Mapping Competencies to Interviews

| Competency | Interview Format |
|------------|-----------------|
| Functional Specification | Spec writing exercise |
| Product Delivery | Past experience questions |
| Product Quality | Quality judgment scenarios |
| Fluency with Data | Analytics case study |
| Voice of Customer | User research discussion |
| UX Design | Design critique exercise |
| Business Outcome Ownership | Product sense questions |
| Product Vision | Vision presentation |
| Strategic Impact | Strategy case |
| Stakeholder Inclusion | Cross-functional scenarios |
| Team Leadership | Leadership questions (if senior) |
| Managing Up | Past experience questions |

### Sample Interview Panel (Senior PM)

| Interview | Focus | Format |
|-----------|-------|--------|
| Product Sense | Customer insight + Business outcomes | Case study |
| Execution | Delivery + Quality + Spec | Past experience |
| Strategy | Vision + Strategic impact | Strategy case |
| Leadership | Stakeholders + Team + Managing up | Behavioral |
| Technical | Working with engineering | Technical discussion |
| Culture | Values alignment | Conversation |

### The Go-To Interview Question

> "Tell me about a product that you love."

**Follow-ups:**
- Why do you love it?
- Why do others love it?
- What would you improve?
- How would you measure that improvement?

**What it reveals:**
- Product taste and judgment
- User empathy
- Analytical thinking
- Communication clarity

### Evaluating Responses

**Strong signals:**
- Specific examples with numbers
- Clear thinking structure
- Acknowledges tradeoffs
- Learns from failures
- Asks clarifying questions

**Weak signals:**
- Vague or theoretical answers
- Takes all credit, shares no blame
- Can't go deep on details
- Dismissive of past constraints
- Doesn't ask questions

### Calibration Levels

| Level | What to Expect |
|-------|----------------|
| APM | Strong on 2-3 competencies, learning others |
| PM | Solid on most, strong on few |
| Senior PM | Strong on most, exceptional on few |
| Lead/Principal | Exceptional across board, develops others |
| Director+ | Sets systems for competencies across team |

### Pitfalls to Avoid
- Not covering all competency areas
- Same questions for all levels
- Not calibrating to role requirements
- Overweighting "interview performance" vs. evidence
- Not using structured scoring

---

## How to Apply This Skill

1. **Identify the hiring situation**
   - First PM → First PM Hiring framework
   - Leader/exec → Leadership Triangle
   - Interview design → PM Competencies mapping

2. **Walk through the relevant framework**

3. **Help create specific artifacts**
   - Job description aligned to needs
   - Interview panel design
   - Reference check questions
   - Evaluation rubric

4. **Assist with specific candidates** (if asked)

## Related Skills
- `/pm-coach` - For PM competency deep dives
- `/leadership-coach` - For leadership assessment
- `/decision-maker` - For making hiring decisions

## Full SOPs (Deep Dives)

### PM Hiring
- [First PM Hiring](../../../sops/hiring/first-pm-hiring-001.md)
- [PM Hiring Intangibles](../../../sops/hiring/pm-hiring-intangibles-evaluation-001.md)
- [PM Competencies](../../../sops/product-management/skills/pm-competencies-framework-001.md)

### Leadership Hiring
- [Hiring Leaders Playbook](../../../sops/hiring/hiring-leaders-playbook-001.md)

### Growth Hiring
- [Growth Leader Hiring](../../../sops/growth/growth-leader-hiring-framework-001.md)
- [First Sales Hire](../../../sops/sales/first-sales-hire-process-001.md)

### Career Development
- [PMwheel Assessment](../../../sops/leadership/pmwheel-competency-assessment-001.md)
- [PM Career Acceleration](../../../sops/product-management/skills/pm-career-acceleration-001.md)

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [qingxuantang](https://github.com/qingxuantang)
- **Source:** [qingxuantang/Lennys-to-sop-and-skills](https://github.com/qingxuantang/Lennys-to-sop-and-skills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-qingxuantang-lennys-to-sop-and-skills-hiring-guide
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/qingxuantang
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
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