How to Get a Product Management Job at Netflix

If you want to work for a household name that is customer obsessed and currently a cornerstone of pop culture, a job at Netflix might be what you’re looking for. Since Netflix started creating their own shows and movies (racking up Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globes along the way) they’ve been hot on the radar in the product world. So if you’ve got experience with machine learning, customer insights, and groundbreaking entertainment, get ready for a rollercoaster career!

Headquartered in California US, with locations across Asia Pacific, the US, Europe, and Latin America. Employee benefits and tax policies will differ from country to country.

Varies greatly depending on which department you’d be working in. For example, a Product Manager working with The Algorithms Product Management Team will need an MS or PhD in a field such as Machine Learning, Statistics, Machine Learning, Information theory etc. But on the Production team, years of experience in post-production and a willingness to travel are valued over formal education. You may have to shop around based on your history as PM roles across the company are very diverse!

Netflix is very good at describing exactly what it wants from prospective employees on their job listings, so you’ll need to read these very carefully. The differences between a PM working on the mobile app and a PM working with the Partnership team are vast.

It shouldn’t be sugar coated: Netflix is not for everyone. Within the workforce it is trying to create a system of 360 feedback, where you are given an enormous amount of trust with the expectation that you’ll make the right decisions on your own in a fast-paced environment. For the right people, the work is exhilarating. People who love their job at Netflix, really love their job.

If you fit the company culture, you’ll have the time of your life.

The core philosophy of Netflix is people over process. Like most modern Silicon Valley companies, Netflix put the focus on creating a positive working experience for their employees, striving to create a candid and open environment. They create the best possible environment for you to thrive in, because they expect the very best work from you in return.

They also strive to create a company of free-thinkers, so while a Product Manager always needs to be an excellent team player, you should feel comfortable having complete autonomy and making decisions for yourself. And this goes beyond decisions about your work. For example, as part of your benefits package, you’d receive unlimited PTO with the understanding that you wouldn’t take advantage of this and disappear for three months right before a launch. If you find yourself taking off every Friday just for the sake of it…you might find yourself let go.

The interview process at Netflix is fairly straightforward. You’ll find job postings across various sites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed, etc. We recommend setting up a LinkedIn alert so as soon as a new Product Manager job comes up you’ll be ready to respond. You can also apply directly on their website. Recruiters are known to reach out to people with promising profiles on LinkedIn.

This will be followed by a phone interview, usually with a recruiter, to talk about your background and the basic requirements of the role. Each department operates slightly differently, so this may be followed by another phone interview with someone on the team, or you’ll move directly to an onsite panel interview.

Each step is important, and serves as a gateway to your dream job, so prepare for each step accordingly.

Once you’ve got your resume and portfolio sorted, and you’ve made sure you have all the formal requirements necessary qualify for a job at Netflix, you need to prepare yourself!

One thing that current Netflix PMs and Senior PMs keep emphasizing, is that Netflix loves informed product people with an eye on the future and an awareness of current trends. So first of all we’d recommend reading up on the current hot topics in Product.

I’m Carlos González, CEO at Product School, and I enjoy sharing weekly tips for Product leaders!

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