Don't Sleep on Potential: How to Evaluate Core Competencies When Hiring Product Marketers
WRITTEN By Fluvio consultant, Lauren Kiser
When hiring for product marketing, it’s tempting to stick to the well-worn playbook: look for someone with 5+ years of PMM experience, ideally in your exact industry, preferably at a recognizable company. It’s safe, it’s familiar, and sometimes, it works.
But if you’re building a team that can truly evolve with your company, you need to look beyond the job title.
Some of the most impactful product marketers I’ve worked with didn’t have “product marketing” anywhere on their résumé. They came from customer success, sales engineering, consulting, or even journalism. What they did have was an uncanny ability to learn quickly, distill complexity, influence cross-functional teams, and think deeply about customers.
So how do you spot those high-potential candidates who might not check all the traditional boxes? Here are five often-overlooked competencies that signal someone could thrive in a PMM role, even if they’ve never had the title.
1. Willingness to Learn (Fast)
Product marketing is one of the most cross-functional and dynamic roles in a company. PMMs are expected to be part product expert, part customer whisperer, part competitive analyst, part storyteller. And they do all of that as the product evolves, the market shifts, and the company scales. The best PMMs are the ones who want to be in learning mode all the time.
This doesn’t just mean taking courses or reading blogs. It shows up in curiosity, adaptability, and the ability to quickly synthesize new information. A great PMM can jump into a new industry, sit in on a product demo, read a whitepaper, talk to a few customers, and walk away with a working theory of how to position the product. That’s not magic. It’s a mindset.
Signals to look for:
Career pivots or a variety of roles/industries on their résumé
Stories of learning a new tool, domain, or framework without formal training
Someone who lights up when talking about figuring things out
Questions to ask:
“Tell me about a time you had to become an expert in something quickly. How did you approach it?”
“What’s something you’ve learned in the past 6 months that surprised you?”
2. Technical Aptitude
No, PMMs don’t need to be engineers. But they do need to get technical, especially in B2B SaaS or data-driven products. Whether they’re briefing analysts, enabling sales, or crafting product messaging, a PMM has to understand how a product works in order to explain why it matters.
The best ones aren’t afraid to dig into the product, ask engineers “dumb” questions, or diagram workflows until they understand them. They can hold their own in a technical conversation not by knowing every detail, but by being relentlessly curious, sharp, and unafraid to dive in.
Signals to look for:
Experience working closely with technical teams
Translating complex topics for non-technical audiences (presentations, docs, videos, etc.)
Ownership of feature-level messaging or sales enablement content
Questions to ask:
“Tell me about a time you had to explain a technical concept to a non-technical audience.”
“How do you approach learning the technical side of a product?”
3. Industry Agility
It’s common to look for candidates with direct experience in your industry, but the truth is, some of the strongest PMMs thrive because they bring an outside perspective. They ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and find new ways to stand out in a crowded market.
What matters more than deep industry tenure is the ability to quickly map a new landscape: the competitors, the customers, the buyer journey, the market forces. Good PMMs are like anthropologists – they observe, listen, and make sense of new environments with speed and insight.
Signals to look for:
Multiple industries or market segments in their background
Evidence of strong market research, segmentation, or persona development work
Clarity in how they speak about new markets or GTM challenges
Questions to ask:
“How would you go about understanding a new market you’ve never worked in before?”
“Tell me about a time you had to market to a completely different type of customer.”
4. Strategic and Systems Thinking
Product marketing lives at the intersection of product, sales, and marketing. But great PMMs don’t just operate at the intersection. They connect the system. They see the big picture and understand how each piece influences the others. A change in messaging affects sales decks, affects outbound campaigns, affects onboarding. They get that, and they make decisions accordingly.
Strategic PMMs can zoom out to see market dynamics, and zoom in to refine a one-liner on a landing page. They can run a launch, rework a pricing model, or build a customer lifecycle framework. They can do itbecause they think in terms of outcomes, not just deliverables.
Signals to look for:
Experience owning a major GTM motion (e.g., launch, rebrand, segmentation strategy)
Use of frameworks or structured thinking to explain decisions
Ability to connect insights to action
Questions to ask:
“Walk me through a GTM project you owned. How did you prioritize what to do?”
“How do you think about connecting messaging, pricing, and positioning?”
5. Quarterback Mentality
PMMs are often at the center of the most complex, high-impact work in a company. They’re running launches, aligning sales and product, managing feedback loops, building positioning, and doing it all without direct authority over most of the people involved.
To thrive in this role, a PMM needs what I call a “quarterback mentality.” They have to keep their eyes on the field, read the room, and move the ball forward – sometimes by leading, sometimes by supporting, always by aligning.
They need to be confident, collaborative, and diplomatic. They need to be great communicators and natural relationship builders. And most importantly, they need to be able to get things done across functions, without stepping on toes.
Signals to look for:
Ownership of complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives
Stories of leading without authority or bridging teams
Strong cross-functional relationships
Questions to ask:
“Tell me about a time you had to bring multiple teams together to deliver on a launch or initiative.”
“How do you build trust and alignment when you don’t manage the teams involved?”
Don’t Sleep on Non-Traditional Candidates
A title doesn’t tell the whole story. Some of your best PMM hires may have never officially held the role.Instead, they’ve been doing the work in spirit: asking smart questions, telling compelling stories, translating complexity, and connecting the dots across teams.
If a candidate demonstrates curiosity, adaptability, cross-functional leadership, strategic thinking, and a bias toward action, they’re worth a serious look. Don’t let a missing title or lack of industry experience keep you from hiring someone who could thrive and grow in the role.
Yes, experience matters. But so does potential. The best product marketers aren’t just hired, they’re developed. Build your team around that idea, and you’ll be ahead of the curve.
Need help finding product marketing talent with these core competencies?
At Fluvio, we specialize in sourcing and evaluating standout PMM candidates, whether they come from traditional backgrounds or bring transferable skills that others might overlook. We know how to spot the future stars.
If you're building your PMM team and want a partner who understands both the art and science of product marketing hiring, reach out to us. We’d love to help.