Author: Heidi Ram

Heidi is a founding member and actively involved in the North American product community. Heidi’s time is spent recruiting and representing CPO and VP-level product talent as well as engaging with business stakeholders who need industry insights to unlock hiring decisions. Heidi leads our partnerships with Queens/Smith School of Business MDPM, ProductTank Montreal and The TPMA (Toronto Product Management Association).

Career Advice | Customer Success | Engineering | Healthcare | Leadership Insights | Marketing | Product Management | Sales | Talent Acquisition

How to Get to a Hiring Hell Yes!
ByHeidi Ram April 27, 2022March 6, 2024

When working with a CEO/Founder or VP People, they often describe their ideal hire as someone who they shout “hell YES!” about after the interview. This idea of getting to a “hell yes” candidate is one that makes us chuckle but also fully understand. The journey to hire is often one of complexity and continual management of expectations…

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Boston | Healthcare | Leadership Insights | Montreal | Product Management | Salary Insights | Talent Acquisition

Understanding Market Rates
ByHeidi Ram April 20, 2022March 6, 2024

As a North American Recruitment firm that specializes in Product Management, we are often approached by leaders for insights on the ‘current market rate’ of a particular type of Product Manager. The term market rate has become such a natural part of our vocabulary that many Founders and Talent Leaders believe such a thing actually exists. Today, I’m here…

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Boston | Leadership Insights | Product Management

Time to Hire a Boston-based VP Product?
ByHeidi Ram January 11, 2022March 6, 2024

As a product management recruitment firm, we value any opportunity to recruit Boston area talent and hear the inspirational problems startup founders are solving. Whether it’s healthtech or biotech-related or championing products to help small business owners be successful, Boston product talent is doing big things. When engaging in strategic product leadership hires, whether in Boston…

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Career Advice | Customer Success | Design | Engineering | Marketing | Product Management | Sales

Four Reasons Why Every Candidate Should Talk with a Recruiter
ByHeidi Ram October 13, 2021March 6, 2024

Heads down, in our bubble, working – this is how we spend most of our time Monday to Friday. We know our four walls, our job, our team, our customers, our tech stack, our roadmap, our sales quota, our partners… our neat and tidy working world. We get the occasional compliment – we may get…

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Customer Success | Design | Engineering | Leadership Insights | Marketing | Montreal | Product Management | Sales | Vancouver

How to Choose Between Two Candidates
ByHeidi Ram August 11, 2021March 6, 2024

It’s been interesting working with Founders and CEOs on their strategic hires lately. In fact, here are a few hiring insights we’ve already shared about the state of the market and what we’ve been dealing with. Along the journey of most searches, the hire becomes obvious, standing out from the rest of the candidates interviewed. However, over the last…

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Leadership Insights | Montreal

Hiring the Wrong Person: Advice from Seasoned Recruiters
ByHeidi Ram March 17, 2021March 6, 2024

Most of the time, when we engage with clients it’s for first-time leadership searches. Partnering with the founding team, who recently raised a round and are ready to hire their first VP Product, Marketing, Sales, or Customer Success. However, sometimes we are engaged to replace someone who is still employed and leading a team, or who were very…

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Career Advice | Interview | Leadership Insights | Product Management

We Asked, They Answered – What Top Product Leaders Ask Candidates During Interviews
ByHeidi Ram February 17, 2021June 10, 2024

We asked 10 Product leaders across North America, what questions do they ask when interviewing candidates for a leadership role. The answers might just surprise you. Question: What is the fundamental role of Product Management in an organization? Reasoning: This might seem elementary, but you’d be surprised how often I find that people have wildly…

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Career Advice | Product Management

Why is it so hard to hire a Head of Product?
ByHeidi Ram October 21, 2020March 6, 2024

Hiring a Head of Product is an integral part of business growth and the future direction of a company. It can also be a very challenging search as there are so many different components that can make up a Head of Product’s duties and responsibilities. If you’re still struggling to find the right Head of…

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Interview | Leadership Insights | Talent Acquisition

What Type of Interviewer Are You?
ByHeidi Ram October 14, 2020March 6, 2024

Now I know what you are thinking, does this mean my interview style? No, we aren’t talking about the questions you ask or case studies you give, we are talking about a more important and overlooked type of interviewer… Are you an interviewer looking for reasons to hire or one looking for reasons not to…

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Design | Leadership Insights | Product Management

Struggling to Hire a Product Designer? The 4 Reasons Why and What you Can Do
ByHeidi Ram September 9, 2020March 6, 2024

A few weeks ago, we shared the top five traits to look for when hiring a Product Designer (aka what makes a good designer great!) As mentioned in that article, Product Designers are creative in nature and don’t tend to respond well to the same internal company story, perks and interview steps that drives a sales or…

Read More Struggling to Hire a Product Designer? The 4 Reasons Why and What you Can Do
Career Advice | Design | Leadership Insights | Product Management

Don’t Hire a Product Designer Without These 5 Traits
ByHeidi Ram August 19, 2020March 6, 2024

Hiring a Product Designer is a big step for any startup as it often signals it’s time to further elevate and scale the product. For many companies, it’s also a tough hire, complicated by the fact that what separates a GOOD from a GREAT Product Designer can’t always be easily identified in just a few…

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Leadership Insights | Product Management

Don’t Hire a Product Manager Without These 4 Traits
ByHeidi Ram July 22, 2020March 6, 2024

Hiring a Product Manager is often one of the most critical searches a company can make. For many companies, it’s also an intimidating hire, complicated by the fact that what separates a GOOD Product Manager from a GREAT one is the combination of left brain and right brain traits. Since product and product leadership is…

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Leadership Insights | Product Management

Recruiting Product Managers from Silicon Valley: 3 Things to Keep in Mind
ByHeidi Ram January 14, 2020March 6, 2024

As Product Management recruiters, we often engage with Founders/CEOs who specifically ask us to look in the Bay Area for the talent they need. They are hoping to hire a Product Manager from a recognizable brand (you can guess the list of companies they want us to target—it’s exactly who you’re thinking of), and they…

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Career Advice

Resignation Best Practices and Navigating Counter Offers
ByHeidi Ram January 7, 2020March 6, 2024

Job searching can be a long, difficult process. You’ve been leading a double life—getting the results you need for your current employer while presenting your best self in the interview process. Unfortunately, the excitement of accepting a great new job offer can wear off quickly as the realities of resigning and transitioning out of your…

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Career Advice | Marketing | Product Management | Sales

Moving On Up: Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Manager
ByHeidi Ram November 19, 2019March 6, 2024

As a Product Management recruiter, I often have conversations with individuals who are currently working as a Senior Product Manager, and are hoping that they will be able to jump into management in their next role. They are only open to hearing about roles with a Director or VP title. And I get it! I…

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