You want to be a Product Manager: How will you get that chance?
Sharing here what I have learned in the last 5+ years through helping dozens of folks move to product management and via my own journey as a product manager.
I have gone through big career shifts thrice in life and actively mentor folks who are considering switching to a product manager role.
One theme has been common:
Every time it feels that the odds are severely stacked against you. It seems that no one will give you that one shot.
Hopefully, this post will save you hours of anxiety with questions like if you will get that shot and also give you some concrete action items to expedite your career transition as a Product Manager.
Before we go into the specifics of our plan, let’s go over top 3 myths and truths (strictly speaking, these are closer to “stylized facts”) I see that many folks don’t realize when thinking of transitioning as a product manager.
Top 3 myths:
- ❌ I am too old to think of a career change as a product manager.
As you get more industry experience, you learn more about what you would enjoy doing. Also, industry is changing too fast and many roles that are in demand today did not even exist 10 years ago. According to one popular survey, average age at which people go through career transition is 39 years. In short, age alone should not be a primary factor in this decision.
2. ❌ I have so many years of work experience as X. This will be a complete career reset.
Think of it as an investment in the next 10–20 years of your career journey. If there is a short term trade off in terms of title or pay, make a fair assessment if the long term benefit is aligned with what you want to achieve.
3. ❌ I just need help with preparing for the PM interviews. I can learn what a PM does after I get the job.
Candidates who do best in interviews are those who are actually trying to learn the craft as opposed to just “cracking” the interview.
Top 3 truths / stylized facts:
- ✅ Have the right context about company fit when considering a product manager role.
First job as a product manager at a growing startup vs established companies will teach you different skills.
For example: If you are looking for extensive mentorship, a bigger organization might be a better fit. If your priority is to specifically learn how to discover product-market fit or want to take more risk early on, a startup might be a better fit for you.
2. ✅ Theory vs real world applications of frameworks differ a lot.
The internet is full of frameworks and guidance on how should product managers work. Applying any of these frameworks or tips to deliver impact and influence strategy that has your team’s full buy-in and leads’ sponsorship turns out to be an incredibly humbling experience. Keep a growth mindset and don’t hesitate to bend or break textbook frameworks, if that is showing results.
3. ✅ Product management is a very lonely job.
It can be incredibly frustrating and very few folks on your team will be able to empathize. Product managers are juggling several aspects of long term strategy along with short term execution while also being responsible for overall team health and showcasing strong cross-team partnership at the same time. This is probably one of the biggest reason why PM community in general is so high on empathy and fellow PMs across companies are usually willing to help others. Because we all know how lonely it can get on the job.
Now, let’s cover how to set you up for getting that chance to become a product manager.
Career Growth Loop
I typically break the plan in 3 parts (1) Learn (2) Connect (3) Grow.
Think of this as your career growth loop that will accelerate your transition and bring more predictability to the process.
I. ✍ Learn:
1. High intent learning goes beyond what you are already absorbing in your day to day job.
If you want to be a product manager, you want to know how products are built end to end (from incubation of an idea to scaling a product that has found product-market-fit). Identify where your gaps are when it comes to product development, strategy, execution and go deeper in specific areas. (see Fig 2 below)
2. Infer and amplify your adjacent skills.
While you have lots to learn as a would-be product manager, you also have many of those skills already! Identify your strengths with a mentor / friend and map which of these can help you be a strong product manager. With this knowledge, you will be more confident in highlighting them in your resume, interviews, conversations with other PMs.
3. Don’t box yourself into just doing interview prep.
While the biggest hurdle for an aspiring PM is how to get and crack that PM interview, remember that is simply the beginning of a long marathon. Allocate time to interview prep but have a medium / long term goal of learning what a product manager does, since you will need that knowledge soon enough!
For example, one aspiring PM that I worked with was in marketing and hence, the craft of product strategy came more easily to them but their main gap was understanding how to convert that strategy to product requirements.
Another example: I worked with an engineer aspiring to be a PM. Their strength was in execution of a defined roadmap. Their biggest gap was understanding how and when to engage with cross-functional partners like Design and UX Research.
II.🤝 Connect:
There is no shortcut to networking and like the other parts of our growth loop, unless planned well, this can drain a lot of your time. Have a goal attached to this (x first time connections ; y 1:1s) and allocate time accordingly at a regular cadence.
1. Network within your current parent team / company and externally.
Plan at least 1 “coffee” outreach per month with someone you look up to or want to learn about but don’t directly work with. You will be surprised how many folks reply with encouragement if you reach out with a clear ask to learn from them.
2. Leverage opportunities within your organization to join circles, mentorship programs.
Use these to upskill yourself. If senior leadership has open office hours, grab a slot!
3. If conferences are your thing, make sure to have concrete goals to get the most signal.
Examples: skew your time towards interactive workshops, have a goal of meet at least 3+ new folks in a networking session (depending on the duration).
III.🌱 Grow:
If you are following the loop so far, you have a good sense of what are the growth areas for you to become a product manager and you are actively reaching out to PMs internally or externally for advice. There are many ways to grow into the role even if you don’t have the official title of a product manager yet.
- Shadowing / Reverse shadowing: Learn what a PM in your team does by asking to shadow them for a day. Or earn some micro-wins by taking up something that can benefit the team while giving you the opportunity to role-play as a PM in a “situational” setting.
Get micro-learnings by volunteering as PM in your current role.
Some real-life examples of micro-learnings:
Communication -> take meeting notes of weekly team sync for a month and share summary with the PM or with the group for feedback.
Strategy -> Volunteer to outline the team’s next brainstorming / planning sprint or summarize the outcome of the same.
Execution -> Ask to shadow a team retro and provide your observations in writing to the team afterwards.
While this does not comprehensively cover a PM’s role by any means, it will make you more confident that you are strengthening your growth areas by applying what you learned.
2. Moonlighting: Volunteer 20% of your time to work with a team as a “part-time” PM. This will most likely need buy-in from a PM who is willing to scope a project for you and approval from your manager. This happens across many companies more often than folks think. I have supported multiple “moonlighters” on my team and know of many other PMs that do this. It can boost your skills as a PM, provide you with clarity on what a PM job is and might also fast-track full-time PM opportunities.
3. Create a “sandbox” experience: It is not possible for everyone to get opportunities to shadow / reverse shadow or moonlight. Sometimes, it might be because of the nature of your current role or the company you are at. You can still grow your skills by going through a few products that you are passionate about on your own. Write app teardowns, your point of view on a product’s strategy, how you would launch a 0 to 1 product etc and solicit feedback from the broader PM community!
Career transition to become a product manager can take months, sometimes even longer. Many folks spend too much time in tangential directions instead of planning it out. Whether you choose to follow the above framework or something else, be intentional about how you plan and execute.
Feel free to reach out or setup a 1:1, if you are going through this journey of transitioning as a PM and want to chat more!
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