DECODING HOW TO GET INTO HIGH TECH PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

Product management is a role often described as the skills intersection of Business, Technology, and User Experience (1). The profession of product management can be challenging to enter, and secondary education sources are only starting to offer specialized training for PM in the last few years. There is much written about what we actually do, and how to become a better PM, but I’ve realized that there is not much guidance for becoming a product manager. It is a career that is usually self-selected into after working for a few years, and does not have any university training degrees to support it just yet (2). This leaves the question: As a career spanning three overlapping skills areas, where do you start?

MY PATH INTO PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

My career started with a business undergraduate degree in marketing. I worked in New York City in pharmacy and banking as I explored industries. In 2000 I moved to Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale) and lucked into a tech support role at Yahoo!. I taught myself HTML and CSS in my spare time and built a few web sites for myself and for friends’ weddings. Upon finishing a MBA, I pursued a job in project management. Shortly thereafter, I self-initiated an expansion of my role to include full product ownership of a storage analytics SaaS product. I’ve since worked at large enterprise companies and tiny start-ups releasing billion dollar product suites, finding initial product market fit, launching business models, forging partnerships, building teams and mentoring new hires, among many other aspects within product.

HOW YOU CAN DO IT: THE PM DECODER RING

It’s important to understand that PMs are not born, they’re developed. This is key to understanding how to get into PM. Each person usually comes to PM from one of the three core areas (Business, Technology/Engineering, or UX). This often corresponds to their undergraduate area of study, but I’ve met PMs from various backgrounds too. Often they will work for a few years cementing their core skills, then gain an interest in PM. At this point, they might have little or no experience in the other two skills areas. To make the transition they need to learn more. This is why getting to that role at the center of the Venn diagram above is hard. You don’t need to be equally great at all three areas to succeed (3), but you do need to have exposure and learn about them.

MAKING THE TRANSITION

As I thought about how to add clarity beyond Business, Technology, and UX, I expanded upon the Venn diagram concept to create the infographic below to include career roles, education, and skills (4).

The Product Management Career Decoder Ring

This decoder attempts to describe the many career starting and expansion points I often see. These of course are just a few of the many possible starting roles. Making the transition from a single functional role into product management often translates into expanding your knowledge of the career focus areas to your left and right on the wheel. E.g. If you are a software developer, you could expand your knowledge of business and UX. While this may sound daunting, it does not have to be. There are many ways to do this I describe below. In addition, there are many ‘overlapping’ roles across focus areas. E.g. A technologist could try out technical marketing or sales engineering which brings them closer to business needs. A business marketing manager could try interviewing users to understand UX needs. A designer could get involved with information architecture to understand technical implications. This decoder can help you identify what you need to know to start crossing over.

I believe PM attracts people that are eager to learn and absorb additional skills in new knowledge areas. So while the perfect PM skills zone appears to be equal measures in the center of these three areas, in reality many PMs are lop-sided at the start of their career (3). Becoming a great PM then, means identifying and filling in the areas you are weak in. As you get better, or even excel in your career, you might never perfectly fill in each skills area. This is OK. Depending on your target industry segment, you may find that a certain area requires focus in one area more than another.

There are many paths to gaining the additional training and experience you need. Looking at the infographic, conceptually you will need to go sideways via training or new roles, in order to gain the skills you need. There are many topics and paths fortunately, and you get to choose your own adventure. Here are some concrete methods I and many others have used:

Internal Opportunities

If you are already working and have a supportive boss or internal mentor, getting exposure into a new area may be as easy as asking for an opportunity and showing strong interest. Some companies really support this. It may mean more work for you if you need to also cover your existing role. This is one of the best methods since people that already know your work and trust you are far more likely to give you opportunities into an area you have no expertise in. Find someone who believes in you.

Side Projects

Another way to show interest and commitment is to work on a side project. This can be inside a company, or completely separate. E.g. Want to learn coding? Take a class or learn from a book, work on a simple project and make it visible on Github. Or design or wireframe a thoughtful new UI for your company’s product that addresses a challenge you see. Maybe it will never get used, but it shows interest and initiative which can get the attention of people in your interest area. Side projects may require your personal time outside of work.

Education

Are you committed enough to get a second degree? A certificate? Take a series of classes? This approach can be time-intensive and potentially expensive, but it can also open up opportunities. These days there are many online options, MOOCs, and specialized training schools. Some people look into transition degree programs like getting a MBA. This commitment might even require a break from work for a year or two. It is understandably expensive in terms of time and cost so you should weigh the costs and benefits beforehand.

Luck

Sometimes you simply need to let people know you want it. Most places do not have enough people to do the amount of work needed. Start-ups can be fertile ground for this. When an unsatisfied need exists, simply raising your hand can make you the UI designer, or let you help out in marketing, or help sales with demos, allowing you to gain cross-functional experience.

In recent years, some companies are hiring PMs directly out of college. This is great. If you are still in college and this interests you, do your research on the types of companies which offer this and what they are looking for. E.g. This might only be an option to computer science graduates if the target company is a high tech firm.

THE EXTERNAL JUMP

If you find that you can’t make the transition internally, it might be time to find your next role at a new company. Perhaps you’ve maximized your learning opportunities and a role isn’t open for you. Perhaps your manager isn’t supportive of having you leave for another team. Finding a position at a new company may offer an opportunity to try a new role, or an expanded role which offers you more growth.

Transition planning needs to include skills planning. Level up before you jump so you bring more than your former functional role experience to the table, making you more valuable. If training or cross-functional experiences are not available in your current role, use your free time to take classes and work on projects. It may be worth staying at your current company for the time it takes to do so. Your opinion on this strategy may be very different if you’re 25 years old versus 45 years old based on risk profile. Either way, start looking while building your skills. You don’t need to be perfect to make solid contributions at a new company. Product managers are always learning.

NETWORKING

If this career path is for you, great! We need people like you. Product management is challenging, but so satisfying when you build and release products that people use and love. Making the transition can be hard too, but if you’re willing to do the work you can get in.

Don’t forget to get to know people in your current and target industries along the way. I love meeting new people. If you are a PM or an aspiring PM, I’d love to hear about your experiences. You can connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukecongdon/