Minimum Hirable Product Manager
Transitioning to product management from another tech role is a confusing process. Here’s what you really need to do to get hired.
Why Product Management?
Before you do anything else, ask yourself this question. And don’t accept your own knee-jerk response, really sit with it and reflect.
Not only is this a common interview question, but it’s something you will need to feel very strongly about when you struggle. Product management is a challenging field, and you will need clear motivation to stay in it.
The “whys” focus on the value you can create or the impact you can make as a Product Manager. What do you really care about?
Bad Answers
Some people want to become Product Managers because it pays well or because they’re tired of their current work. These reasons aren’t going to convince interviewers and aren’t going to carry you through the rough patches.
You need to dig a little deeper.
Good Answers
If you want to be a Product Manager because it lets you use a variety of skills or because you have a strong interest in product development, those are okay reasons. They might get you through an interview, but they’re not going to make you stand out. They probably won’t keep you motivated in the long term, either.
Keep digging.
Best Answers
The “whys” focus on the value you can create or the impact you can make as a Product Manager. What do you really care about? Do you want to achieve the greatest outcomes for customers? Do you get really excited about growing the business? Not only will you sound more passionate in an interview, but it can help you figure out which types of roles you want to apply for.
For example, if you really enjoy growing the business and winning more customers, you may want to become a Growth Product Manager. If you are extremely customer or user-focused, you may want to be an Experience Product Manager.
How do I find my “Why?”
Think back through your career path so far. What roles have you held, and what did you like about them? Why did you move on to each next role? What gets your attention, gets you excited, or makes you angry? That’s what you really care about.
When I was reflecting on my own career, I realized that I really cared about achieving an impact for customers. I went from tech support to a more advanced tech support role because I wanted more knowledge and tools to provide better support to the customers. When I was deciding among 3 career options: data analytics; software development; and UX design, I initially chose to pursue UX design because I thought that would have the greatest impact on customer experience. When I found out about product management, I immediately pivoted to that because I wanted to be at the center of the decision-making process around what to build for the customers and why.
You will have your own reason for pursuing product management. Keep asking yourself and digging deeper until you find your core motivation. That’s where you’ll find value in the work and demonstrate your value to a prospective employer.
Transferrable Skills for Product Management
Now that you know why you want to be a Product Manager, what do you need to get there? There’s a lot of information on this subject, so I’m only going to share a few key skills that you should start with.
Key Skills
- Structured thinking: Having specific, reusable steps for finding out what you don’t know, prioritizing work, solving problems, and making decisions.
- Cross-team collaboration: Working with multiple teams in other functions/disciplines to drive an initiative forward together.
- Stakeholder management: Communicating with various interested parties, getting their requirements and feedback, setting expectations, and keeping them in the loop.
- Context switching: Moving from one topic to another quickly and without a logical segue, being able to change mental modes easily, and changing focus without delay or confusion.
- Time management: Knowing how much time to spend on each task, staying on task without external prompts, and managing your schedule without an imposed structure or consistency to your work.
Where can I get these skills?
- Technical Support: You are used to using structured thinking for troubleshooting. You will also be familiar with context switching if you supported multiple products. You might be weak in cross-team collaboration or time management since your day is already structured.
- Marketing, Design, or Development: You are likely very skilled in cross-team collaboration, stakeholder management, and time management already. Context switching might be an area of improvement for you, since you may be used to focusing on one area of expertise.
- Project Management: You’re an old hand at most, if not all, of these. Figure out where your gaps are and look for projects where you might be able to fill them.
- Entrepreneurship or Side Projects: Any skill gaps you may need to fill can be achieved by taking on side projects at work (if available) or pursuing your own outside of work, no matter how small.
Education for Product Managers
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a degree to become a Product Manager. Some people come to product management through an MBA program, but there are many paths. Hopefully, this will shed some light on what kind of knowledge you need to acquire before applying for roles.
While you don’t need a specific degree or certification to get into product management, you do need to be the kind of person who is always learning.
College Degrees
These aren’t absolutely necessary. When you see a degree listed on a Product Manager job post, it can almost always be replaced by hands-on experience or domain knowledge. However, if you see “minimum education” or that they’ve specifically marked “required” next to it (not just in a section labeled Requirements), pay attention.
If you already have or want a degree, here are some majors or focus areas that are applicable to product management:
- Business Administration
- Computer Science
- Marketing / Digital Marketing
- Product Design or Interaction Design
- Economics
Product Management Certificates
Almost every aspiring PM asks the question, “Which product management certificate will help me get hired?” I asked it too, and I was just as dismayed by the answer that everyone gets: “None. Certificates don’t matter.”
Why do so many people want certificates?
Many people transitioning to product don’t have an applicable degree or product experience. They’re looking for a way to show recruiters and hiring managers that they know what they’re talking about without investing another 2–4 years and tens of thousands of dollars.
The real value of a PM Certificate is getting a good sense of what product management involves and filling any knowledge gaps. You can also use these programs for networking if they are organized into cohorts with a high degree of student interaction.
So if you want a certificate, get one! Just make sure you have the right expectations for the outcome. Because if you think it will help you land your first role, that’s unfortunately unlikely.
Continuous Learning
While you don’t need a specific degree or certification to get into product management, you do need to be the kind of person who is always learning. Pursue subjects that interest you. Reflect on your work or past projects for takeaways. Get curious. Start upskilling.
It doesn’t matter how. Always Be Learning.
Where can I learn more about Product Management?
There are a ton of free and affordable resources online, but here are some of my favorites:
- Becoming a Product Manager: A Complete Guide by Cole Mercer & Evan Kimbrell — LinkedIn Learning (with LinkedIn paid subscription)
- Great Product Manager: Product Management by a Big Tech’s PM by Bart Jaworski — Udemy (paid)
- Building a Winning PM Resume, Solving the PM Interview, (Preview) PM Onboarding Course, and (Preview) PM Upskilling Series by Clement Kao — Product Teacher (affordable, Previews are free)
Landing Your First Product Manager Role
You know why you want to be a Product Manager, and you know what skills and knowledge you need to qualify, now how do you get your first role? You really only need to do two things: network and apply to the right roles.
Reach out, get involved in conversations, offer help or expertise when you can, and be responsive! The more you help others, the more you help yourself.
What is networking?
You’re probably already familiar with the term, but I don’t think the people in your social feed explain it well enough. Networking isn’t just making connections on LinkedIn and interacting with people’s posts, it’s really taking the time to get to know other people and find ways to help them. Think about these two kinds of networking:
- Internal networking: Building relationships at your workplace. This is critical for advancement or transfer within the same company, which is the easiest way to land your first role. People who know you and are familiar with your work are much more likely to take a chance on you. Reach out, get involved in conversations, offer help or expertise when you can, and be responsive!
- External networking: Building relationships outside of your workplace. This is critical for landing a role outside of your current company and will help you immensely if you get downsized. Find groups, forums, or social platforms where people in product hang out, and make friends there. Share wins and losses, ask questions, offer advice, refer other people to openings, and share others’ content. The more you help others, the more you help yourself.
What are the right roles?
One of the most confusing aspects of transitioning to product management is figuring out what all the different titles mean and which ones you should be targeting, especially when the descriptions on the job posts can vary so widely. Here are some common early-career or entry-level Product Manager titles, what they usually mean, and how you can qualify.
Junior Product Manager
Not as common as the similar title, “Associate Product Manager,” this is usually an entry-level or training role for MBA students or internal transfers. It’s sometimes offered as an internship.
Qualifications:
- MBA program, or …
- Internal candidate with no PM experience
Associate (or Assistant) Product Manager
The most common entry-level role, this is primarily a temporary program for MBA students to segue into product management with experience after graduation. It can also be a full-time role for people transitioning from non-product roles with some similar responsibilities. APM rarely requires any product experience.
Qualifications
- MBA program, or …
- Product-adjacent experience, or …
- Fewer than 2 years of product management experience
Product Manager
In job posts, this title is sometimes used for Senior roles as well or for when a company is hiring multiple product managers at different levels. Read the full description to make sure it’s the right fit.
Most commonly, this title is for product managers with fewer than 4 years of product management experience. People with experience in other product roles, like Product Owner or Product Specialist, can usually apply.
Qualifications
- Fewer than 4 years of product management experience, or …
- Experience in other product roles, and/or …
- Bachelors in business or computer science or MBA (sometimes), or …
- Product Management Certification (almost never)
Which one should I choose?
A lot of you are probably hovering somewhere between APM and PM. Since job descriptions can vary so widely, read carefully and choose the ones that align most closely with your existing experience. Look for roles where you have built domain knowledge or have a lot of experience in the industry.
Above all, don’t be afraid to apply to roles where you don’t meet all of the qualifications. A good rule of thumb is to look for at least a 60–70% fit. However, the better the fit, the more likely you are to get a response to your application.
Final notes on transitioning to product management
The most important things for you to do before applying for your first Product Manager role are:
- Know why you want to be a Product Manager.
- Acquire product management skills (or find out which existing skills translate to product management).
- Learn how to present yourself to potential employers.
That’s it, and there are a lot of ways to do it. Good luck!
