I Want To Be a Product Manager
Over the past few months as I’ve network more and had the chance to interact with other product people, stakeholders, and even customers, one consistent question I get is how I got to my current role and is what is the profile of a Product Manager. I consistently stress that NO generic profile fits a product manager and that we come from various backgrounds, however, a few things are consistent in almost all PMs I’ve met:
- They have tremendous product sense and can communicate the reasons why products are great
- They are passionate about products of all kinds (think from kitchen appliances to mobile devices)
- They are polymaths (you know that person in the family that knows a little about all subjects?)
- They have great technical skills
- They get stuff done!
I personally came across Product Management as a stakeholder; I had a technical position in the company and was was called to participate as a stakeholder in various development projects. As I participated in more and more projects, I developed a fascination with the PM role; they really seemed to enjoy tackling challenges to solve problems, delivering functional tools, and interacting with all parties involved. Before deciding to ask the Product Development director about opportunities as a PM I dug deep and:
- Researched background of other product managers (LinkedIn is a great tool for this)
- Read many, many product management blogs
- Researched essential reading for product managers
- Researched national stats on job growth, employability in all markets, and available positions
- Got as much online training as possible
After finding that a) demand for the PM role has been consistently increasing, b) there are plenty of available positions nationwide, c) there is plenty of information and resources to get started online, I decided to take the next step and reach out to the Product Dev director. Surely enough after a handful of conversations I interviewed for the position and before I knew it I was writing user stories.
So the two main things I took away from this were:
- It’s always best to look right where you are: think about it, you probably know the product, customers, and stakeholders better than a lot of people
- The worst thing that can happen when you ask is to receive “no” for an answer. That’s not bad at all.
By no means do I want to convey that it’s an easy position, because it’s not. You need to feel comfortable talking to people at all levels, speaking in public, dealing with angry customers, dealing with inflated egos, dealing with existing buggy products, and mostly with the fact that you have no authority over the development team. But once you get over these fears and dive deep into it, you realize that there’s no greater feeling that releasing a product that you’re proud of.
So go for it, don’t let your fears get the best of you and remember that all the tools you need to do this are only a click away.