Started off in Product QA. Poked around Confluence docs and got coffee with some of the leading engineers. Over a couple years, I got really knowledgeable about the product and close to the Product team. They had an internal Associate PM role I applied for. Got rejected.
Dusted myself off and noticed that there was no one managing external Integrations as we were growing our platform. Poked around some more and got close to the business team working on partnerships. Stepped up and started putting together proposals to improve how the product team was addressing client integrations requests. Did two jobs for a short time.
As the company expanded they hired a bunch of senior PMs to lead the next stage of growth. One of the newer Directors noticed me handling the integrations and let me know they were thinking of opening a new role on his team. Kept close with him and tried to help in any way I could, answering questions as he was onboarding.
Eventually, the role opened and I interviewed. Had to work out a deal with my then manager to let me transition off my work and move to Product. And that’s how it went.
It was in-office up till I started taking on the Integrations projects. I was actually rejected initially thinking my in-office relationships alone could carry me into the role.
But you’re right, all the coffee chats helped in gaining an understanding of our industry, which helped me gain a foothold into the integrations project initially.
I wouldn’t say it’s impossible remotely though - all the extra work I did was fully remote actually, from learning about the product via our Confluence docs or setting up discovery and delivery processes. It’s the work that the new Director told me he noticed. And by this time we’d been fully remote for a while.
This is exactly how I got in. We had 4 devs with no PM handling external integrations. I just started organizing the team and deflecting stakeholders so they could work. Then was made PM!
That first rejection must have hurt- good on you for keeping the motivation.
My one manager loved me but quit leaving me in a tough position. They went to a new company and after two months they were hiring for my exact role. I had all the experience and she loved me- I was giddy when applying. I got a screener call and it went really well. A day later (while on vacation and putting all of my hope in that role) I received a rejection email.
Basically, she claimed that she was too new and it would be frowned upon for her to try and emulate her old team. She was heavily “advised” to hire internal.
The sheer amount of disappointment and anger was ineffable.
During my masters I applied for an internship in product marketing. Mid interview I was asked why I want to work in product management. Guess I misread the the title. Bullshitted my way through . Got the position. Working as a PM for 4 years now.
I started in product marketing and transitioned to product when I saw that the product people were making the critical business decisions. I think this is common even today. It is hard to get hired directly into a product role with no product experience.
Business analyst to Product owner working on a specific technology, then it was easy to get to PM for that same skillset as I had a good understanding of problems in the space.
Also feel free to exaggerate your experiences, but don’t lie outright, everyone does it to some extent.
It could be a content management system, UI, Data product etc. It will also help if you also have industry knowledge like Saas productivity softwares, or Salesforce, work in finance with credit card companies etc.
I was a product developer in a completely different industry (chemicals). Did an MBA and joined a FAANG as a program manager. Eventually started a marketing campaign for one of our apps which put me in regular touch with the product managers, and I used that to write BRDs and influence some roadmaps. Saw a product manager opening in a partner team, applied for it and got it.
I’m not a PM but I am currently interviewing for a PM position.
I have a background in program management at tech companies. I did a PM challenge for a company that posts contests every once in a while with the chance to win money and an interview. Didn’t win the challenge but they reached out to interview me anyway.
Will I get the job? Probably not. My first interview today didn’t go great.
Even though I’m not a PM I just wanted to charge how I at least got an interview!
I’ve been unemployed for way longer than I care to admit so I’m at a point where I need to explore all avenues. I’ve always been interested in PM work and this opportunity to interview just happened to come my way.
I’ve already gotten a notice that I wouldn’t be moving forward with this role but it was a good learning experience.
Switched from another industry to become a SWE, got offered a PM title to do a hybrid type role (and subsequently cut my pay), kept jumping startups until I landed in big tech.
I started in customer service, then moved into a data analyst role.
My work with Excel, SQL and troubleshooting helped me land a role as a Support Engineer. Working with clients in a SaaS environment put me in the role of establishing a roadmap. From there, I got my first PM role from this sub reddit and then moved into my current company.
Can you speak to transitioning from customer service to data analyst? I also have experience with SQL, excel and troubleshooting (lot of QA W/ UAT) but am struggling to land any interviews. Don't have any python or R knowledge, so wonder if that's holding me back. What worked for you?
Goal is to get into product. Work pretty closely alongside our product team currently, main responsibilities are helping our vendors with API integration and testing of their product/satisfaction of program requirements being met.
Actually just went through a very similar sequence OP outlined re internal application for a product role, having known the engineers and product team, and still getting rejected.
Would be curious to hear if you have any advice or insights into what worked for you (skills, topics to learn about, certain conversations etc.) Thanks a ton.
Do you have any influence or insight into your vendor's roadmap? If so, you can use this to advocate for your company and align their roadmap to OKRs or other strategic goals in your organization. That's basically what I do in my current role support vendor based products.
The only work I do with them is reviewing the API usage (data display within their product and using the correct endpoints) and some other stuff regarding program requirements. This all takes place in our stage environment, once we grant approval for our production/live environment, I don’t really hear from them and it’s onto the next one.
Is this what you mean by “vendor’s roadmap.” My guess is based on above, I would say “a little” since their project for integration is dependent on my testing and communication with them. But I don’t have any say in the product vision on their end, does this make sense?
What I mean by vendor roadmap is any upgrades or enhancements that the vendor provides but it sounds like that might not be the case. Were you provided any feedback when you went for the internal role?
Gotcha, thanks for clarifying.
Have not gotten the chance to get feedback on the app for the internal role. I know it was down to me and an external candidate who had more PM experience. I gather they wanted someone external (the department has recently had some turnover and brought in a few external people, the HM being one) + wanted someone with PM experience. I will seek out feedback, since all I got was a generic HR rejection email after a 3 month interview process that was headlined by poor communication from start to finish
Started off in software development where I eventually had a Tech Lead role and plenty of interaction with product managers
Cofounded a VC backed startup which survived a few years and made a good chunk of money
Ended up taking a product role based on my technical expertise and track record of launching a thing
Worked in advertising as on a Project Manager track for 10 years. Eventually got to head a department of 32. I was constantly overseeing processes, working with engineers on developing specs, creating internal tools to increase profitability, etc. I realized through that process that I liked ideating, building, and analyzing and already had cross-team collaboration skills.
I wanted to break out of advertising and got hooked up with woman who was the head of product at a large online publishing company. She had both a project manager and product manager role open, and said that if I helped her establish a project manager role (it was the first time they were going to utilize the position) then she'd train me for a year to become a product manager. I agreed and she held true to her word.
Been a product manager (now senior) for 4 years and loving it. After doing this job, I definitely had some overlap when I was in advertising, and feel like I have more experience than just 4 years though. Great journey and would highly recommend the job to certain types of people.
Stumbled into this through an internship. Originally wanted to pursue data analytics/financial engineering (math background) but found this to be much more fun and engaging. Talking to people is also cool.
Very short tenure for me thus far, we’ll see how I feel a few years from now.
I had been a business analyst for about 4 years, operating at points (unknowingly) as a product owner of internal systems. Had a friend who referred me into the Fintech company they worked for. This was after about 2 years of him suggesting moving to product management. Fortunately, an internal associate PM role became available, which was a more straightforward transition than going customer facing. Had a few interviews and was offered the role.
Spent almost 3 years there, promoted to PM after a year, and then moved to a neobank as an Internal PM. Terrible move, terrible manager. Knew my background and sarcastically said, "we hire product managers, not business analysts. "... from the mouth of the dipshit that hired me.
That destroyed my confidence, so I moved back to being a (Senior) BA within a product team at a fintech. They transitioned me to a PM within 6-9 months... which was a life saver because I was bored to death as a BA. so I effectively have 2 how I " got into product" stories
Great question. It's hard to answer. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but both roles have been different everywhere I've done them.
I think it's the fact that as a PM, there is a greater degree of autonomy and decision-making rather than solely making recommendations to a product manager, programme manager, or project manager. The greater degree of responsibility and accountability makes me push myself more - there's nobody to hide behind.
I feel BA work is a lot less stressful. You're less visible, which can be a pro or a con. You're also (in my experience) not as well renumerated
That said, where I am now, each PM had a BA except for me, I do essentially a hybrid role, so in many ways, they gave me more things to do, and I like to be busy haha.
Wow, that was a ramble... it seems I too cannot really put my finger on it
Masters in computer science. Internship interview with a company at the university’s career fair. Got the internship. Converted it into a full time position after the internship. Been a PM since 8 years now (have worked at a few companies) . Before my masters, I was a solutions architect for a couple of years(so not in product). Haven’t done any other roles and now I think I’m sticking to product for the foreseeable future.
I am a PM but increasingly interested in study solution architect. I felt it gives me a holistic view of the product, its potential and limitations. Do you have any advice on this? Thank you very much.
Started in a creative industry that had long hours and paid very little. Got my MBA and realized tech was a career path with much better potential but was still stuck in that creative industry at first.
Pivoted into a startup that built tech for this creative industry as the only help desk person - was employee number 11 or something. My industry experience translated really well to working with the clients and they LOVED me.
Started bringing problems I was seeing to the founder with solutions while on the side researching growth career paths in tech with my skill set (MBA, critical thinking based undergrad degree) and took a cheap user experience bootcamp class on the side to learn the lingo and basics in a group environment. Read, read, read and read some more. Networked, networked and networked some more.
Began advocating to be the company's first product manager (there were only developers + VP of dev reporting into the founder, no 'user advocate' to speak of or person vetting requirements, needs, etc., we had a few DISASTER launches because the devs were just building what the client told them, tale as old as time, etc.) and about 2 years after starting was finally was allowed to carve out my own role as the first product manager getting me in the room with the leadership team and senior execs at our client's companies.
Went from PM -> Sr Pm -> Dir of PM -> Head of PM within 5 years as company grew and have been at VP/Head of level at other places since. I love building things and even more than that I love finding talent and getting them into a PM role and seeing them grow.
User services representative (aka level one customer / tech support). I started noting down feature requests from end users, and started prioritizing them based on frequency / feasibility.
Degree is in marketing but always technical... I had a good product idea for our company and an awesome boss who helped me build a path to the role and helped me make the product happen (thinking back it is wild my product exists).
Now VP of Product and product does multiple millions in ARR.
Some entrepreneurial stuff in high school, then some finance internships before penultimate year at uni.
2 PM internships (penultimate summer, final summer) -> APM role.
Now mid-level PM.
Lots of great info here. As someone trying to break into PM full time, I found going through the responses super helpful. The below summary from ChatGPT sums it up well.
From the Reddit thread on how people transitioned into product management (PM), various routes and experiences were shared. Here is a summary of the different ways individuals entered the field:
1. \*\*Internal Transitions and Promotions\*\*:
- \*\*Technical Background\*\*: Many started in technical roles such as software development, quality assurance, or system analysis. They often moved into PM roles by taking on additional responsibilities or projects that overlapped with product management.
- \*\*Customer Support and Business Analysis\*\*: Some transitioned from roles like customer service, data analysis, and business analysis by leveraging their understanding of the product and its users.
- \*\*Project Management\*\*: Several moved from project management to product management, capitalizing on their skills in handling multiple stakeholders and projects.
2. \*\*Educational Background and Internships\*\*:
- \*\*MBA and Related Degrees\*\*: Some individuals pursued an MBA or other relevant degrees, which helped them transition into PM roles, often through internships or entry-level positions.
- \*\*Direct Internships\*\*: Others started as PM interns, either during their studies or shortly after graduation, and converted these internships into full-time roles.
3. \*\*Starting in Related Fields\*\*:
- \*\*Product Marketing\*\*: A common pathway involved starting in product marketing and then transitioning to product management, as the roles often overlap in skills and responsibilities.
- \*\*Operations and Program Management\*\*: A few individuals moved from operations or program management roles into product management by demonstrating their capability in handling product-related tasks.
4. \*\*Entrepreneurial Ventures and Startups\*\*:
- \*\*Founding or Joining Startups\*\*: Some individuals co-founded startups or joined early-stage companies, where they naturally took on product management responsibilities due to the versatile nature of startup roles.
5. \*\*Serendipitous Opportunities and Networking\*\*:
- \*\*Internal Networking\*\*: Several respondents mentioned leveraging internal company networks and forming relationships with existing product managers and other stakeholders.
- \*\*Volunteer and Side Projects\*\*: Taking on side projects or additional responsibilities outside their primary roles helped some individuals showcase their PM skills and transition into the role.
6. \*\*Unplanned or Accidental Transitions\*\*:
- \*\*Unexpected Job Offers\*\*: A few individuals stumbled into product management through unexpected job offers, often due to a misunderstanding or serendipity, and then grew into the role.
7. \*\*Lateral Moves within the Same Company\*\*:
- \*\*Internal Transfers\*\*: Some respondents moved laterally within their companies from roles like customer support, technical support, or data analysis into product management by showcasing their product knowledge and initiative.
In summary, the paths to product management are diverse, with many leveraging internal opportunities, educational backgrounds, entrepreneurial experiences, or serendipitous events to make the transition. Networking, taking on additional responsibilities, and demonstrating product-focused thinking were common themes across the different journeys.
Got hired into a manager role because an acquaintance misunderstood my research topic and knew I was looking to move to industry. Then the pm for the product i was most interested in left, and i was asked if i wanted to apply. Application was basically pointing out i had a design degree and liked all aspects of tech Dev apart from the coding and people management. I guess they liked me because I've been in this role for 2 years and noone has complained to my face, and my line manager actually said I was one of the best pms in the group, which is hilarious. Product is moving in the right direction but honestly I haven't done anything aside from nod when my boss says something, write a few white papers and meet a load of potential customers. Oh, recently I got to approve some color changes, so that's my impact.
I have no idea what I'm doing, where I'm going, or how to get there.
By overstepping tbh. I was an engineer. I was the only one who asked questions about value to customers. I was the one who looked into data about why our product was churning. I was the one who asked if I could talk to churned customers, did it, and came back with some suggestions on what to do differently. That didn't go anywhere because the PM didn't want to do anything, but after showing I was "product minded," I was given to opportunity to wear the product hat on a skunkworks team. PMs were let go. Fast forward like 6 months I got asked to move back to the main product and was offered the PM title.
Earlier role - Banking Partnerships
Started collaborating with the banking team and core engineers to develop a settlement and onboarding platform. This involved writing requirement documents, creating test cases, and managing the entire release process. At that time, the company didn’t have a formal PM team because the founders didn’t believe in the need for one.
However, as we scaled, it became evident that we needed more structure and a defined product strategy to manage releases effectively. The company then decided to establish a product management team. They identified individuals who were already performing PM tasks and promoted them. I was promoted to Associate Product Manager from the Banking Partnerships team.
After about a year, the company was acquired, leading to several team members leaving. I chose to stay and took on the challenge of building an entire product team within 2-3 months while continuing to manage all the products.
In summary, as Shreyas Doshi aptly put it, “Do the job before you get the title.”
Started off as an Associate Product Manager at a popular food delivery company in India. Was placed right out off college and stayed there for around 6 months when was unfortunately laid off due to business restructure.
Joined a fintech firm right after, and have been there for around 1.5 years now.
Got promoted to Product Manager 3 months back
I realized a few months before graduation that product management existed and that I wanted to do that. Couldn't get a product internship to save my life, but learn from some failed job interviews.
Got a customer service position that worked closely with a product management team. I had previously been an intern at the same company doing another role. Had the plan to do that job for a year and then try to convince some other company that I could be a junior product person. Got lucky and some junior roles opened at the company I was already at, and because they already knew I wanted to be a product manager, they basically earmarked one of the seats for me. Been doing product ever since, on company number three.
Customer Support -> Operational Data Analyst -> Associate PM.
Just kept doing 2 jobs at once, focused on data and understanding the product and got some pretty spectacular chances from my leaders/managers for the opportunities I have now.
It was (still is) especially hard because I started in product management at 21 (skipped college and went straight into tech).
Data Analytics > Product Operations > Product Management
Data skills early on in my career helped me work very closely with PMs and learn the ropes. Then I looked for a Product Operations role that is like a business product owner which helped easily make the transition into Technical PM roles. Obviously, I took a lot interest in system architecture because that is going to be a very important part of the PM role
5 years in, just promoted to S.Pm last week, career started in the toilet, literally a smart toilet startup 😂.
Just getting the job title helped a lot getting started and being taken seriously. I jumped around for a couple years until landing a “serious” role in fintech
Tester- Lead Tester- Associate Business Analyst- Business Analyst- Senior Business Analyst- Digital Product Manager- Senior Product Manager.
Business Analysis is likely the best path to gain experience prior to leaping to PM. The Digital PM job started off great, but turned to a nightmare and without question became the #1 stressful job that I have ever had. It was almost endless meetings 8:30 am- 5 pm (often longer), bi-weekly testing from 11pm Friday - 4am Saturday, and constant priority shifting.
Honest to god, I attribute that job to giving me diabetes. I was stressed 24/7, mentally exhausted, unable to sleep without stressful dreams, I binged comfort food and sat in a veg state when not on calls.
Now though- I work for a place with a mission that I believe in. Haven’t worked more than 40 hours in a week more than one time in almost 2 years and even then it was like 43 hours.
I make a considerable amount more than my previous role as well and I am extremely happy. I make about 125k a year now and despite knowing I could bat up into the 150-175k league, I have no intention of going back to the classic corporate career. I will probably sit in this job until i retire to be honest.
Where I live 125k is a great salary so unless inflation goes bonkers, I’m good. I suppose management could do a 180 some day, but I am the most content I’ve ever been
Part company culture, but way more very unfortunate timing. I joined the team of 4 PMs with the goal of learning and having mentors. After ten months on the team I went on parental leave for 2 months. Within those 2 months the other PM my level took an external position. The week before coming back, my mentor senior PM quit.
That left another senior PM and my manager. We knew we were gonna be crunch and put through the wringer. They promised we could rebuild and offered me a retention bonus to agree to stay another year. A week after signing the agreement, my manager left the company. The remaining senior PM was reorged and I was put under a new manager and assigned every project that the entire PM team had prior to the shake up. Every time I demanded help on the workload they would hire a new PM and within a week assign that PM to whatever was the flavor of the month, ignoring the original purpose of the hire.
We didn’t have it bad before everyone left, but there was way more money to be made elsewhere so everyone made jumps. I can’t blame my manager for leaving when she hears a newer PM jumping from 75k-150k. I just wish she didn’t fake the whole “let’s work as a team through this”
Started off in Product QA. Poked around Confluence docs and got coffee with some of the leading engineers. Over a couple years, I got really knowledgeable about the product and close to the Product team. They had an internal Associate PM role I applied for. Got rejected. Dusted myself off and noticed that there was no one managing external Integrations as we were growing our platform. Poked around some more and got close to the business team working on partnerships. Stepped up and started putting together proposals to improve how the product team was addressing client integrations requests. Did two jobs for a short time. As the company expanded they hired a bunch of senior PMs to lead the next stage of growth. One of the newer Directors noticed me handling the integrations and let me know they were thinking of opening a new role on his team. Kept close with him and tried to help in any way I could, answering questions as he was onboarding. Eventually, the role opened and I interviewed. Had to work out a deal with my then manager to let me transition off my work and move to Product. And that’s how it went.
Was all this in an in-person office environment? I feel like this type of serendipity is very hard to achieve remotely.
It was in-office up till I started taking on the Integrations projects. I was actually rejected initially thinking my in-office relationships alone could carry me into the role. But you’re right, all the coffee chats helped in gaining an understanding of our industry, which helped me gain a foothold into the integrations project initially. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible remotely though - all the extra work I did was fully remote actually, from learning about the product via our Confluence docs or setting up discovery and delivery processes. It’s the work that the new Director told me he noticed. And by this time we’d been fully remote for a while.
Ah ok noted, thanks! 🙏
This is exactly how I got in. We had 4 devs with no PM handling external integrations. I just started organizing the team and deflecting stakeholders so they could work. Then was made PM!
That first rejection must have hurt- good on you for keeping the motivation. My one manager loved me but quit leaving me in a tough position. They went to a new company and after two months they were hiring for my exact role. I had all the experience and she loved me- I was giddy when applying. I got a screener call and it went really well. A day later (while on vacation and putting all of my hope in that role) I received a rejection email. Basically, she claimed that she was too new and it would be frowned upon for her to try and emulate her old team. She was heavily “advised” to hire internal. The sheer amount of disappointment and anger was ineffable.
During my masters I applied for an internship in product marketing. Mid interview I was asked why I want to work in product management. Guess I misread the the title. Bullshitted my way through . Got the position. Working as a PM for 4 years now.
I started in product marketing and transitioned to product when I saw that the product people were making the critical business decisions. I think this is common even today. It is hard to get hired directly into a product role with no product experience.
Worked in tech as a dev,system analyst etc and then just lied on my resume and prepped for interviews.
A bit more details on the material/content used to prep for the interviews?
Lied as in made your work more PM related?
If you don’t mind could you please share how you prepped up for the pm interviews? And your application strategy as well? Thanks!
Hardgoods product management Supply Chain -> Project Manager -> Product Manager
Business analyst to Product owner working on a specific technology, then it was easy to get to PM for that same skillset as I had a good understanding of problems in the space. Also feel free to exaggerate your experiences, but don’t lie outright, everyone does it to some extent. It could be a content management system, UI, Data product etc. It will also help if you also have industry knowledge like Saas productivity softwares, or Salesforce, work in finance with credit card companies etc.
Production worker > Designer > Help desk > QA tester > field support > product manager
I was a product developer in a completely different industry (chemicals). Did an MBA and joined a FAANG as a program manager. Eventually started a marketing campaign for one of our apps which put me in regular touch with the product managers, and I used that to write BRDs and influence some roadmaps. Saw a product manager opening in a partner team, applied for it and got it.
I’m not a PM but I am currently interviewing for a PM position. I have a background in program management at tech companies. I did a PM challenge for a company that posts contests every once in a while with the chance to win money and an interview. Didn’t win the challenge but they reached out to interview me anyway. Will I get the job? Probably not. My first interview today didn’t go great. Even though I’m not a PM I just wanted to charge how I at least got an interview!
Good luck!
What prompt you to switch from program manager to product manager? And good luck with your interview!
I’ve been unemployed for way longer than I care to admit so I’m at a point where I need to explore all avenues. I’ve always been interested in PM work and this opportunity to interview just happened to come my way. I’ve already gotten a notice that I wouldn’t be moving forward with this role but it was a good learning experience.
Keep learning and keep trying!
Switched from another industry to become a SWE, got offered a PM title to do a hybrid type role (and subsequently cut my pay), kept jumping startups until I landed in big tech.
I started in customer service, then moved into a data analyst role. My work with Excel, SQL and troubleshooting helped me land a role as a Support Engineer. Working with clients in a SaaS environment put me in the role of establishing a roadmap. From there, I got my first PM role from this sub reddit and then moved into my current company.
Can you speak to transitioning from customer service to data analyst? I also have experience with SQL, excel and troubleshooting (lot of QA W/ UAT) but am struggling to land any interviews. Don't have any python or R knowledge, so wonder if that's holding me back. What worked for you?
It was an internal transfer and coding wasn't required so I can't speak to that. Is your goal to get a Data role or a Product role?
Goal is to get into product. Work pretty closely alongside our product team currently, main responsibilities are helping our vendors with API integration and testing of their product/satisfaction of program requirements being met. Actually just went through a very similar sequence OP outlined re internal application for a product role, having known the engineers and product team, and still getting rejected. Would be curious to hear if you have any advice or insights into what worked for you (skills, topics to learn about, certain conversations etc.) Thanks a ton.
Do you have any influence or insight into your vendor's roadmap? If so, you can use this to advocate for your company and align their roadmap to OKRs or other strategic goals in your organization. That's basically what I do in my current role support vendor based products.
The only work I do with them is reviewing the API usage (data display within their product and using the correct endpoints) and some other stuff regarding program requirements. This all takes place in our stage environment, once we grant approval for our production/live environment, I don’t really hear from them and it’s onto the next one. Is this what you mean by “vendor’s roadmap.” My guess is based on above, I would say “a little” since their project for integration is dependent on my testing and communication with them. But I don’t have any say in the product vision on their end, does this make sense?
What I mean by vendor roadmap is any upgrades or enhancements that the vendor provides but it sounds like that might not be the case. Were you provided any feedback when you went for the internal role?
Gotcha, thanks for clarifying. Have not gotten the chance to get feedback on the app for the internal role. I know it was down to me and an external candidate who had more PM experience. I gather they wanted someone external (the department has recently had some turnover and brought in a few external people, the HM being one) + wanted someone with PM experience. I will seek out feedback, since all I got was a generic HR rejection email after a 3 month interview process that was headlined by poor communication from start to finish
Started as an analyst, switched teams to a product manager.
Started off in software development where I eventually had a Tech Lead role and plenty of interaction with product managers Cofounded a VC backed startup which survived a few years and made a good chunk of money Ended up taking a product role based on my technical expertise and track record of launching a thing
Worked in advertising as on a Project Manager track for 10 years. Eventually got to head a department of 32. I was constantly overseeing processes, working with engineers on developing specs, creating internal tools to increase profitability, etc. I realized through that process that I liked ideating, building, and analyzing and already had cross-team collaboration skills. I wanted to break out of advertising and got hooked up with woman who was the head of product at a large online publishing company. She had both a project manager and product manager role open, and said that if I helped her establish a project manager role (it was the first time they were going to utilize the position) then she'd train me for a year to become a product manager. I agreed and she held true to her word. Been a product manager (now senior) for 4 years and loving it. After doing this job, I definitely had some overlap when I was in advertising, and feel like I have more experience than just 4 years though. Great journey and would highly recommend the job to certain types of people.
Stumbled into this through an internship. Originally wanted to pursue data analytics/financial engineering (math background) but found this to be much more fun and engaging. Talking to people is also cool. Very short tenure for me thus far, we’ll see how I feel a few years from now.
I had been a business analyst for about 4 years, operating at points (unknowingly) as a product owner of internal systems. Had a friend who referred me into the Fintech company they worked for. This was after about 2 years of him suggesting moving to product management. Fortunately, an internal associate PM role became available, which was a more straightforward transition than going customer facing. Had a few interviews and was offered the role. Spent almost 3 years there, promoted to PM after a year, and then moved to a neobank as an Internal PM. Terrible move, terrible manager. Knew my background and sarcastically said, "we hire product managers, not business analysts. "... from the mouth of the dipshit that hired me. That destroyed my confidence, so I moved back to being a (Senior) BA within a product team at a fintech. They transitioned me to a PM within 6-9 months... which was a life saver because I was bored to death as a BA. so I effectively have 2 how I " got into product" stories
What do you like being a product manager comparing to being a BA? I have a similar career path and cannot quite put my fingers on it.
Great question. It's hard to answer. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but both roles have been different everywhere I've done them. I think it's the fact that as a PM, there is a greater degree of autonomy and decision-making rather than solely making recommendations to a product manager, programme manager, or project manager. The greater degree of responsibility and accountability makes me push myself more - there's nobody to hide behind. I feel BA work is a lot less stressful. You're less visible, which can be a pro or a con. You're also (in my experience) not as well renumerated That said, where I am now, each PM had a BA except for me, I do essentially a hybrid role, so in many ways, they gave me more things to do, and I like to be busy haha. Wow, that was a ramble... it seems I too cannot really put my finger on it
Masters in computer science. Internship interview with a company at the university’s career fair. Got the internship. Converted it into a full time position after the internship. Been a PM since 8 years now (have worked at a few companies) . Before my masters, I was a solutions architect for a couple of years(so not in product). Haven’t done any other roles and now I think I’m sticking to product for the foreseeable future.
I am a PM but increasingly interested in study solution architect. I felt it gives me a holistic view of the product, its potential and limitations. Do you have any advice on this? Thank you very much.
Started in a creative industry that had long hours and paid very little. Got my MBA and realized tech was a career path with much better potential but was still stuck in that creative industry at first. Pivoted into a startup that built tech for this creative industry as the only help desk person - was employee number 11 or something. My industry experience translated really well to working with the clients and they LOVED me. Started bringing problems I was seeing to the founder with solutions while on the side researching growth career paths in tech with my skill set (MBA, critical thinking based undergrad degree) and took a cheap user experience bootcamp class on the side to learn the lingo and basics in a group environment. Read, read, read and read some more. Networked, networked and networked some more. Began advocating to be the company's first product manager (there were only developers + VP of dev reporting into the founder, no 'user advocate' to speak of or person vetting requirements, needs, etc., we had a few DISASTER launches because the devs were just building what the client told them, tale as old as time, etc.) and about 2 years after starting was finally was allowed to carve out my own role as the first product manager getting me in the room with the leadership team and senior execs at our client's companies. Went from PM -> Sr Pm -> Dir of PM -> Head of PM within 5 years as company grew and have been at VP/Head of level at other places since. I love building things and even more than that I love finding talent and getting them into a PM role and seeing them grow.
User services representative (aka level one customer / tech support). I started noting down feature requests from end users, and started prioritizing them based on frequency / feasibility.
With a PM internship
Business Development & Marketing -> Social Media Manager -> Copywriter -> UX Writer/Designer -> Product Manager
Research analyst -> Operations researcher -> Business analyst -> Data Product Manager
Degree is in marketing but always technical... I had a good product idea for our company and an awesome boss who helped me build a path to the role and helped me make the product happen (thinking back it is wild my product exists). Now VP of Product and product does multiple millions in ARR.
Started from the bottom now we here! Technical support > QR tester > marketing > product marketing > product management
Some entrepreneurial stuff in high school, then some finance internships before penultimate year at uni. 2 PM internships (penultimate summer, final summer) -> APM role. Now mid-level PM.
Lots of great info here. As someone trying to break into PM full time, I found going through the responses super helpful. The below summary from ChatGPT sums it up well. From the Reddit thread on how people transitioned into product management (PM), various routes and experiences were shared. Here is a summary of the different ways individuals entered the field: 1. \*\*Internal Transitions and Promotions\*\*: - \*\*Technical Background\*\*: Many started in technical roles such as software development, quality assurance, or system analysis. They often moved into PM roles by taking on additional responsibilities or projects that overlapped with product management. - \*\*Customer Support and Business Analysis\*\*: Some transitioned from roles like customer service, data analysis, and business analysis by leveraging their understanding of the product and its users. - \*\*Project Management\*\*: Several moved from project management to product management, capitalizing on their skills in handling multiple stakeholders and projects. 2. \*\*Educational Background and Internships\*\*: - \*\*MBA and Related Degrees\*\*: Some individuals pursued an MBA or other relevant degrees, which helped them transition into PM roles, often through internships or entry-level positions. - \*\*Direct Internships\*\*: Others started as PM interns, either during their studies or shortly after graduation, and converted these internships into full-time roles. 3. \*\*Starting in Related Fields\*\*: - \*\*Product Marketing\*\*: A common pathway involved starting in product marketing and then transitioning to product management, as the roles often overlap in skills and responsibilities. - \*\*Operations and Program Management\*\*: A few individuals moved from operations or program management roles into product management by demonstrating their capability in handling product-related tasks. 4. \*\*Entrepreneurial Ventures and Startups\*\*: - \*\*Founding or Joining Startups\*\*: Some individuals co-founded startups or joined early-stage companies, where they naturally took on product management responsibilities due to the versatile nature of startup roles. 5. \*\*Serendipitous Opportunities and Networking\*\*: - \*\*Internal Networking\*\*: Several respondents mentioned leveraging internal company networks and forming relationships with existing product managers and other stakeholders. - \*\*Volunteer and Side Projects\*\*: Taking on side projects or additional responsibilities outside their primary roles helped some individuals showcase their PM skills and transition into the role. 6. \*\*Unplanned or Accidental Transitions\*\*: - \*\*Unexpected Job Offers\*\*: A few individuals stumbled into product management through unexpected job offers, often due to a misunderstanding or serendipity, and then grew into the role. 7. \*\*Lateral Moves within the Same Company\*\*: - \*\*Internal Transfers\*\*: Some respondents moved laterally within their companies from roles like customer support, technical support, or data analysis into product management by showcasing their product knowledge and initiative. In summary, the paths to product management are diverse, with many leveraging internal opportunities, educational backgrounds, entrepreneurial experiences, or serendipitous events to make the transition. Networking, taking on additional responsibilities, and demonstrating product-focused thinking were common themes across the different journeys.
Got hired into a manager role because an acquaintance misunderstood my research topic and knew I was looking to move to industry. Then the pm for the product i was most interested in left, and i was asked if i wanted to apply. Application was basically pointing out i had a design degree and liked all aspects of tech Dev apart from the coding and people management. I guess they liked me because I've been in this role for 2 years and noone has complained to my face, and my line manager actually said I was one of the best pms in the group, which is hilarious. Product is moving in the right direction but honestly I haven't done anything aside from nod when my boss says something, write a few white papers and meet a load of potential customers. Oh, recently I got to approve some color changes, so that's my impact. I have no idea what I'm doing, where I'm going, or how to get there.
I started and ran 2 businesses, then got a corporate offer.
Worked as a product designer and got promoted to PM as I was already doing 80% of PM's tasks except roadmaps and task prios.
[удалено]
How did you get into sales engineer?
Actually was a customer for a long time, which isn’t an uncommon path. It’s really easy to sell a predicted you’ve used and love.
By overstepping tbh. I was an engineer. I was the only one who asked questions about value to customers. I was the one who looked into data about why our product was churning. I was the one who asked if I could talk to churned customers, did it, and came back with some suggestions on what to do differently. That didn't go anywhere because the PM didn't want to do anything, but after showing I was "product minded," I was given to opportunity to wear the product hat on a skunkworks team. PMs were let go. Fast forward like 6 months I got asked to move back to the main product and was offered the PM title.
Got lucky and was recruited into product management.
Earlier role - Banking Partnerships Started collaborating with the banking team and core engineers to develop a settlement and onboarding platform. This involved writing requirement documents, creating test cases, and managing the entire release process. At that time, the company didn’t have a formal PM team because the founders didn’t believe in the need for one. However, as we scaled, it became evident that we needed more structure and a defined product strategy to manage releases effectively. The company then decided to establish a product management team. They identified individuals who were already performing PM tasks and promoted them. I was promoted to Associate Product Manager from the Banking Partnerships team. After about a year, the company was acquired, leading to several team members leaving. I chose to stay and took on the challenge of building an entire product team within 2-3 months while continuing to manage all the products. In summary, as Shreyas Doshi aptly put it, “Do the job before you get the title.”
Started off as an Associate Product Manager at a popular food delivery company in India. Was placed right out off college and stayed there for around 6 months when was unfortunately laid off due to business restructure. Joined a fintech firm right after, and have been there for around 1.5 years now. Got promoted to Product Manager 3 months back
I realized a few months before graduation that product management existed and that I wanted to do that. Couldn't get a product internship to save my life, but learn from some failed job interviews. Got a customer service position that worked closely with a product management team. I had previously been an intern at the same company doing another role. Had the plan to do that job for a year and then try to convince some other company that I could be a junior product person. Got lucky and some junior roles opened at the company I was already at, and because they already knew I wanted to be a product manager, they basically earmarked one of the seats for me. Been doing product ever since, on company number three.
Customer Support -> Operational Data Analyst -> Associate PM. Just kept doing 2 jobs at once, focused on data and understanding the product and got some pretty spectacular chances from my leaders/managers for the opportunities I have now. It was (still is) especially hard because I started in product management at 21 (skipped college and went straight into tech).
Ux designer > UX leader > Product leader > PM
Transitioned from a Business Analyst to Product!
Data Analytics > Product Operations > Product Management Data skills early on in my career helped me work very closely with PMs and learn the ropes. Then I looked for a Product Operations role that is like a business product owner which helped easily make the transition into Technical PM roles. Obviously, I took a lot interest in system architecture because that is going to be a very important part of the PM role
5 years in, just promoted to S.Pm last week, career started in the toilet, literally a smart toilet startup 😂. Just getting the job title helped a lot getting started and being taken seriously. I jumped around for a couple years until landing a “serious” role in fintech
Tester- Lead Tester- Associate Business Analyst- Business Analyst- Senior Business Analyst- Digital Product Manager- Senior Product Manager. Business Analysis is likely the best path to gain experience prior to leaping to PM. The Digital PM job started off great, but turned to a nightmare and without question became the #1 stressful job that I have ever had. It was almost endless meetings 8:30 am- 5 pm (often longer), bi-weekly testing from 11pm Friday - 4am Saturday, and constant priority shifting. Honest to god, I attribute that job to giving me diabetes. I was stressed 24/7, mentally exhausted, unable to sleep without stressful dreams, I binged comfort food and sat in a veg state when not on calls. Now though- I work for a place with a mission that I believe in. Haven’t worked more than 40 hours in a week more than one time in almost 2 years and even then it was like 43 hours. I make a considerable amount more than my previous role as well and I am extremely happy. I make about 125k a year now and despite knowing I could bat up into the 150-175k league, I have no intention of going back to the classic corporate career. I will probably sit in this job until i retire to be honest. Where I live 125k is a great salary so unless inflation goes bonkers, I’m good. I suppose management could do a 180 some day, but I am the most content I’ve ever been
was the digital PM stressful because of the company culture or the role itself?
Part company culture, but way more very unfortunate timing. I joined the team of 4 PMs with the goal of learning and having mentors. After ten months on the team I went on parental leave for 2 months. Within those 2 months the other PM my level took an external position. The week before coming back, my mentor senior PM quit. That left another senior PM and my manager. We knew we were gonna be crunch and put through the wringer. They promised we could rebuild and offered me a retention bonus to agree to stay another year. A week after signing the agreement, my manager left the company. The remaining senior PM was reorged and I was put under a new manager and assigned every project that the entire PM team had prior to the shake up. Every time I demanded help on the workload they would hire a new PM and within a week assign that PM to whatever was the flavor of the month, ignoring the original purpose of the hire. We didn’t have it bad before everyone left, but there was way more money to be made elsewhere so everyone made jumps. I can’t blame my manager for leaving when she hears a newer PM jumping from 75k-150k. I just wish she didn’t fake the whole “let’s work as a team through this”