It’s a classic puzzle. You want to be a product manager, but just about every product management job posting is looking for product management experience. How can you get one without the other? Fear not, others have figured it out and have shared their insights and experiences to help you become the product person you’ve always wanted to be.
What is a product manager and how do you become one? As a product manager, you need to balance two considerations when making product decisions. You have to weigh the likelihood of maximizing customer value while generating sufficient business impact. At the same time, you need to distribute information and keep everyone focused on the desired outcome. With all of those responsibilities in mind, Scott Judson explains how you can use the example of Mark Watney in the Martian to learn how to become a product manager.
(via @scotthjudson)
The beginner’s guide to getting into product management—fast. Have you just learned about product management and are wondering, “Could that field be right for me?” Or, have you been thinking about product management for a while and still aren’t sure exactly what it would entail? While most product managers are more than happy to talk to someone interested in the field to help get a better sense of the job, there are things that you can do on your own first to answer some of your questions. Sarah Sprague describes the three things to do to pursue a product management career.
(via @TheMuse)
A practical guide to getting started in product management. The requests that Desiree Craig receives for information about product management fall into two broad groups. One group is those who would like to start their overall career as product managers. The second group is people who would like to transition into product management from another profession. Both groups tend to ask some variation of the same question: “I’m interested in Product Management; how do I get started?” Desiree provides 6 tips to help you get started in product management with some specific thoughts for people in each group.
(via @raydaizy)
How Melanie Lei got started in product management. When Melanie Lei was an account manager at an Edtech startup, she wanted to move into product management. Unfortunately, she kept running into the chicken-and-egg problem that in order to get a product manager job you need to have been a product manager before. After a few years of work and research, she was able to transition into product management. Melanie shared the story of how she moved into product management without being one first in the hopes that you can find some helpful ideas for your own journey.
(via @freeCodeCamp)
12 Things every product manager should do in their first 30 days at a new company. If you have just started a new job, congratulations! Whether this is your first gig as a product person or a seasoned product manager, your first few weeks at a new company can be both exciting and quite hectic. Annie Dunham provides 12 pieces of advice on what you should do in the first 30 days to make the most of these early weeks and set yourself (and your new product) up for success.
(via @productplan)
