Open Question: How did you get your first Product Management or Product Marketing position?
Hi,
Yesterday, I asked readers, what they’d like to read about on the blog. We still want your input on that topic. Click ===>> HERE <<=== to jump to the survey to give your input.
And as proof that we’re listening, this blog post was inspired by one of the responses that came in.
The person wants to become a PM and wants to hear how current PMs got to where they are today. Great question.
First of all, let me point to a couple of previous Open Questions that relate to this topic.
- What prior job(s) best prepared you for Product Management
- One thing you wish you had known when you became a Product Manager
My Answer
So, how did I get my first Product Management job?
I had the same dilemma as everyone else who wants to get into Product Management.
How do you prove to the hiring manager that you can do the job, even though “technically” you don’t have any Product Management experience?
I put “technically” in quotes, because that’s the key IMHO. You have prior experience; you have to show that it is relevant to them and their hiring decision.
I remember my interview very well. It was with the President of a 100 person software company and I had to answer that same question.
My answer to him, was “Although I’ve never held the role of Product Manager, I’ve done many of the things that Product Managers must do.”
At the time, I was working in a software company that created a data visualization (i.e. advanced 3D charting) framework and object-oriented class library for 3rd party developers. My role in that company covered technical support, training and documentation.
The new company was focused on developer productivity tools and one of the products was a charting toolkit.
i.e. I had domain experience that was relevant to the hiring company and while I was not as technical as a developer, I clearly was technical enough to have meaningful conversations with the engineering team.
Keep in mind that this company created developer productivity tools, so that developer mindset was critical.
Beyond the domain knowledge, I had run my own business previously, and I stressed that aspect. i.e. I’m not just a (somewhat) technical person, but I understand business and I made the link that Product Managers need to blend the technology and the business in their role.
I also remember conversations about my style of decision making. I talked about the importance of consensus but that sometimes you have to put your foot down and make the hard decisions. The focus on consensus was key, as I found out later that the President was a big proponent of consensus.
Hiring managers want to know that you can work across teams and that you’re not just going to make arbitrary decisions and impose them others. Companies cannot work that way.
Finally they gave me a writing test, which was a bit of a surprise to me. They wanted to understand my communication skills and also see if I could write copy for data sheets etc. I think I did OK on that. 
So that was it. In short, prove to the hiring manager or company that you understand what Product Management is, that your previous experience is relevant to them, that you know how to work with people, can fit in well and can communicate clearly. [If it was only that easy right?]
I’m sure there were other factors, but those are what I recall after all these years.
Now let’s hear your stories
So, what about you? Help those who want to enter the profession. How did you get your first Product Management or Product Marketing position?
Saeed
Related posts:
- Open Question: Your current biggest challenge in Product Management/Marketing?
- Open Question: Product Management Challenges at a Startup
- Open Question: Why doesn’t Engineering report to Product Management?
- Open Question: What prior job(s) best prepared you for Product Management?
- Open Question: Why did you become a Product Manager?
Open Question: How did you get your first #prodmgmt or #prodmktg job? http://wp.me/pXBON-1Ud
Share your story. Read mine. How did you get into #prodmgmt or #prodmktg? http://wp.me/pXBON-1Ud
@onpm Thanks for answering my Q, Saeed! http://bit.ly/gitRWM
Well, it is a bit convoluted. I began life in Tech as a process engineer at a wafer fabrication facility in Silicon Valley. I split my time in the plating and etch area, and the chemistry lab. Being that I have a degree in Physics, I love science, and I was in hog heaven playing with really cool analytical equipment. I often was responsible for the intake, setup, recipe development and training of other users in the lab/fab.
For there, I was at a company doing a source acceptance on a piece of equipment (a confocal microscope) and remarked to their engineer that I knew more about how the equipment worked than they. They practically spluttered, as they had been trying to open a dialog to recruit me.
I became an applications engineer, flying all over the world to help qualify systems at customer sites, and get them setup for success. Here is where I learned to listen to customer input and truly understand the business needs they had purchased equipment. Unfortunately, it was a really small, engineering driven company, and I was unsuccessful in getting their engineers to pay attention to the information that I obtained from the customers directly.
One day out of the blue, a recruiter called me turns out one of my customers pointed them at me) for a “Product Marketing Manager” position, and the rest is history.
Getting the job required:
1) being smart. Having a degree in physics meant that I could talk electron optics (the product was an electron microscope)
2) business knowledge – it was focused on the photolithography market, and I have been living and breathing it for 5 – 6 years
3) great communications skills. Verbal and written. I was asked to provide a writing sample (I used a redacted MRD for a major SW evolution project I had worked on).
The rest is history, about 13 years and counting now.
Geoff
Geoff
Your summary at the end sounds somewhat similar to my own experience. Thanks for the details.
I ended up in Product Marketing via a slightly odd route.
Step 1: joined a growing start-up as a techie (despite having an Arts degree)
Step 2: fell into maintaining the website
Step 3: dotcom bubble bursts, 75% of company made redundant, including whole marketing department
Step 4: took on creating the product marketing content as well as IT, tech presales, sysadmin, reception…
Step 5: company hires people again, I drop everything apart from the product marketing
Step 6: joined another company as a product manager
Follow these six easy steps and you too can become a product manager!
Jock
Jock,
I like your 6 easy steps. Thanks for your story.
Slightly more seriously, I found that product management was one of the few roles that offered me the blend of commercial, technical, marketing, analytics, creativity and customer interaction that I was looking for. It’s a bit like running one’s own business without necessarily the same level of risk.
Jock, It appears that I am late to this conversation.
I very much agree with your findings. I ran my own tech consulting firm for several years then moved from PM to PMM. Great experiences all. I do not know of any other career that offers the variety and customer interaction as you describe. It is running a business, but only if you keep customers’ needs clearly front and center.
My “excompany” wanted me back so we had to invent a completely new position. And we invented the Product Manager position which we didn’t have before but badly needed. And I took it
Martin
What were they doing before you invented the position? i.e. how were they making product decisions?
Anyone else want to share how you got our first #prodmgmt or #prodmktg job? http://wp.me/pXBON-1Ud
posted my story on Open Question: How did you get your first Product Management position? ##prodmgmt http://bit.ly/hOhr02
RT @onpm: Share your story. Read mine. How did you get into #prodmgmt or #prodmktg? http://wp.me/pXBON-1Ud