“I think I want to be a PM.”
—all of us, at some point
There’s a lightbulb moment that happens. You hear the magical words product management and a switch goes off in your brain. You see the venn diagram with three interlocking circles and decide you want to be at the exact center of it—tech, business, design.
Here are two truths and a lie I wish I knew before I started:
truth | practice, practice, practice
That quote about fortune favors the prepared? It’s true. There’s a lot of luck involved in the process, but luck only works in your favor if you’re prepared too.
A wealth of resources is out there on a/pm recruiting: find them and use them!
Interviews are all about skillful improvisation. In the span of minutes, you need to quickly and articulately conjure up a methodical structure and creative insights. These aren’t just platitudes. The only way to get better is to practice. Read the books and blogposts; study the concepts and take notes; run-through practice questions and mock interviews. Repeat.
Repeat until you feel readily familiar with any curveballs that might get thrown your way, but be careful to not go overboard and burn out. The sooner you are comfortable with the format and nature of the interview questions, the sooner you can focus on highlighting your unique strengths and experiences in your responses. The more you understand about the role of a product manager, the more you will think/act/talk like one. The genuinely fun part about most pm interviews is that there are no conventionally “right” answers, but there is a defined process to get you to an answer. Embrace the hypothetical scenarios and trust your product sense.
truth | there are other ways
Unfortunately, there are only so many roles for so many eager students and new grads vying for the same few positions. Remember: this is a difficult role to break into no matter what career stage you’re in. Getting an internship/new grad role in an APM program is not, and will never be, your only pathway into product. If you’ve spoken with other, more senior PMs, a majority “ended up” in product from: (1) working at a startup and wearing a lot of hats; (2) transitioning laterally from another role at a company.
Have a backup plan. If product is the thing you want to do, absolutely go for it. If you are feeling anxious about the numbers game, however, it also makes sense to consider other options as well.
Recruit for adjacent functions within tech such as engineering, data science, biz ops, growth, strategy, etc. Consider other industries such as consulting or finance and pivot later in your career. Work on projects that will enable you to demonstrate product-related experience so you are acting as a PM even before you formally have the title. An important caveat: if you do recruit in parallel, focus your efforts on where it matters most and methodically prioritize to avoid burnout.
Everyone has a unique origin story into product; what’s yours?
lie | it won’t be this hard
The truth is, it will be hard. Some days will be harder than others. You will face a lot of rejection. You will compare yourself to others. You will doubt yourself.
The nature of any hyper-competitive endeavor is that everyone else makes it look effortless and easy. It’s okay if you’re struggling and feeling overwhelmed or distressed. Even if they don’t openly acknowledge it, nearly everyone goes through these tumultuous feelings. Acknowledge those feelings and talk about them; then, work on keeping yourself in balance.
First and foremost, take care of yourself. Be candidly honest and check-in with yourself during recruiting. It can be an exhausting process and all the prep, interviews, and rejections can take a steep toll on your mental health. Make your mental health a priority and you will be so much happier and fulfilled after the storm of recruiting passes.
It will work out (really, it will). It might not seem like it now or even a few months from now, but eventually it will. You got this.
🌟 say hello if you ever want to chat!