How to get into product management with ‘the wrong’ background.
Strategies for switching into a product management role when you don’t fit the cookie cutter qualifications.
Getting into product when you’ve already started your career
Product management requires, above anything else, good judgment. People who have that quality exist everywhere. Getting a computer science degree or starting in an associate product management role right out of college is not a prerequisite for good judgement. It shouldn’t be a prerequisite for product management jobs either.
Recently, a connection reached out to me. He is a few years out of school and interested in getting into product. He doesn’t have a technical background and currently works in a different domain. He’s been applying for positions for months and has found it nearly impossible to get an interview. This is not an uncommon situation. More than many other roles, PM positions tend to have stringent qualifications for desired applicants. Because of that, transitioning from any other job can be pretty tricky.
But, if one is systemic and patient in their search, making a successful switch is very achievable. I realized this only as my friend and I talked through strategies he might try. I thought some of what we talked about might be useful to others, so I wrote down the key ideas here.
The problem
The friend I talked to is named John. John graduated college last year and has been working as bioengineer at a respected company. He’s become passionate about technology and wants to make a career switch. He started to look for jobs and has run into a few issues.
Almost all PM jobs require 3+ years of experience building products. John doesn’t have that. John learned that a handful of big companies have associate product management (APM) programs. These programs are made for grads with no experience. But, most are looking for students who graduated this year. On top of that, they are very selective and strongly prefer students from a prestigious school and who have a computer science degree. John doesn’t fit that profile on either measure.
From what I’ve seen, John’s situation is pretty common. There are many people who graduated and were introduced to product management afterward. They spent a few years in another job, maybe as an analyst or consultant. They are interested, but wonder if it is too late to make a change. How do these people get into product?
Strategies to switch into product management.
- Associate Product Management (APM) programs.
There are a handful of APM programs that do not have strict graduation year requirements. Facebook’s, for example, encourages applicants who have been working for a few years already. I applaud them for this, because innovation requires diverse ways of thinking. Ultimately, that requires diverse backgrounds. APM programs are extremely competitive. But, if you plan ahead, put in the work to get the right things you need on your resume, getting an interview is doable. I’ll touch on the work you need to do in order to be competitive at the end of this article. Notable APM programs include Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Uber, Twitter, and Capital One.
2. Just apply.
Chances are, whoever does land that job won’t have the right qualifications either. That being said, there is an additional element of complexity due to the fact that many companies don’t hire entry level product roles. 3+ years of experience is the minimum. You can get around this. While you might not have product experience, you can apply to companies where your knowledge is valued and a recruiter might just overlook that requirement. If you studied mechanical or electrical engineering, try applying for PM roles at hardware companies, like Nest. If you were an analyst, try applying to companies that build a product for analysts, like Tableau. If you are a consultant, you might apply to a product position at Deloitte, who will understand and value your background.
3. Get an adjacent role at a big company (maybe your current company) that builds products. Then work your way there.
Many companies have great internal mobility once you have a foot in the door. If you do your research, you should be able to sort these companies out. Maybe you already work at one. If so, try everything you can to make the switch internally. Be transparent about what you want and talk to as many people as you can.
Many great PM’s that I have met used this strategy unintentionally. Here’s a few examples of career paths that start in a related role and work their way to product.
Marketing Associate-> Product Marketing Manager-> Product Manager
Analyst -> Product Analyst -> Product Manager
Technology Consultant -> Product Consultant -> Product Manager
I have even met great PM’s who started out answering phones in call centers. If you find a company with mobility, you can eventually get where you want. The advantage to this strategy is that it will be easier to use your background as leverage. What the first role is doesn’t matter so much, as long as it is respected at the company you are going to. So John the bioengineer might apply to work as an analyst where his quantitative background will get him in the door. But having done so at a company with good internal mobility, he is able to become a product analyst. Eventually, he takes up product work on the side, and makes the switch full time.
4. Work at a startup.
Working at a startup will often allow you to touch just about everything that is going on. It might be crazy and require extra work, but if you are determined, you can almost certainly learn a lot about product management. You have to make sure you find the right startup and the right position, but if you express your interest during interviews, that shouldn’t be a problem. If you find a startup that will allow you to work horizontally in a role like operations or sales, this can be a great opportunity. Maybe you end up in product there, or, after getting some experience and building your resume, you can revisit options 1, 2, and 3.
Getting an interview
How do you increase the chances of getting an interview, regardless of where you apply? There are a number of ways to do that. All of them take time and effort, but will give your application a significant boost.
Get a reference.
A reference makes a huge difference. If you know anyone at a company you might be interested in, leverage that. Don’t know anyone? You can still get a reference.
I once met a guy named Brett on a flight to SF. He was going to interview with Google, which I had recently done (and failed). So, we got to talking. Brett was 30, had been in finance, and eventually got into product at the bank he worked at. He wanted to make the switch to a tech company and had a handful of great interviews lined up. I asked how he had got to that point. He told me that he had simply looked through Linkedin and tried to find someone at each company who he had anything in common with. School, major, hometown, whatever. People want to help others who they relate to. They want to think what they did was good. Therefore, if you also did that thing, you are worth talking to. He cold messaged them. Talked generally about the company, then asked if they would mind referring him. He said this works 8 out of 10 times. Remember, most professionals get a healthy bonus for anyone they refer.
The point of this story is not that you should harass people you have never met on Linkedin. I don’t think I would do this. But, rather, that you can think outside of the box and that more people than you think would be happy to refer you.
Create a personal website.
Having a personal site, even if it has almost nothing on it, is important. If you don’t already have one, I would direct your focus to getting this done first. You don’t even need to know how to code. Webflow will allow you to make a stunning website in a day. And here is a great template that will allow you to make a personal site in a few hours using Notion. When in doubt, make it as simple as possible. Just your name, contact info, and maybe a few pieces of work. A personal website signals to the tech world “hey, I am in this group too.”
Write and publish a few things online.
Having a few things online to show how you think can really boost your application. Include a link in the cover letter or, better yet, put them on your website. Write about anything. How hard it is to switch into product is an easy start.
Get some product-related things on your resume
Programming experience is a big one. Don’t have any? You could take a micro-course in a week and add it to your resume. Kaggle has great Python and Pandas (a data manipulation library for Python) options. There are plenty of simple web development tutorials that you could follow. SQL is another high leverage tool that you can learn the fundamentals of in one week.
Programming experience is a plus, but even more important is demonstrated product sense. How can you show that you are capable of thinking deeply about a product? Doing some sort of product related case study and putting that front and center on your resume (and website) is a good idea. Pick an idea and write a piece on how you would talk to customers, design, and ship an MVP for it. Or pick an existing product and critique it. No need to code anything. This is just a way to show you can think critically about products. Ultimately that is what you will have to do in an interview.
Crushing the interview.
Now, if you do get your foot in the door for an interview, the last step is so crush it. However many hours you think you need to prepare, double it. I’ve never regretted over preparing and have been shocked by the amount of time the most competitive applicants put into it. There are countless blog posts detailing how to do this and I won’t do them the injustice of a poor summary. However, I do strongly suggest starting your interview prep by reading the book Cracking the PM Interview.
Last thoughts.
Getting into product isn’t easy. You have to lay out a plan, keep an eye out, stay patient, and be resourceful. But, it is completely doable.
It’s worth spending some time and asking yourself why you think you want to get into product management. I have met plenty of people who like the idea and, ultimately, dislike the practice. They end up missing ownership of the actual work, getting things done, and heads down projects. But, if your reflection ultimately brings you back to product again and again, chances are that you’ll love it on the other side. It’s worth the work.
If you liked this story, you can follow more of my thoughts on Twitter
