PM is an awesome job: make big decisions about the product, often be the face of it in presentations/meetings, etc.
I haven't been one for years now and have since led almost every other function, so I feel like I can share a different perspective freely... PM is the worst job:
1. Thankless
When a designer/eng produces work (the product), it's objectively exciting and ppl on the team celebrate (esp the PM)
When a PM produces work, aka figuring out what to build, on avg they get - "ok... [you better be right]" or "by when?"
best case you get a nod😐
2. Eat shit all day (from above)
When ppl see PMs interact often with leadership, it's mostly perceived as enviable.
Truth is most of what they're hearing is "Why isn't it done?", "Why isn't it growing?", "This product sucks"
note: this is shit the team doesn't need to eat now
3. Eat shit all day (from around)
PMs only create output through others, so every interaction is basically asking (begging) people to do more work or trade off their quality standards, and no one likes that.
Hence constant "no.", or "find another way", "too bad"
4. Constant Anxiety
Imagine your whole job is having ultimate accountability for the output and zero direct control on the input.
Couple that with "go faster" from #2 above and constant "no" from #3.
You haven't PM'd until you've sighed and declared "I'm fucked."
5. Useless until proven useful
When an eng/designer joins a team, it's celebrated because ppl see them as tangibly helpful to output (more code, UX)
When a PM joins a team, it's default skepticism and they have to prove they should even exist. "What do you even do anyways?"
6. Lonely
There's often more than one eng/UX person on a team: they can pair, they can collaborate, they have community everyday
PMs have their spreadsheet and keynote presentation
To be clear, PM is an awesome job and it's a privilege to be able to determine product direction. But in my experience, PMs get zero empathy day-to-day despite being some of the hardest working/impactful ppl in a company
So next time you see your PM, give em a hug 🤗 and say thx
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