Thread by @AnkythShukla

How do you get into a product management role with no prior experience as a PM 🤓?

#productmanagement #productmanagers #careertips

(Thread) 👇🏾

Here are 5 steps to get your first job in product management (freshers or people looking to transition from tech, marketing, sales, etc. to PM).
But first, let me tell you what you shouldn’t do:

Do not rely on the “apply now” button on Linkedin etc, or standard emails to HRs and expect them to call you.

There are lots of people applying for the same role, so HRs use many biased filters such as college, years of experience, brand names etc. to make their lives easier
If you are a fresher, chances are you will likely be filtered out here only.”

The product management roles have become very popular, hence you will face a lot of competition while searching for the first job.
Now coming to the 5 steps to get your first job as a product manager:

Step 1: Learn product management: If you do not have knowledge of the fundamental skills of a PM then no company would want to hire you. Have a good understanding of user research, execution, wireframing, problem-solving, and communication.

You can follow a structured course or curriculum to crack this, it should take you around 3 months to do this. (You’ll be ahead of 80% of candidates if you do this well).

Step 2: Choose the industry you want to work in: Based on your educational background, work experience, or interest, pin-point a sector to work on. It could be ed-tech, fin-tech, food-tech, health-tech, SAAS, crypto, or anything.

Do thorough research of all the happenings of this industry, different players etc.You can use a framework such as a porter 5 forces, swot analysis to do this (you’ll study such frameworks in Step 1).

Step 3: Make a list of ~ 20 companies in the sector where you would want to work: It will be much better if these companies are mid-sized so that you can reach out to decision-makers directly via email.

Step 4: Add value: Now Suppose that you were a product manager at these companies, how would you help them in your first three months? Do a product tear down, do some user research, add market research, and build a solid case of how you can add value to the product.

Create a well-written guide/presentation (Better If you could create MVPs). (Do DM me if you need a template/idea of what to create). Put all your efforts and learning here. If you have done Steps 1 and 2 wholeheartedly then you will do a great job in this step.

Step 5: Reach out to the company’s decision-makers with your analysis: Now find emails of decision-makers in the company (founders, CEO, CPO, CTO, etc.) and send them your analysis (Done in Step 4) along with a good introduction and why you are passionate about working with them.

Step 6: Repeat for other companies: Now follow up with these people up to 3 times (because people can actually miss things), and iterate this process to other companies in the list. I can assure you that if you put in enough efforts, you are likely to get replies from many.

Why does this method works? 👇🏾

This method works because in your analysis you will showcase all of the skills that a product manager is supposed to have (which cannot be assured from a resume), this will reduce the risk of a wrong hire.

This will also get you a good understanding of the industry which is a very important thing people look for in product managers.

This indicates that you are a self-starter and take ownership (you did analysis by yourself and reached out to them), which again is a must-have skill for product management roles.

This indicates that you are actually passionate about working at the company as you might have invested so many hours in doing the analysis.

This method is proven to be successful but I am sure less than 1% of aspiring product managers are going to go through this (because it's a lot of hard work).

I hope this will help you get your first job as a product manager.
In case you need any help or advice, messaging me is never a bad idea.
Thanks.