Thread by @hey_rick__

After some time off, I'm kicking off my #prodmgmt job hunt.

It's a great job market. There's 256,000+ Product Manager roles on LinkedIn alone.

It's fun to start fresh and explore, but easy to get trapped in analysis paralysis.

So I thought I'd share my approach in a thread 🧵

First, let's lay some foundations.

I enjoy sharing and teaching.

But as @epatt6 said recently, context matters.

https://twitter.com/epatt6/status/1484556335341518848

@epatt6 Everyone's own situation is unique.

Hunter S. Thompson's essay on finding purpose and meaning drives this home very well.

I think about this anytime I'm providing personal guidance.

fs.blog/hunter-s-thomp…

@epatt6 So it helps for you to know more about me, while also forcing me to practice self-awareness.

@epatt6 What is my experience?

- 4 years of Product experience in early-stage B2B SaaS (Series A->C)
- 3 years of technical program/project management
- 5 years of marketing automation, data analytics, and digital marketing, mostly email and newsletter marketing

@epatt6 More importantly - I'm in a very privileged position right now

- I have an MBA w/ no debt (good for product? a thread for another day 😊)
- I don't have kids (yet), so I can take a break between jobs AND be selective
- I'm relocating to Denver in February because I want to

@epatt6 In other words, my life is as flexible as my background is broad.

I often feel like a generalists generalist.

Fortunately, that kinda describes a Product Manager.

@epatt6 Sure, there are some Product specializations forming. The @reforge team has a nice breakdown of what those might be

reforge.com/blog/product-s…

@epatt6 @reforge But I'm skeptical of any Product role that is hyper specific.

The nature of product work is organized chaos.

It used to be called the sh*t umbrella.

You might have Growth in your title, but the likelihood you get pulled into other things is very high.

@epatt6 @reforge I think @shreyas has a better point of view on what "types" of product leaders exist

https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1375491623308550144

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas So I'm not over-indexing on what type of product role.

But I can narrow down by type of product, how product work happens, and the culture.

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas I want a Senior Product role at a company that meets these criteria:

- B2B SaaS
- Product-led
- Uses modern product practices (not waterfall hiding behind the word Agile)
- Remote-first (bonus points for regular meetups IRL)
- Flexible PTO / schedule

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas This is broad but a good start.

By focusing on remote roles, I narrowed it down from 256,000 to 50,000 😊

I'm very pumped remote appears to be permanent.

Lots of great insights from @chris_herd on what trends he's seeing.

https://twitter.com/chris_herd/status/1433028766129917955

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd Next -

Product is many things. I've also done many things outside of Product.

I could brain dump all that into a resume and cover letter, but that'd be 20 pages and a huge time suck.

Instead, I asked myself - what do I actually like to do?

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd I'm happy when I get to...

- Talk to customers and users (i.e. continuous discovery)
- Track, measure, improve adoption and retention (product metrics and growth)
- Work closely with a team to achieve something together
- Launch new products and see the business impact

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd These should be part of every Product Manager's life, but that's not always the case.

See: Product Manager vs. Project Manager confusion

So that's what I want to suss out during interviews.

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd There's a lot more I'll share as I make progress.

- Exploring opportunities in my network
- Interview prep
- Negotiations

I'm not there yet, but the gears are starting to turn thanks to these tweets...

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd Getting into the mind of my interviewers and potential boss.

@gibsonbiddle on Strategic thinking + Initiative + Leadership

https://twitter.com/gibsonbiddle/status/1485328995776401409

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd @gibsonbiddle Some insights from @Jenyangwong on product interviews

https://twitter.com/Jenyangwong/status/1485317057533005825

And get ready to interview the interviewer

@lilykonings has 5 questions to evaluate your future boss

https://twitter.com/lilykonings/status/1484598087494496258

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd @gibsonbiddle @Jenyangwong @lilykonings Lots of great quick hit tips on career growth from @amandanat

https://twitter.com/amandanat/status/1475864875284852737

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd @gibsonbiddle @Jenyangwong @lilykonings @amandanat And most important - before I get too excited, remembering to set boundaries.

Inspired by @being_brigitte - who can do it with A LOT more going on that I do 😆

https://twitter.com/being_brigitte/status/1483829553625632770

@epatt6 @reforge @shreyas @chris_herd @gibsonbiddle @Jenyangwong @lilykonings @amandanat @being_brigitte That's it for now!

Don't forget to follow me if you found this helpful @hey_rick__

If there's an opportunity out there you'd like to share, my DMS are open 🚀