How to get into product management

About the most popular question there is when it comes to product management, is simply: how do you get your first job as a product manager?

There’s no shortage of answers to this question online, but why not add another…? 🙂

From what I’ve personally seen, there are basically five ways to get into product management:

1) Get hired straight into it with no experience. It’s rare but does happen. It can help if you just got your MBA, or are coming out of a prestigious VC or consulting firm. Early-stage startups, while risky, can also provide an opportunity to get into product management without prior experience. And if you can’t find a startup you want to join, then…

2) Start your own tech company. As the CEO of a tech company, you will be making product management decisions, whether you want to or not. Afterwards, even if your startup fails, you’ll be able to make a strong case for why you’ve got product management experience.

3) Get a product management internship. Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other large-scale tech companies offer Associate Product Manager (APM) positions that will allow you to come into their product management organization without prior experience. Other companies offer similar programs, in which you can rotate through different positions — including product management — over the course of a year or two, and then choose where you’d like to stay. Be aware that there is a lot of competition for these positions, however.

4) Be a domain expert. Say you majored in structural engineering, and worked five years for construction firms, but now you’d like to get into tech. Even though you have no software experience, you could be a very compelling candidate for a company that makes software for the construction industry. Why? Because, having been a part of the construction industry, you know your target market inside and out. Ultimately, knowing your market is any product manager’s top responsibility.

5) Make a lateral into it. This is the path I’ve seen the most success with – but it’s the one that most people don’t want to hear about, particularly people who want to go straight from school into product management. But the fact is, product management is a role that doesn’t have many entry-level positions. So, if you’re willing to take the long view of things, go find a role in a tech company that does have entry-level positions – a role in engineering, sales, marketing, or client success – get that job, do really well at it, build your personal brand, and then, after a year or so, ask your managers how you can get into product.

Almost everyone I know who’s in product management, including myself, got into it that fifth and final way. Personally, I came out of engineering, but that is by no means the only path: I know plenty of client success managers, product marketers, and salespeople who became product managers.

In the course of working for a tech company in a non-product role, you’ll first of all discover whether or not you actually like being at a tech company. Secondly, you might find you enjoy the role where you landed enough to make a career of it. And thirdly, if you do decide to make the lateral move into product, you’ll do so with real experience of the company’s business already under your belt.

Hope this helps, and good luck!