Despite a barrage of layoffs, there are still jobs to be had in tech. And companies need more than just developer teams. So what else is there? A tech product manager answers.
While budget cuts and layoffs have dominated headlines, companies across every industry are still investing in tech, from seed-stage startups to the most prominent legacy players. Analysts at IDC estimate that by the end of this year, over 500 million new cloud-native products will be developed. There is still so much opportunity, leaving many candidates—from recent college grads to industry veterans—asking: “How do I break into tech?”
The industry might seem intimidating to those without more apparent backgrounds like engineering or software development. But companies don’t just need developer teams. That would be like trying to play a baseball game with a team full of pitchers. Product managers (PM) are a critical part of the product creation and go-to-market process, and their backgrounds vary much more than people may think. There is no roadmap for those pursuing a career in product management the way there is for engineers or designers. And that’s okay. In fact, it may be better that way. Varied backgrounds make product teams stronger. And if you’re an individual looking to get into product management, various experiences, and skill sets make strong PM candidates as well.Â
The importance of customer-centricity in product management means some great PM hires can come from customer-facing parts of the organization like customer success, professional services, or sales. At Amplitude, we’ve successfully transferred folks in our customer success organization over to product. In some cases, this means technical expertise is not their spike—but instead they thrive by offering insights into areas like UX design and customer journey management.
Whether you are technical or nontechnical, there’s probably a place for you in product management. Here’s how to dive in:
PICK A PROBLEM AND START BUILDING SOMETHINGÂ
One of the best ways to learn about product management may seem obvious yet daunting: build a product. Learning by doing is by far the best (but not the only) way to learn the role of PM. But what a lot of early PMs learn is that building a product is only part of the job for a PM. Unlike the Field of Dreams, building a product does not mean users will come. While this may seem like a failure, you can actually learn a lot from that experience. Product building is the best way to learn because it teaches you how to take a product to market. Product teams cannot just build for the sake of building. Their task is to build something that solves a real problem, find product-market fit, and then figure out how to get that product into the hands of real customers. If you have the opportunity, test your own product-building and go-to-market skills. Developing these two skill sets will be the best hands-on product management education you can get.Â
Read the complete Fast Company article BY JUSTIN BAUER: https://www.fastcompany.com/90866506/how-to-land-a-job-in-tech-when-you-have-zero-interest-in-writing-code