Get noticed for the best Product Manager opportunities
For folks looking to break into product management, in this post you will find practical advice in identifying the right companies, getting shortlisted for interviews & nailing them.
1. What’s your story 🔬
Okay, first off, a little bit of soul searching😛 This is important as this gives you the conviction to aim for the best companies and the much-needed clarity to create a persona/profile that stands out. This also helps answer the super-important “introduce yourself” question in the interview(which 95% of the people screw up)[1].
A good way of looking at yourself through the PM lens is to go through the skills required in a PM, think about your strengths and map them with relevant examples from the past. Here I list the ones I think are the most important, but based on your personality traits, your list may look different-
High Initiative: Your excitement about products and product development, ability to contribute right away, and the strong desire + potential to learn. e.g., I set up a blog & online presence to give my mom a platform to write.
High Agency: Finding a way to get what you want, without waiting for conditions to be perfect or otherwise blaming the circumstances. e.g. When denied funds from college, we partnered with INKtalks to organize the hackathon instead of canceling it.
Courage: Early-stage startups require a lot of courage and PM roles even more so. Courage usually comes from having dealt with adversity in the past e.g. I am the first woman in my family to have completed graduation.
Differentiation: Teams often struggle to create something out of the box because of a lack of diversity. Think strong and hard about what makes you different and how it can add value to your future employer. What’s your unique perspective, set of beliefs, and view of the world that can be leveraged? e.g., My mom had a job because of which we had to change towns every year or two, it made me very agile & flexible.
Unique Advantage: What is the one thing that you are damn good at? Something that you can probably teach the interviewer or go really deep into? Jeff Morris Jr. has written a great blog on this[2]. Optimize your resume, profile, intro & everything else around your unique advantage.
2. Show, Don’t Tell 💪
Your interviewers are super busy & they talk to at least 3–4 candidates every week. Plus, hiring a good candidate fast is probably more critical to them than landing a PM role is to you. So please, help them out!
There is no substitute for visual examples. Create a portfolio with examples of anything and everything that you’ve built. Have you built a product? Add screenshots of wireframes/product analytics/roadmaps /weekly updates. Ran a business? Bring relevant slide decks and assets to talk about it. Built a team? Attach screenshots to show how you communicated your vision. Did sales? Video recordings of your product demos/tutorials. Fresh grad? Played football in college? Attach a picture of yourself with the trophy!
e.g. If I told you, I helped bring X worth of business to my employer, would that excite you more or does this screenshot?
2. Since effective communication is an important part of the PM role, do add the most relevant 2–3 links. Got featured somewhere? Mention that too.
3. In case you don’t have much to show for points 1 & 2, try writing a few blogs — product critiques, opinions, experiences, etc. giving your fresh(and relevant) perspective. Think of a side project you might want to take up and put it up on Product Hunt. Leverage no-code tools if you don’t know how to code.
4. Finally, you don’t need a website but please update your LinkedIn profile. It's common practice from interviewers to look you up on LI these days.
5. Be mindful of the basics while writing your resume. Product School has some good advice on the topic. [3]
3. Which companies are right for you? 🙆
Have you heard of the beachhead[4] military/growth strategy? While it might be tempting to send your resume to each and every company that has an early stage PM opening, focusing on a specific set of companies might actually be a better idea as it helps avoid bad apples and double down on your dream companies. Here are a few parameters that you should consider while selecting your company.
What are the core values of the founding team?
Look up their profiles. Are they innovators and builders? Do they stand up for bold outcomes or conform to the mean? Talk to at least 5 people working in the company to know about the kind of behavior that is rewarded vs. punished and what motivates the team towards the shared vision. If they are in your top 10 companies, spend a day in their office if you can.
Is it a product/tech-first company?
Who decides what should be built — engineers, PMs, customers, sales, or leadership? Working in companies with product-centric culture is the most preferred as you’ll obviously be more excited about building things that you & your team feel should exist instead of specing out the UX for your engineer’s code or implementing your sales team’s roadmap.
Do the product and org vision excite you?
Use their products if they're available to consumers. Do you think it motivates you enough to spend 10*5 hours a week working on it & promoting it? What about company vision? How do different employees talk about the vision and the roadmap? Are they aligned? Is it far-sighted into at least the next 2 years?
Does your background, skill, or interest give you a unique advantage?
In line with the “unique advantage” point mentioned above, can you think about awesome product companies adjacent to what you love/do? e.g. if you’re in a design studio, you can bring huge value to a product whose success heavily depends on UX, if you were a project manager building training material, an ed-tech startup might be a good pick, etc.
Are they here to stay?
When a great team meets a lousy market, market wins. When a lousy team meets a great market, market wins. When a great team meets a great market, something special happens.
— Andy Rachleff, a16z
The biggest reason for the growth of so many people early on is just the fact that they grew up in a company that had a great market pull. When the market is hungry, your leaders don’t have to worry about the money (as much) + you are always on the edge because of the increasing demands from your growing customer base. Conversely, if the founders are constantly dealing with the next financial crisis, your growth stunts (at least until the company figures out the Product-Market fit).
The answer is not always easy. If the team is great and the idea excites you + you are okay to be jobless in a year and find another job, I encourage you to go ahead and take the plunge. What's important is knowing your risk appetite and acting accordingly.
Startups are usually not very open to sharing financial info for obvious reasons but some leading indicators are -
Are there other companies in this space? Are they getting funded?
Did this company raise funds yet? From whom?
Customer logos, press release, number & composition of employees (on Linkedin), etc.
Reading glassdoor reviews might give some signals.
Are you curious enough to learn on your own or looking for mentorship?
Usually, smaller companies (<50 employees) do not have the bandwidth to provide a lot of coaching and you’ll be the first or second product person. In these companies, you are expected to figure things out on your own, with little guidance from your manager/co-founder. If you want a structured set up with a manager who can groom you, look for a mid to large-size company instead.
Don’t worry too much about the title
Early on in a company’s life, titles are only for the external audience and have little meaning inside. Don’t worry too much about it. If you check all of the above points, the title will eventually take care of itself.
4. Increase your chances of getting shortlisted 😎
After creating a differentiated story/resume, compiling your portfolio, and identifying the right set of target companies, the next goal is to make sure that you get shortlisted for an interview. Here’s what you must do beyond applying on career portals (Warning: Don’t spam and annoy people) -
Try reaching HR managers and current PMs from the target companies on Linkedin, requesting a referral. If your profile is a good fit, they usually reply. Post by Neil Patel on LI reach outs [5].
Cold email and put those twitter DMs to good use :) e.g. if you love Notion, make a list of 5 features you would love to see and shoot it to the PMs there.
3. Sometimes you find good job offers on VC recruitment events & websites page as well. Keep an eye out. Also, look for companies outside your current location that are open to remote work.
4. Find common connections among your friends. Talk to as many people as you can and get referrals.
5. Always follow up. Startups folks are busy and might miss out on your DM/email.
Further Reading
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