Product Management is one of the hottest titles on the job market right now. But why? Over the past couple of years, we’ve done thousands of consultations. We’ve talked to countless aspiring PMs about why they want to transition into product management, and we’ve noticed a few trends.
Our survey results, which consist of people who are either new to this field or those who are seasoned Product Managers, cover the top 5 reasons why people want to transition into product management.
1. Gateway Position
One-third (or 36% to be specific) of the people we surveyed told us that they consider product management to be a gateway into technology.
Since we are headquartered in NYC, most of our participants come from finance, consulting, sales, marketing or business development roles. In other words, they have little to no experience in tech. Most of these people believe that product management could be an excellent opportunity to get more exposure and experience in technology.
2. Big Tech Product Manager
Believe it or not, the desire to make it to a FAANG company is still very strong! Most of our consultations involve some sort of discussion around how to get a job or at least an interview at Google or Facebook.
The popularity of these companies has surged over the years. At this point, getting into them is more like getting into an exclusive club or a secret society. Regardless of where you end up or where you are currently at, we would like to reiterate the fact that not working for one of these companies doesn’t make you less of a Product Manager. They have limited spots and unfortunately, not everyone could be a part of them.
3. Impact the Vision and Direction of Product
Two-thirds of our participants clearly stated they want to be a part of the bigger conversations and decisions that go into their company. Product Managers are the ones who are responsible for everything — literally, from ideation to release. So, no better career option helps one to have the biggest impact on the vision and the direction of the product.
“What is it that we are going to build?”, “How are we going to build it?”, and “Why are we going to build it?” are the kinds of questions that people want to answer. Thankfully, Product Managers work to find answers to them.
4. Founder
Many people have the dream of becoming a founder one day. Unfortunately, being a founder without the right experience is simply impossible. On top of having an entrepreneurial spirit, one has to have the right experience to understand how to develop a product that the market wants.
Product management is a phenomenal career, where you get to become a founder for a product and feature without the responsibility of running a company. Thankfully, 79% of our participants agree with us on this. We believe that having product management experience is far more useful than having an MBA on your path to becoming a founder.
5. Wear Multiple Hats
When you become a transition into product management, you have to wear multiple hats. You have to consider the product from the perspective of a software engineer, UX/UI designer, QA tester, business analyst, etc.
This profession, unlike most other ones, helps you become a generalist since you have to have the perspective of many other professions to develop an effective product. A whopping 87% of our participants feel the need to have a job where they have the opportunity to wear multiple hats. We cannot think of a better way to accomplish this than transitioning into product!
How to Transition into Product: The Product Manager Path
Perhaps one other thing that we would like to mention outside of this survey is the fact that product management opens doors to very exciting opportunities as well. Many Product Managers choose to go into the following three paths after they have sufficient experience in their field:
- Move up the ladder: Many product managers advance in their careers to become Senior Product Managers, VP of Product or Head of Product for more responsibility.
- Move into another industry: There is a majority of Product Managers that want to explore a different industry. They are confident about the skills they gained in their previous position and want to learn more about a field that they find more interesting.
- Start their own company: As we discussed above, product management is the perfect opportunity to learn and experience how to drive a product from ideation to release. Many PMs take these experiences to start their venture.
Transition into Product Management
Looking to learn more about people’s transitioning journey? Or maybe you’re ready to start the transition into product management for yourself. The first step starts here: set up a free career coaching session with one of our in-house experts. We’ll answer your questions, meet you where you’re at, and help you figure out what steps to take to get your Product Manager career going.
