How to Transition from Product Operations to Product Management

How did you Control your Product Manager Interviews?

Prior to joining Product Gym, I didn’t know that interviews were about psychology. It’s something that I should’ve known prior to joining, but I guess I wasn’t really thinking about it too much. I was just thinking about the job hunt from the perspective of my professional background. I thought I had the skills and that my resume looked good. If I applied to PM jobs, I thought that I would be in the top 10 applicants that would get a call back. Guess what? I was mistaken about that.

The first part in taking control of your job hunt is to just apply for as many jobs as you can. It’s really just a numbers game. The more jobs that you apply for, the better chances you have of getting a call back. From that point on in the interview process, you’ve already taken control because you’ve already crafted your story. That’s what Product Gym taught me to do; put your story in the terms that the interviewers want to hear.

Once you Started Controlling your Interviews, what was your Conversion Rate Compared to your Conversion Rate Beforehand? How Many Interviews Were you Averaging after Joining Product Gym?

Once I was in control of those interviews, I would say that I was almost converting all of my round one interviews to round twos. Only in the beginning did I really have a couple of round ones that didn’t go to round twos. From round two to round three, probably the majority of my interviews went to round threes.

In my busiest week, I would say I had about six interviews. I wasn’t generating as many interviews as other Product Gym members, but I was still averaging about two to three interviews a week. I had enough interviews on my hands that I had to look at my schedule, consult with my wife about her schedule, so we could take time out where I can do the interviews in peace.

Any last Words for People that are on the Fence About Joining Product Gym?

I’d say do it; you will not regret it. It actually works if you’re willing to put in the effort, simple as that. It’s not going to be a free ride; you can’t come in with the mindset that because you’re joining a program and paying for it that it’s going to do everything for you. That’s not how life works and certainly, that’s not how a job search is going to pay off either. Product Gym is going to equip you with the skills and the tools, but you will need to put in the work. They say it’s the greatest experience you hope to never repeat, and believe me, that’s true because it takes hard work. You have to commit to it, but when it pays off, it’s such a sweet feeling.