How to Transition from Ux Research to Product Management

What was your Background Prior to Product Management?

I started out as a UX Researcher and then went into Project Management. By working with Product Managers all the time in those two roles, I wanted to be a Product Manager myself. Definitely within the company I was working with at the time, you needed to have a Master’s degree. So there’s a challenge already; a lot of companies seem to associate MBA-type people with Product Management. But, that’s a whole other discussion whether that’s right or wrong.

What Were your Job Hunting Challenges before Product Gym?

I’d say that the early challenges on was trying to figure out what companies wanted from a Product Manager standpoint, and that seems to vary a lot. So it’s a lot like, how do I adjust my resume for every company? How do I get my name out there ahead of everybody else when I’ve only had one year of Product Management experience? In every interview I’ve had, even after working with Product Gym, interviewers always asked why should we should hire you when you’ve only had one year of experience? I felt like I was going to every interview with zero years of experience, even though I knew exactly how the role works and what to do.

How was Product Gym able to Help you Overcome those Challenges?

I just liked a lot of the processes that you guys had. I think what you guys do, in many ways, is logical. Instead of throwing 20 resumes out, get 50 to 100 resumes out a day. You play a numbers game, and you’ll eventually catch a fish. Another thing that helped was really just having the support of Rich and his team. I would pop in the weekly coaching calls, talk about how an interview went down, and get feedback from Rich. That was really helpful as well.