How to Transition from Manufacturing to Product Management

What made you want to Transition to Product Management? How did you Hear About it?

My background was in manufacturing, automotive, robotics, and control systems, which naturally progressed into leadership and management. My most recent official responsibilities was somewhat of a pseudo product manager. We had physical robots that did work, so my job after design was to get it built. In essence, I was managing the entire build of a product. Also, I was figuring out with the current line that existed what was wrong, different iterations, upgrades, etc. A couple of years ago, my wife being in tech and software mentioned that I should look into product management, and I started doing so.

After Joining Product Gym, How many Interviews were you Averaging a Week?

I applied to about 80 to 85 positions. Out of the 80 to 85 positions, I had about 25 to 27 interviews. Out of those interviews, about 15 of them were round 3 interviews, and three of them turned into offers.

What Piece of Advice can you give to New and Prospective Members Coming Into Product Gym?

This is a very common response from a lot of people, but I’m going to say it anyways and it’s the imposter syndrome and getting over that hurdle. It took me a little bit of time after I first wrote out my resume, and going through it, I kept telling myself that it doesn’t sound like me. Before I submitted it [for review], I reached out to two senior PG members and they said they had the same problem. The fact that they took time out of their day to really make me feel comfortable, made me realize that this is what PG produces: more than applicants, they produce people that are family. Even if I crash and burn with my resume and applications, I’ll have a team to fall back on who can help me revamp it, redo it, etc. Not to say that the imposter syndrome went away, but I grew a different level of confidence where the imposter syndrome didn’t matter anymore.