Transitioning to Product Management Without Experience

Introduction

• Transitioning to PM without experience is extremely hard but doable.
• The speaker shares their journey of transitioning to PM.
• Took around six months of preparation and interviewing.

Preparation

• Studied PM tutorials and practiced PM behavioral interview questions.
• Interviewed with 25 companies including big tech and startups.
• Landed multiple offers.

Career Journey

Education

• Studied advertising and marketing in undergrad.
• Pursued acting career before completing Master's Degree in Business Management.

Entry into Tech

• First job: Customer service at Uber Eats.
• Responsibilities included onboarding restaurant partners and educating them on using the app.
• Gained interest in PM by identifying common customer issues and feature requests.

Role Progression

• Moved to Customer Success Manager at Uber Eats for 2.5 years.
  • Learned skills in selling ideas, pitching product features, and storytelling.
  • Collaborated with UberEats researcher on user experience project.

Decision to Leave Uber

• Left Uber to join a startup due to the limited role transition opportunities in big companies.
• Worked on PM bootcamp and other courses simultaneously while at startup.
• Transition to PM took around six months.

Key Takeaways

1. Recognize Your Strengths

• Speaker's strength: customer empathy, storytelling, sales experience.
• Identify relevant skills from past experience.
• Look at PM job descriptions and match your skills to required PM skills.

2. Take PM Courses or Bootcamp

• Bootcamps can be expensive but are worth the investment if well-researched.
• Benefits include learning how to polish a PM resume, talk like a PM, and handle design thinking interviews.
• Recommended bootcamps: Product School, General Assembly, BrainStation, ProductGym, PM Accelerator Programs.

3. Gain Practical Experience

• Apply PM knowledge in current job or personal projects.
• Create a portfolio to showcase PM-relevant skills and experiences.

4. Maintain a Growth Mindset

• Overcome self-doubt and develop confidence in your skills.
• Confidence impacts performance in interviews.
• Mindset shift is crucial for success in job hunting and beyond.

Conclusion

• Reflecting on the journey and its challenges is crucial.
• Open to questions and further connections via comments.