Product management can be a great place to focus your efforts on developing a career.
There are many interesting options that you can choose from as far as product development, plus you will usually be asked to assist with deploying the product when the design phase is over.
This can be a marketing wizard’s dream come true but there are a lot of skills that you need to be able to show to be eligible for this kind of job.
If you have been thinking about this exciting line of work for your next career move, you should be prepared by understanding the kinds of skills and knowledge that you will need to be eligible for this type of work.
If you are ready to learn more about how to get into Product Management, read on!
What Else is “Product Management” Called?
This is a job that can be titled in many ways. You might think that you are not seeing a lot of jobs of this nature but that could be because the names of the job roles can vary from company to company. The common names that this job title can be known by are:
· Product Marketing Manager
· Product Editor
· Program Planner
· Product Planner
· Practice Manager
· Market Planner
No matter what these jobs are called, they all do the same task, which focuses on the development and deployment of a product for success.
What Skills Will I Need?
To be able to apply for and do this job successfully, you will need a variety of skills:
· Leadership
Keep in mind that you are going to be the leader of your team. You are essentially taking on a management role and you will need to remember that you are managing a team as well as the creation of a product.
· Communication
You will need to be able to facilitate communication with your team and help your team to work with others in harmony at your company.
· Attention to Detail
You will need to pay very high attention to detail to be able to see issues that might arise with processes and products. Remember, this is one of the most important skills that you can have for this job.
· Prior Product Development Experience
This will be a huge factor in securing this kind of job. You will need to be able to show that you have prior experience with this kind of work and that you have a good track record related to the other development work that you have done previously.
· Facilitate Engineering Team Success
You cannot hope to be involved in all of the day-to-day tasks that the engineering team will have to complete to develop your product. That is not really what your job should do for them anyhow. You will need to get good at helping them to do their job better and effectively remove impediments to their success.
· Data Analysis Skills
You will need to be able to verify the data that is related to development processes as well as be able to create projections and other metrics for the marketing of the new product that you are creating. You cannot hope to know what to develop if you do not know how to assess the market and verify that your teams are creating the right progress toward set goals.
What Will My Job Role Be?
This job asks you to cover many bases and be good at taking care of all of them. You will need to plan on being tasked with:
· Reducing Support Cost
· Increase Customer Acquisition
· Drive Product Innovation
You will need to take care of these tasks by preparing business cases, having good writing skills, and monitoring the development process with hands-on attention. You will need to be able to write and proof copy, train your sales team, deliver product samples and test the product, all while handling lots of meetings and outreach with vendors or third parties.
This barely scrapes the surface of the tasks that you will do in a day. But, to be successful in this career you will need to make sure you feel comfortable completing all of these tasks and more before you apply.
How Can I Get a Leg Up Before I Apply?
If you are not sure if you are ready to apply for this job, you need to consider getting some certifications or seeking out job experience that will help you gain the experience needed to be more competitive when you apply.
You may even consider running your own business for a while. Being able to run a business and prove that you have guided it successfully can really help a hiring manager have confidence in your skills. You might also want to look into associate product management jobs at places like Google, Facebook, or other large companies. These jobs are often easier to get than product manager jobs and you will need this kind of job experience on your resume.
Product Manager Jobs Can be Rewarding and Lucrative
Product Management jobs can be very fulfilling and they are often extremely well-paid jobs that help create lots of exciting new products. You will be able to see creative ideas move from their inception to their successful completion, all while utilizing a whole host of skills. The below image from Standard speaks a volume about the duty of Product managers.
From marketing know-how, to design skills, to the management of your teams, you will be able to use many different skill sets when you take on this role. This is an important option for people who are ready for a new challenge beyond project management or being a part of the engineering team itself. It can be very exciting to be able to create new, advanced technologies or products and see how much they improve people’s lives.
Taking the leap to Product Management can help you get a great job that will not only pay well to help you live comfortably but will be fulfilling as well. A career in Product management can yield high rewards and can be extremely satisfying.
