Shreyas Doshi, Product Manager at Google, shares an entertaining perspective on how to get that next product management job. Includes practical tips and stick figures! ...
Shreyas Doshi, Product Manager at Google, shares an entertaining perspective on how to get that next product management job. Includes practical tips and stick figures!
Talk delivered in March 2010 to 100+ people at the Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA).
Ananth ChannaveerThanks Shreyas. very refreshing way of presenting information. You answered all my questions that i would have wanted to ask you - in the right order. I would like to change my approach based on your suggestions. Thank you very much.4 months ago
Annibal Abreu, Marketing Professional at Hacon Tecnologia@michang05 Basically: Product Manager = strategic thinking, industry expertise and knowledge (senior position) ==> not everybody can make it, as it demands experience Project Manager = operational / tactical, learn PMI and apply ==> a lot of people are PMI certified Product Manager attributes: 1. Focus is strategic – long term 2. Decision makers/facilitators 3. Manage program of projects to deliver products 4. Manage products that are tangible goods or intangible services 5. Focus on external customers 6. Responsible for the entire product lifecycle: concept thru retire 7. Possess cross organization expertise – function of experience 8. Possess business expertise – broad transferability 9. Possess industry expertise – transferable within industry 10. Possess technical expertise – function of learning curve 11. Possess Marketing expertise - broad transferability 12. Responsible for P in P/L - Maximize profit & ROI = revenue focus 13. Lack a set of professional standards (not so subtle plug for my work ) 14. Akin to generals in the military 15. Serve as mini-CEOs for their product lines Project Manager attributes: 1. Focus is tactical – short term – operational 2. Decision implementers 3. Monitor and control finite duration projects 4. Manage project budget, cost, schedule 5. Focus on internal customers 6. Responsible for limited, finite project lifecycle: Initiate to close 7. Possess organization expertise 8. Are business neutral 9. Are industry neutral – broad skill transferability 10. Are technically neutral 11. Are market neutral 12. Responsible for L in P/L - Minimize loss/risk = cost focus 13. Benefit from standards defined by PMI 14. Akin to drill sergeants in the military 15. Serve to execute projects11 months ago
Shreyas Doshi How To Get That Next Pm Job Svpma March 2010Presentation Transcript
HOW TO GET THAT
NEXT PM JOB
Shreyas Doshi
Product Manager @ Google
http://twitter.com/shreyas
http://shreyasdoshi.typepad.com
1
Goal:
actionable steps that will
increase your chances of
getting the right product
management job
2
Disclaimer:
Opinions and ideas
expressed here are my
own. They don’t
necessarily reflect the
views of my employer
3
4
3 key lessons learned
from hiring and getting
hired:
5
6
1.
building credibility
before you even walk
through that door =>
priceless
7
2.
PM roles usually
require prior
experience:
the catch-22
8
9
3.
job hunting makes you
smarter
10
So, what are hiring
managers looking for?
11
take a step back:
what does a product
manager do?
12
Marty Cagan
the product manager is
responsible for
discovering a product
that is useful, usable,
and feasible
13
Shreyas’ addendum:
14
the 5 essential attributes
of PMs:
15
1.
has product sense
16
product sense =
the ability to usually
make the right product
decisions - both macro
and micro
17
2.
is smart
18
3.
gets things done
19
4.
is a culture fit
20
5.
has technical skills
technical skills =
has domain expertise +
understands technology
21
Good PM
1. has product sense
2. is smart
3. gets things done
4. is a culture fit
5. has technical skills
22
the search:
23
where to look for PM
jobs
24
the usual places...
btw, LinkedIn works
pretty well for PM jobs
look and apply for new
positions every day
25
start-up job search tip
use crunchbase
26
Read more at:
http://bit.ly/startupjobs
27
start a blog if you don’t
have one
28
the accidental A/B test
29
30
31
A:
more interesting
conversations,
references to blog posts,
higher success rate
32
B: lower success rate
33
but, I can’t think of any
topics to write about
34
observation: compared
to other fields, theres
almost no info. on the
web on the practice of
product management
35
36
the search:
transitioning into product
management from other
roles
37
first, be sure that you’ll
enjoy product management
38
39
40
talk to at least 8 product
managers about the good
and (especially) the bad
41
still want to do this PM
thing?
42
splendid.
so what is the best place to
go to become a PM?
43
wrong answer:
business school
44
don’t fall for the deferred life
plan
the
“MBA first, PM next”
mindset is harmful
45
X
an MBA degree is not an
escalator. its a door-knob
46
confirm if your MBA
expectations are realistic
spend at least 20 hours with
the best, free career
research tool on the planet
47
?
48
49
50
what is the best place to go
to become a PM?
51
right answer:
your current company
52
get hands-on PM
experience at your current
company. get the skills and
perspective you’ll need for
people to take you seriously
when you apply for PM jobs
How?
53
observation: PMs are super-
busy people and can always
use help from capable co-
workers
54
1.
approach your PM - offer to
help out
be specific about what you’ll
do, for how long, what the
goal is
55
2.
shadow PMs at their core
team meetings
56
3.
you already work on a
product. become the biggest
source of ideas for that
product. implement them
become “hard to ignore”
57
wait...
this is too much work
isn’t there an easier way?
58
its about being resourceful
which is a key quality of
PMs
so treat this as a test of your
PM-suitability
59
4.
take a (good) PM class.
esp. useful for learning the
PM vocabulary for your
future interviews
60
do this for at least 6 months
highlight this experience
during your job search
more doors will open for
you now
61
the resume:
62
1.
the Summary is important
for the go/no-go decision
keep it short and real
if you have technical
background, mention it
63
remove the buzzwords
e.g. fortune 500, synergies,
C-level, CxO, product
management executive,
team player, cross-
functional, strategically
strategizing the strategies..
64
impress with facts, not with
big words that make you
look important
(because they don’t)
65
Bad:
a visionary product
management executive with
vast strategic experience
driving operational
efficiencies at Fortune 100
enterprises with C-level
visibility
66
??
67
Better:
5 years of experience
building enterprise
monitoring products for
companies such as IBM,
HP, Applied Materials.
Products generated more
than 200 million revenue
68
2.
Don’t write everything
about your product and
everything you did
69
three bullet points max:
70
3.
include hooks - things that
pique the reader’s curiosity
and become conversation
points during the interview
71
e.g.
72
4.
include links
e.g. info about your
product, or link to the
product itself, or even your
blog posts
73
radical idea - include a
small screenshot of your
most important product
74
5.
clearly highlight career wins
e.g. promoted to Group PM
within X years, given Y
additional responsibility
75
the interview:
76
the 3 types of PM interview
processes
77
78
79
80
the categories of questions
in PM interviews:
81
1.
product-sense questions
82
2.
product management basics
83
e.g.
what does a PM do
what are the key challenges
of the PM job
how to prioritize features
84
3.
process-related
85
e.g.
how to manage a complex
launch
how to deal with a difficult
team member
86
4.
past projects or products
87
e.g.
why did you choose X over
Y
how did you deal with Z
failure
88
5.
brain teasers/problem-
solving
89
e.g.
Joe’s weight: 140 lbs
weight of each stone: 5 lbs
how can Joe get 3 stones
across a bridge that can
only take 150 lbs of load?
90
6.
domain expertise
91
e.g.
how is company X
positioned vs. company Y
what are the 4 key pain
points for customers in our
vertical
92
7.
understanding of
technology
93
look familiar?
94
95
on technical questions:
observation: engineering
usually has huge say in the
hiring decision
96
you must be able to explain
the basics of the
technologies your product
depends on
97
e.g. for consumer-internet
http, ssl, dns, html, ajax,
javascript, cookies, GET,
POST, web servers, ....
98
bad idea:
saying “i am a business
person. next question
please”
as a PM, technology is your
business
99
on product-sense questions:
e.g.
your favorite product and
why
compare facebook and
twitter
100
101
true success = interviewer
has learned something new
from you today
102
on product exercises:
some examples
write a mini-PRD
draw rough wireframes
present a proposal on X
103
tips for success in product
exercises:
practice is key
104
Mark Twain
It takes more than three
weeks to prepare a good
impromptu speech
105
1. clarify the objectives
2. cover the top issues first,
then go into detail
3. show options considered
4. point out drawbacks of
your choice
okay to say “i don’t know”
106
practice - corollary:
if you *absolutely love* a
particular company, wait a
bit before interviewing there
107
you’ll get noticeably better
after your first 2-3
interviews elsewhere
ensure you’re interviewing
with that dream company
after that
108
finally, you must know the
company’s products really
well. come up with ways
you’d improve them. but
you will be lacking a lot of
context, so be aware of that
109
the choice:
110
congratulations, you have
some offers
111
choose carefully
112
some PM jobs that (usually)
suck
113
114
1.
the PM without any
engineers
115
Corollary:
the PM who’s not in-charge
of an actual product
116
117
2.
the PM in a company that
doesn’t consider
engineering as a core
strength
118
Result:
engineering at such
companies becomes a
“service organization” -
doesn’t attract good
engineers - engineering isn’t
engaged in the product
119
120
3.
the PM in a company that
doesn’t understand the role
of Product Management
121
Corollary:
the PM who reports into
Marketing
122
Recap - heres what you
learned today:
123
Rule #1:
job hunting makes you
smarter - so enjoy it
124
on transitions:
know very well what you’re
getting into
125
Rule # 2:
you don’t know what you’re
getting into unless you’ve
spoken with 8 people
who’ve gone through the
same thing
126
learning about product
management:
only way to learn is to
actually do the job
127
Rule # 3:
do the job before you get
the title, not the other way
around
128
Rule # 4:
MBA !=
MBA =
129
Rule # 5:
best place to position
yourself for your next
career step is where you are
now
130
transitions require planning:
start 6-12 months before
you have to make any
transition
131
Rule # 6:
keep your resume short,
show you’ve worked on
important products,
use hooks
132
Rule # 7:
build credibility even before
they’ve met you.
start a blog
133
succeeding in the interview:
you now know what to
expect
prepare & practise
134
Rule # 8:
join a company that gets
prod mgmt, builds good
products, has smart
engineers
135
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