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Making the Transition

You’ve prepared for the transition and now you’re ready to land your first PM job. There are three common ways to become a product manager:

1. Transfer internally.
2. Join an entry-level PM program.
3. Hustle and find a company that’s willing to take a chance on you.

Transfer Internally

If you already work with product managers in your current job, then your best bet is to transfer internally. Start by using your superpower to get more involved in the product side:

1. If you’re a designer, use your designs to bring to life a vision of the ideal product experience. Inspire your team with that vision and help your PM prioritize what to build.
2. If you’re an engineer, use your technical knowledge to help your PM evaluate trade-offs when defining the product.
3. If you’re an analyst, use your understanding of product metrics to identify opportunity areas. Help your PM tackle these areas by defining experiments and how you’ll measure success.
4. If you’re a marketer, use your project management and customer empathy skills to help your PM drive execution and alignment earlier in the product development process.

While you’re doing the above, find a senior or director level PM who’s willing to back your transition internally. Make sure you meet that person at least once a month to provide regular updates. Once your sponsor thinks you’re ready to make the transition, start preparing for interviews (look up internal resources on how the company interviews product managers) and take the leap.

One tricky thing about internal transfers is setting the right expectations with your current manager. If you have a great relationship with your manager, you can be honest with her that you want to transition and work with her to make it happen. However, if your manager thinks you’re underperforming or is insecure about losing you, you may want to tell her only after you’re ready for PM interviews.

Join an Entry-Level PM Program

Large tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon often have associate product manager and PM internship programs. These programs are competitive, with recruiting focused on hiring students from top universities. It doesn’t hurt to apply, but if you don’t get in, it’s not the end of the world.

Many other companies have entry-level product manager opportunities but don’t do a good job advertising them on their career website. To find these opportunities, you need to hustle .

Hustle and Find a Company That’s Willing to Take a Chance on You

If you can’t transfer internally or join an entry-level PM program, then you need to hustle to land a product manager job. That means knowing your strengths and weaknesses, doing your research, and building your network.

For example, recently, an MBA student reached out to me on LinkedIn because I went to the same school a few years ago. After speaking to her on the phone, I submitted a job referral for her at my company. She wasn't able to land a full-time product manager job, but we offered her a three-month internship that could convert to a permanent role.

Stories like the above are more common than you think, but landing your first PM job requires persistence. As you read at the beginning of this book, I failed to become a product manager multiple times before finally making the transition. Back then, I was full of self-doubt and ready to give up, but I'm glad that I didn't. If you’re getting rejected or hitting a brick wall, I’ve found these words of wisdom helpful:

• Jim Carrey: "You can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance at doing what you love." 1
• Chris Hadfield: “I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be an astronaut. Let's head in the direction that I like...even if I don't make it all the way. Don't measure success by one thing at the end, measure success by each of the small things along the way.” 2

If you know that you want to be a product manager, then keep getting better and don't give up until you achieve your goal.