Product management jobs are among the most exciting and varied in all development fields. This is an advantage, as there is a lot of opportunity for people that are beginning a career in this field. However, it might seem difficult to know where you should start on your path towards becoming a product manager.
By discovering the huge variety of product management jobs available and learning what skills and education pathways can take you there, you put yourself in a great position to find the role that best suits your interests. Read on to learn more about why product management jobs are among the most appealing roles in the U.S. today, the skills you’ll need and learn along the way, and how to become a manager in this industry.
What Does a Product Manager Do?
A product manager has many responsibilities, but some of them are more important than others. Here’s a list of some of their most important duties:
- Creating Products that Customers Want
- Conducting Market Research and Analysis
- Communicating and Coordinating with Marketing and Sales Teams
As a product manager, you could find yourself performing roles as diverse as:
- Implementing agile working practices in a software development team
- Marketing to consumers
- Helping develop sophisticated products like AI (artificial intelligence)
Product Manager vs Product Owner
The product manager and the product owner are similar roles in that they are the people who oversee and manage a product. They also work with other stakeholders to bring ideas to life. However, there are some key differences in what the overall scope of their job entails. Below we’ll explain what their job responsibilities are and you’ll be able to see how they both overlap as well as how they are different.
Product Owners
Product owners are the team leaders who are in charge of the development of a product. They are concerned with what goes into the product and what comes out, so they need to not only be savvy with technology but also know how to manage people.
Product owners have many responsibilities including defining goals, scope, strategy for their products and prioritization them based on what customers need most – this is done by constantly providing input from stakeholders or customers. The product owner ensures that projects stay on track by providing feedback. Product owners must be flexible in order to keep up with changes in their projects. This means that they should always be willing to change course if it becomes necessary.
Product Managers
Product managers, on the other hand, oversee the entire process of building a product and figure out ways to make it better. They focus on how to use technology to reach more customers or bring in more profit, which can include testing ideas with customers or doing market research. A product manager is a person who manages the design and development of a product. They create and implement strategies to make sure that the company’s products are sustainable and profitable.
What Makes a Product Manager Job Attractive?
Big tech companies and exciting start-ups alike are heavily invested in these areas. But what are your prospects in product management jobs? Let’s find out.
High Demand for Product Managers
As our world is increasingly dominated by technology, tech companies continue to drive innovation in this sector. Every software requires a manager to coordinate the development process, which means that companies at the forefront of tech development are always looking for talented individuals for these roles.
Can you see yourself overseeing development on the newest tech from Google? Or communicating exciting news about an upcoming game’s development to investors and potential customers? A product manager is heavily involved in both of these processes, and companies want to find the best individuals to manage their talented teams.
Product Manager Salary and Job Outlook
The BLS doesn’t provide general statistics for product management jobs, as the roles available are so varied. However, it reports that the median salary of marketing managers is around $141,500, with the median salary of computer and information systems managers standing at around $151,000.
The BLS also reports that these roles have a projected growth of 6% and 10% from 2019 through 2029. This average of 8% is double the national average growth of 4%, suggesting that the growth outlook for project management jobs is extremely strong.
Career Paths for Product Managers
Below we’ll cover some of the different product manager roles available with some of the big companies. Discovering which of these career paths you’re interested in can help you choose your educational path accordingly.
Growth Product Manager
Management positions that are focused on growth help a development team to target their progress towards business goals. This means preparing the launch and coordinating with the marketing team to ensure that the product grows and grows upon its release.
You’ll be responsible for ensuring that the development team is on board with the growth plan and that they’re targeting key development areas. As a growth manager, you’ll spend a lot of time liaising with different departments and maintaining focus within the team.
Marketing Product Manager
A marketing manager is responsible for getting the word out about the good or service you’re offering. You’ll be spearheading the marketing campaign to ensure strong brand recognition. You will work closely with the development team to understand the product’s key selling features. Then, you’ll be tasked with finding an actionable way to inform the audience of these strong points.
Digital Product Manager
A digital product manager oversees the more technical side of the development process. You’ll be organizing the development team and taking the product through its entire journey, from genesis to eventual release.
Your role will be to listen and understand issues raised by the development team and find actionable solutions within the development timeframe. In addition, you’ll be responsible for ensuring that the project doesn’t go overtime.
Agile Product Manager
Agile working processes are a big part of product development. An agile manager takes charge of implementing these processes, from continuous integration to ensuring motivated individuals understand how their work is relevant to the endgame of product development.
You’ll be well-informed about the best testing practices and understand how to implement them. You’ll ensure that the contribution of the whole team is strong from start to finish.
Product Owner
This role doesn’t denote the business owner — a product owner is a key concept in agile working. The product owner is responsible for understanding and communicating the voice of the customer to the team, working with the marketing team to analyze information, and bringing useful feedback to the developers.
The emphasis in an owner position is focused on the value of the product. This is why it’s so important that you understand what your customers want in this role. Then, you should be able to communicate it effectively to your team.
Technical Product Manager
A technical manager is the hands-on organizer of the development process. This differs from a digital manager in that digital managers are more involved in communication between the development team and other parts of the business. The technical manager is responsible for the technical processes involved in product development and must have a strong background in software development for this reason.
AI Product Manager
Like a technical manager but specifically within the field of AI (artificial intelligence), AI product managers are sought-after in some of the biggest tech companies in the world today. In fact, AI skills are highly sought after by employers.
The skillset to become a successful AI manager is rare, as it means combining:
- In-depth knowledge of machine learning and AI functions and theory
- The skills needed to manage a team effectively and keep development focused on the product.
How to Become a Product Manager?
The best education pathway to become a product manager for these roles depends on your specialization. Due to increased need for product managers, there has been an increase in education opportunities to meet this demand. Below we’ll cover the different education options that can give you a solid grounding for all product manager career paths we discussed above.
Bachelor’s Degree
Many of these roles will require a bachelor’s degree. A common choice is to use your bachelor’s degree to specialize before graduating to management study in a master’s degree. For example, you might choose a bachelor’s degree in computer science if you were interested in working for a software development company.
Engineering degrees such as software engineering are also popular choices.
Master’s Degree
It’s common for higher-level positions in this field to require a master’s degree in product management or a related MBA. This is also a good choice if you want to work at one of the bigger companies, where competition is fierce, and the extra qualification can give you an edge.
However, experience in product development is considered very important, and you may wish to work in the field before returning to take a master’s degree.
Product Manager Bootcamps
Product Manager bootcamps have been developed and designed to meet the demand of this growing field. They are becoming more popular due to their effectiveness in teaching skills needed for successful product management careers. These product manager bootcamps provide immersive job training program that covers all aspects of product management in a fixed time frame.
Certificate Programs in Product Management
Certificate programs are affordable ways to get a good grounding in the product management skills you’ll need to succeed in this field. They can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months and are a great way to learn if this career path is right for you without investing in a full college degree.
Product Management Courses
There are many self-study resources out there to help you find product management jobs. These can augment a technical skillset (such as a computer science background) and open up opportunities to progress into your first product management role. Companies like Udemy and Coursera offer product management courses that focus on building the skills needed to be a successful project manager.
What Product Manager Skills are Important?
A product manager is responsible for developing the vision, scope, and strategy of a product or service. They are constantly working on making their product the most efficient and effective it can be. As such, aspiring Product Managers should focus on two key skillsets – understanding users and conducting research. This will help them to better understand the needs of their target audience and what they want in order to make their product successful. Below we’ve listed some other essential skills you’ll pick up on your way to becoming a product manager.
- Communication
Whether it’s liaising between departments or organizing your team, you’ll need excellent communication skills to succeed in this role. You’ll need to outline a clear vision and describe an actionable way to achieve it. - Problem-solving
You’re the key component in ensuring that the product is delivered on time and to the highest standard. Development is a fraught process and needs constant analysis if it’s to succeed. You need to find workable solutions and put them into practice. You’re also expected to participate in the daily scrum and strategize with your team. - Motivation
especially in agile working, ensuring that your team is motivated is essential to a project’s success. If the team doesn’t believe in the product, nor will the customers. You’re the key mediator in this process. - Technical Knowledge
While a product manager can have a unique background in project management, software design, etc., they should have a clear understanding of the agile methodology. They’ll also need to know concepts like the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and understand how developing a product works, from initial vision to launch.
Product Management Career Growth
Entry-Level
At the entry-level, you’ll be tasked with conducting a lot of customer research. You’ll help with implementing agile methodology as directed by a senior manager.
Mid-Level
After a few years, you’ll be given more control over the direction of product development. You’ll work with various departments to ensure key objectives remain on track.
Senior Level
When promoted to a senior position, you’ll have creative control over the development process. You’ll design and implement good development practices and ultimately be responsible for a successful launch.
What Companies Hire Product Managers?
The biggest names in development need talented managers. These include:
- Google. Becoming a product manager at Google means working on some of the most exciting projects around today. From its ambitious AI program to the company’s wide range of services, you’ll be helping build the future at this company.
- Microsoft. The software giant is constantly working on new services and retains the lion’s share of the U.S. computer market. As a result, product management jobs at Microsoft are varied and always interesting.
- HSBC. One of the world’s largest financial services providers, HSBC also offers many fascinating product management positions. So if you’re interested in FinTech development, this could be the ideal role for you.
Interview Questions – Examples
If you’re currently searching for a job in product management, you probably wondering what type of questions you’ll be asked during the interview. Questions might differ depending on how senior the role is, however, these questions are pretty common regardless of experience level. Here are six questions to help you prepare you for the interview:
- As a Product Manager, how does role impact a company?
- Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision and share what you learned from it
- What is your biggest strength?
- Describe a time when you found success with an idea that was initially rejected.
- As a Product Manager, you’ll be working with many departments within the company. How do you communicate with other team members and departments?
- How would you go about gathering feedback from product users?
For more information on this, check out our product manager interview question guide that include examples of what hiring managers might be looking for.
Conclusion
Whether your focus is in people management, software development, or marketing, this field holds great opportunities. If you’re looking for a career path that is varied, exciting, and challenging in equal measure, you’ll find a home in product management jobs.
