And guess what? I did it at the same company. I transitioned from product marketing to product management. However, even with that background, it would be much more difficult to make that leap from one company to another. If you are a sales engineer or product consultant who sees meaningful ways that your product could better solve customer problems, you can feasibly move into a product marketing or a product management role within the same organization. That is why nearly all product managers in technology today move into the role from a related position within the same company.

But I can tell you that studying is quite different than doing.

It is exciting to see that there are new educational opportunities and entire paths dedicated to product management within MBA programs at major universities. There are only a handful of educational tracks that prepare you for the work. That is the oddity of product management - you typically need to have been a product manager to get a job as one. You should instead focus on getting a different job that will put you on a pathway to managing products later. I want you to know that applying to be a product manager without any experience will not get you far. I know the title of this blog post is harsh - but I feel compelled to offer this point of view after talking with people who have been applying for product manager roles for over 18 months with no success. It is costly and is nearly impossible to win. But applying for a product manager role without having been a product manager is akin to playing the lottery. I also see this with people who are mid-career and want to switch to product management in order to solve problems for people at scale. Product management is presented as a high-impact job that pays well. I see this a lot with folks who are interested in becoming product managers right out of school. Product management is almost never considered entry-level - companies recognize that the success of the product or technology equals the success of the business. So you end up with people applying for what they consider to be a compelling open role even when they do not meet the basic requirements. And many more do not have any such roles open. What is an entry-level job in a technology company today? I know that it can be challenging for recent college graduates to find meaningful opportunities. Many organizations require years of on-the-job experience for relatively junior roles.

Entry level product manager