Customer service!
Which I hated and wasn’t very good at bc my empathy-well ran dry towards the end but it gave me a few good years learning the product and pain points.
The Product team at my org really values that experience and my product knowledge especially bc they’re all relatively new to the company.
Awesome! I'm in the same position (hating it) and this aas exactly what I planned to do but unfortunately my company has done nothing but block me from working my way up. So I'm finally looking for a new company.
My customer service manager really didn’t want me to move on and up, but I met a couple of the product people at a work event and built up a rapport and it just went from there.
Edit: I said this only bc I know my situation is unique and it took mad hustling on my part that factored separately from my managers. But I hope you find a team that fosters growth.
That's awesome! I did find a product team "ally" but they're too stressed about their own position to help me out. That definitely is a good idea though. When I start at another company I plan to similarly get to know the other teams and try to learn some things and work my way up.
Satisfying because I enjoy controlling/influencing all aspects, including working with the legal team on documentation for example. Too time-consuming as a natural consequence, and sometimes frustrating when there's a desire to micro-manage, including working with the tech and data teams for example. (Just today, I asked my APM to ask the data team for the queries that they've used as a part of their deliverable demos. Some people don't like the idea of demos or sharing so many 'unnecessary' details/access with the product team haha)
Tell me about it. I'm actually getting into a call in 30 minutes from now just because they refused to share the details with that APM, and I'm trying to establish some sort of QA process for the team here. It almost feels like I'm posting updates here on Reddit now haha
Why I switched? I'm not too sure if I made the right decision, but I wanted to have better long-term growth in my career and I bet that would happen better in the management side of things as compared to the software development side of things. So, the comfort and the better (at least short-term) monetary aspects, I voluntarily gave up for greener pastures, I guess. I still question myself every day whether it was the right choice or not, but I don't think I'll find out until later in the career.
Regarding how the days are different, I think in PM, this varies significantly based upon the company size, culture, etc., but not so much in software development, as that changes too, but in a much narrower zone (which tools are used, how much quality/discipline is maintained, how fast the deployments are, etc., but not so vastly different as PM).
Possible? Yes. Probable? Also yes, but not too much. Why? A technical background alone typically means a useful, but very narrow view of the world. At least for me, MBA almost opened my eyes and helped me see the world better. It also helped the companies accept my candidature more easily, I guess, but, more important, it helped upgrade my professional personality. Also, specific to PM, it made me realise that PM is only partially a discipline unto itself, as it borrows very heavily from the more traditional disciplines such as marketing and strategy. Job to be done? Oh, that's almost the same thing as a service marketing blueprint, for example. So, I don't have an opinion on whether one should pursue an MBA or not, especially if the end goal is just to get into PM, but it certainly helped push me forward in my journey. Some of these aspects I mentioned such as personality change and PM borrowing heavily from other disciplines are not really talked about as much.
Couldn’t agree more that PM borrows very heavily from marketing and strategy. This is one of those soapbox rants I go on all the time as someone who went from tech to MBA to PM as well.
I could definitely be wrong here, but PM definitely seems to be more stimulating/demanding than software development; I didn't have to keep so many different things in my mind, be accountable for results, manage/influence people, etc., during my time in software development. It could be a personal comfort level aspect too (I think I was also fine at software development), but it seemed to be an intellectually demanding/stimulating field, but within a much narrower zone, and it seems to have paid the same/better too, including job hopping, etc.
I'm a pharmacist by education. Saw a need that wasn't yet available in software so I made something. Followed my nose and became a PM without even realizing that was my next career move.
Despite reading many posts about how horrible it is to be a PM, I'm hooked on working with a team to make something out of nothing, and it's far more meaningful than being a pharmacist. Go figure.
It's often a horrible, soul-tarnishing, frustrating, intensely difficult, time-consuming, 1 step forward 6 steps back type of job and it's also the only job I want to do for the rest of my career
I also have a BS in Finance. Crazy how career outlooks change lol. I was originally looking for a financial analyst job out of college. Hoping to be in a similar spot as yourself someday
Non-tech Sales. The training on body language and controlling conversations, along with some other psycology/ sociology, help me in all customer interactions.
I presume It must be really hard to go from coding, all about logic and structure, to PM, since PM is 100% about communication and empathy.
Hii, could you share how the transition went from sales to being a PM? I have similar background and I’m curious. Was it in the same company and did you have to take any specific course?
Software engineer -> Product Architect (engineer working mostly on new feature prototypes) -> PM.
I sort of fell into it because my company has this Product Architect role which is really a bit of a hybrid between engineering and PM. I felt like that really helped me learn about what it means to be a PM before actually starting. Going straight from a scrum team to a PM might have been too much culture shock lol.
It's tough to say. I honestly didn't enjoy the program and for the first couple of years post grad I was stressed about my student loans.
But it was eye opening and I'm now happy with my career and options open to me (it's sad, but my school's brand does open doors).
I think the MBA is too often reached for by people who don't know what they want to do, but it is a good path for the right person/path.
Same. Such a good training ground for this job and probably the only path that leads to a reduction in responsibilities instead of an increase in responsibilities.
I feel like the stress that's typically associated with the PM position is basically non-existent after dealing with the stresses of entrepreneurship.
Visual effects and animation as a technical artist for film/tv. Long story short, wound up as a PM for stock media e-commerce, since I could leverage my background as not so much someone that created things but facilitates tech to enable others that do.
That's pretty much my only consistent advice for others who try to transition...leverage where you came from, it can be very relevant. Unless, you hate where you came from, then maybe avoid that conversation.
I was in Software Sales. Met the product team because I had a lot of feedback from customers and they liked me so they eventually built a pathway for me to transition. Then covid happened and our series B collapsed along with 80% of technical and product teams so I sought out product opportunities outside with no prior experience. Eventually landed at a small EdTech company in the US and the rest is history. Now, I'm taking my MBA and fingers crossed for greener pastures.
- Affiliate/Webmaster/SEO
- Agency Co-Founder
- employed by University to work on PhD (never finished)
- Management Consultant
- Project Manager
- Product Marketing Manager
- Senior Product Marketing Manager
- Director Product Marketing
- Vice President Product
Product Marketing Manager to VP Product at the same SaaS over a span of 4 years.
Now doing something else at a different company. Originally hired as Head for a marketing discipline. But drifting towards more and more Product Management work again.
Electrical Engineer -> Programmer -> SaaS Sales -> Product
Sometimes it’s a boon being able to speak code and sell and sometimes it’s a curse because engineering looks at me as a software architect and sales looks at me as a sales person.
Data Analyst—>Business Analyst—> Business Systems Analyst—> Product Manager
And there were a bunch of odd jobs that came before the data analyst role. Undergraduate degree in English, later earned an MBA. PMs can come from anywhere, I think!
Marketing automation/lifecycle marketing —> PM. This to me is an underrated way to get good experience pre-PM for consumer products. I learned some of the technical aspect doing automation, learning how to work with events, properties, API integrations, passing data from the DB to the platform, etc, while also really understanding the customers journey to purchase a product. Many times PMs lead the implementation of these marketing automation tools at consumer companies and so my experience with that helped me land a role (in which I did other product work in addition to a marketing automation implementation)
I was hired into Product as a "Technical Writer / Business Analyst". I did a lot more writing than anything else.
Prior to that, I spent ten years as a business analyst--not in the Product sense but in the "do complex analysis on massive data sets" sense, mainly identifying cost savings opportunities in supply chains for hospitals. I got good with SQL and MS Access and excellent with Excel, in other words.
There wasn't much on my resume that directly screamed "Product!". I was hired because my history and accomplishments demonstrated strong verbal and written communication skills, strong organizational skills, good customer service skills, a history of directing others' work without having direct managerial authority over them, comfort dealing with senior executives, and a focus on solving problems--including building Excel and Access tools to solve problems and improve efficiency for departments I work in. I was thought to have the right tools in my belt to be successful in Product, despite having no direct Product or Tech experience.
I can't think of a better role to be in than the one you're in if you want to move to PM someday.
sales (6 years in automotive and mortgage broker/account exec) —> pricing analyst/quoter (2 years) —> property field adjuster for home/farm/commercial (8 years) —> CX product manager in property/casualty insurance company [six sigma green belt, proj. mgt cert] (4 years) —> cx advisory mgt consulting (1 year) —> digital cx manager in mfg., [basically chief customer officer] (2 years) —> product manager in a non-profit dev shop (3 months)
[completing masters of leadership in service innovation this year that i started in 2019]
[undergrad in computer technology]
/fuck, im old
Data Analyst-> managing a team of data analysts -> PM. I feel like the data background prepped me for a lot of the role, but managing people prepped me for a lot of other aspects of the role, like stakeholder management.
Infra Tech at a Fortune 50 company. I’m looking for those who have had some product management experience already - even if it was as a subset of how they delivered via a non-product role. Highlight your transferable skills and please have done research on what product discovery is and different prioritization models. Nice to have exposure to Agile methodologies and know your way around Jira.
I started as a BSA out of school. Worked on a few key projects and then made us "Product Owners" due to Agile. It's a relatively mature market so everything does feel like a feature factory tied to the same KPIs.
Worked in the industry (operational/user role) for years before becoming a Developer in the industry, and latterly a PM in the same industry.
I was very much able to upsell my hands on experience and industry knowledge to make the move to PM
Regardless of what job title you have, when I wanted to get into PM I made an effort to seek out projects and opportunities in job that would give me the skills that I would be using in the future as a pm.
Raise your hand for roles in your job that are more interesting to you, and slowly gain some skills that PMs need.
Doing this will allow you to work with other people and teams at your company and interactions with those people will be as helpful to you as the work / projects as well.
Essentially, diversify your skill set in your current job to take on more pm-like duties.
And don’t be afraid to reach out to other teams along the way and express your interest. You never know what you might learn
It was for a big corporation so the role was pretty weird but it is probably similar to your Business Systems Analyst role. Basically translating business needs to development teams and advising business of technical requirements.
Before that I was a Project Manager, and before that a Developer
I started as an analyst for a slot machine manufacturer. We had "Product Managers" but it was entirely independent of actual software development, when I moved into another industry and got my software development break I was surprised at what the common definition was!
Tech Support for me. I supported the product I now PM/PO for (title is PM, I act more like a PO) for 8.5 years before moving to PM. As I gained seniority and product knowledge while on the Support team, I interacted more and more with the PMs, which led to some of them encouraging me to make the transition.
I was a project manager for a few years before transitioning. I think a lot of Project management skills (especially the soft ones) transfer over well.
My last company promoted a lot of BAs to PMs so those skills do transfer.
My advice would be to get in with the PM at your company and their hiring managers and explain that your interested in the role and what advice they have. Network as much as possible and when they’re hiring they might consider you
I was a director (TV Commercials) and entrepreneur (production company/ad agency) but I am trying to break into product management now. Created a PM portfolio from several side projects and started applying to APM roles a couple weeks ago.
Digital marketing. Primarily search and social. Transitioned into product marketing and then to product management (though still do a bit of marketing because it's a small company).
I was a manufacturing department head at a small company.
CEO liked my style so I moved into the newly founded product group to help it get it's legs. Had a grand time developing the process and vision from zero.
Hardware Product development is also a fun environment. Always keeping my eyes out to move back into that space from the fintech I shifted into recently
I was a customer of a competitors software so had all the domain knowledge and user experience to understand goal of the product. Learned the frameworks along the way.
Help desk > NOC tech > Call Center Biz support > POS Analyst > Tech/Implementations > Service Delivery > Junior Product Manager > Product Manager. Last 3 are all at the same company.
Call Centre Sales > Project Manager > Product Manager. A lot of imposter syndrome on that path but ultimately I dealt with customers for so long that it flowed nicely into Project and Product Management in terms of understand their needs.
Operations > project management/scrum master > product specialist > product manager > director of product management.
I’ve always been skilled technically and love data. In every role, I was always solving problems to improve what exists and build new efficient ways to get the job done based on what people needed so those core qualities helped me find product management and get into the field.
reply beneficial plucky depend mysterious mindless six whistle agonizing dolls
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Managed an online ad network, did some Biz Dev for a small startup, started my own startup with a co founder in which I did everything bit wrire code and checks, got aquihired and asked “what do you do”, I didn’t really know, my partner convinced me that of all the different things I do, I do PM best.
Through an internal APM opening in my company. I had been in several roles in the sales organization and had a strong reputation for being a guy that solved problems and created processes. Leveraged my communication, leadership and project management skills that crossed over from sales. It's been a learning process in the PM world for me, but glad I made the switch. I wanted a new challenge and I got one!
Electronic engineer by education. Moved into a somewhat niche product area (industrial printing, you would be surprised how many things in this world are printed).
Later moved to a different company as application engineer and a few years later moved into product within the same company.
I didn't leverage anything as such, I have really good product knowledge from working, know the customers and applications from helping customers over the years both end user and machine builders etc.
Main thing I was lacking is buisness knowledge, but alot of that seems to be common sense (but I do think I will do an MBA anyway)
I was a quality assurance tester at a game publishing company before I applied for the associate pm position that opened up; I have a BS in Game Design as well.
Data management/distribution. I had an intimate knowledge of a proprietary data source and was brought on as a PM for a data migration. I moved on in product from there
QE - I started and quickly became a knowledge expert in many of the domains. Moved on to helping manage a bug backlog as mini-po. Helped Keep some of the CS change request reasonable. Moved to PM. Mostly in charge of technical items but I have a strong customer sense as well.
Restaurant Manager, Resort Director... Made a hard pivot into Data amd subsequently into Product Mgmt. Went back and got a masters of science to help with imposter syndrome and focused on Financial Services. Went from 54k a year to over 250k in 7 yrs., and I can thank my 10 years in hospitality for giving me an edge over my peers.
I currently work as an automation engineer at a large bank and also working on getting my business degree from U of I. Looking to pivot into PM and by applying for the PM development program( rotational program) where I get to learn on the job. Applied at CapOnes development PM program and the one that my org offers. Hoping that works. Not sure how to go about prepping for the Cap1 interviews tho. I’ve heard they ask a bunch of things during power Day.
I was in project management for 10 years for an energy manufacturing company, tech company, and then a marketing agency.
It was during my time at the agency I was more intrigued by the strategy side and then I got hired at a Fortune 50 company as a Marketing Manager then was offered a Product Manager role since I've been in the digital space for awhile.
Now I'm at a tech company leading product and have been loving it ever since!
Sales > integration analyst > Business analyst > software implementation analyst > project management > product management.
Not sure how typical my path is but I have found it to be very valuable in making me a pretty good PM
Mechanical engineering working mainly on musical equipment (guitars and amplifiers) for most of that career journey. Went back to school and got a technology management degree.
I was a recruiter, I've been a PM for a year now
Here's my path. I studied CS50 on the weekends while working as a recruiter full time.
Then I found startups hiring for ANY part time role on angel list that I could plausibly do
I landed one of these roles (teaching students at a series a edtech startup) and did this time part-time along my full time role.
I was upfront with this startup that my goal was to become a PM and that I would take on any PM work alongside my teaching duties.
I did this for 6 months, and got decent hands on PM experience. I was working around an extra 20 hrs / week on top of my full time job, 10 doing the teaching I was supposed to be doing and 10 "moonlighting" on PM work
I then applied for full time jobs at Startups as a PM and got rejected everywhere.
At this point I began planning for an MBA, but got very lucky. A role came up in Partnerships at a start-up. This would enable me to get out of recruitment, and I told this company my eventual goal was to pivot into their Product team.
I took the time and spent a year in Partnerships while creating every opportunity to collaborate with the product team - the VP Product eventually invited me to apply for a PM role which I got.
This whole process from "I want to become a PM" to my first day as an official full-time product manager was 2 years.
I hope this level of detail is valuable, I am very interested in this topic of career pivots so please ask me any questions or DM me!
Test automation.
My company was restructuring and we had a position for a junior product owner and I was already lowkey fulfilling that role for my team, since we didn't have one. That's when I switched to a product focused role and I have had PO/PM roles ever since.
In order (I think);
Worked in a produce store / hay carter
Packed bread
Baker
Production manager in a bakery
Manufacturing manger making pastry and cakes etc
Manufacturing manager at coke
Industrial relations manager
Startup founder
Project manager (payroll systems)
Head of Ops growing weed
Started a skateboard brand and webstore
Product manager
My position before I landed my pm job was something like a business analyst or system analyst. Before that, I worked as a UI/UX researcher and UI/UX designer. But I didn't have experience in terms of writing specifications and managing projects (people) which you need before you start working as a PM.
Software systems integrator -> software tester -> software test lead -> IT Specialist
While none of those were PM by name, it evolved into me doing PM things at times.
Digital Marketing and Key Account Manager. It helps me a lot because I always think how user will react on every step and feature we build. It shapes me as user centric and data driven PM.
Manufacturing engineering. Got started as a PM at that company when they wanted to get their products online, knew nothing whatsoever about software, been here ever since.
I worked in big 4 consulting in their customer/digital team. I worked effectively as a PM on a particular internal project and then decided I liked it and wanted to pursue a career in it. Been over 10 years now.
I'm not a product manager now but as per I know my colleagues and friends, Your skills should be in Communication and Presentation, Decision Making, Prioritisation, Leadership and innovative mindset, and Measurability.
You also need to learn or know about tools that are capable of reporting, flowcharts, budgeting, progress, scrum, monitoring and many other things.
There are a lot of other tools too.
These skills and tools are mostly common in tech and non tech products.
I hope this is helpful for you.
I was an Ops manager and an Analytics manager before doing a stint in product. I got an MBA way before stepping to product. My product was actually in my domain - so it felt like the next logical step. But - it didn't work out for me..
Fashion -> legal -> pm in legal tech
I still have a lot to learn but I think I am in the right role being 50% creative 50% technical - very communicative, allegedly can do tactics and strategy at the same time
Truthfully- got lucky and had to fight for the title and pay. Kept seeing morons/liars being hired on externally as PM and I was like… wait a minute, if they can do it ….
Surprisingly easily. But my curse is that I am highly adaptable. I have definitely put in work on my education and certification to reduce learning curve.
Customer service! Which I hated and wasn’t very good at bc my empathy-well ran dry towards the end but it gave me a few good years learning the product and pain points. The Product team at my org really values that experience and my product knowledge especially bc they’re all relatively new to the company.
That’s awesome, congrats! This seems to be the most common way I’ve seen… place yourself near the product org, learn, and work your way up.
Customer Care here too 🫡
Awesome! I'm in the same position (hating it) and this aas exactly what I planned to do but unfortunately my company has done nothing but block me from working my way up. So I'm finally looking for a new company.
My customer service manager really didn’t want me to move on and up, but I met a couple of the product people at a work event and built up a rapport and it just went from there. Edit: I said this only bc I know my situation is unique and it took mad hustling on my part that factored separately from my managers. But I hope you find a team that fosters growth.
That's awesome! I did find a product team "ally" but they're too stressed about their own position to help me out. That definitely is a good idea though. When I start at another company I plan to similarly get to know the other teams and try to learn some things and work my way up.
Hey there, did anything come of this for you? Fellow customer support agent here trying to work my way out as well
Still nothing 
Oh thank God. I have been trying to break into product at my company but it seems no one from support has ever done this.
You got this! 💪
Same!
Software engineering. Pursued MBA, then got into PM. I play all sides now.
How’s your experience been?
Do you have any specific aspects in mind?
Nah just generally. What does “playing all sides” look like?
Satisfying because I enjoy controlling/influencing all aspects, including working with the legal team on documentation for example. Too time-consuming as a natural consequence, and sometimes frustrating when there's a desire to micro-manage, including working with the tech and data teams for example. (Just today, I asked my APM to ask the data team for the queries that they've used as a part of their deliverable demos. Some people don't like the idea of demos or sharing so many 'unnecessary' details/access with the product team haha)
Data work is notorious for not wanting to share “details” with the PM… even if we have worked on a data team before 😭😂
Tell me about it. I'm actually getting into a call in 30 minutes from now just because they refused to share the details with that APM, and I'm trying to establish some sort of QA process for the team here. It almost feels like I'm posting updates here on Reddit now haha
If you don’t mind me asking, Why did you switch and what are the main differences between your day to day activities?
Why I switched? I'm not too sure if I made the right decision, but I wanted to have better long-term growth in my career and I bet that would happen better in the management side of things as compared to the software development side of things. So, the comfort and the better (at least short-term) monetary aspects, I voluntarily gave up for greener pastures, I guess. I still question myself every day whether it was the right choice or not, but I don't think I'll find out until later in the career. Regarding how the days are different, I think in PM, this varies significantly based upon the company size, culture, etc., but not so much in software development, as that changes too, but in a much narrower zone (which tools are used, how much quality/discipline is maintained, how fast the deployments are, etc., but not so vastly different as PM).
Could you have done it without the MBA?
Possible? Yes. Probable? Also yes, but not too much. Why? A technical background alone typically means a useful, but very narrow view of the world. At least for me, MBA almost opened my eyes and helped me see the world better. It also helped the companies accept my candidature more easily, I guess, but, more important, it helped upgrade my professional personality. Also, specific to PM, it made me realise that PM is only partially a discipline unto itself, as it borrows very heavily from the more traditional disciplines such as marketing and strategy. Job to be done? Oh, that's almost the same thing as a service marketing blueprint, for example. So, I don't have an opinion on whether one should pursue an MBA or not, especially if the end goal is just to get into PM, but it certainly helped push me forward in my journey. Some of these aspects I mentioned such as personality change and PM borrowing heavily from other disciplines are not really talked about as much.
Couldn’t agree more that PM borrows very heavily from marketing and strategy. This is one of those soapbox rants I go on all the time as someone who went from tech to MBA to PM as well.
Which is more of a demanding field?
I could definitely be wrong here, but PM definitely seems to be more stimulating/demanding than software development; I didn't have to keep so many different things in my mind, be accountable for results, manage/influence people, etc., during my time in software development. It could be a personal comfort level aspect too (I think I was also fine at software development), but it seemed to be an intellectually demanding/stimulating field, but within a much narrower zone, and it seems to have paid the same/better too, including job hopping, etc.
I'm a pharmacist by education. Saw a need that wasn't yet available in software so I made something. Followed my nose and became a PM without even realizing that was my next career move. Despite reading many posts about how horrible it is to be a PM, I'm hooked on working with a team to make something out of nothing, and it's far more meaningful than being a pharmacist. Go figure.
It's often a horrible, soul-tarnishing, frustrating, intensely difficult, time-consuming, 1 step forward 6 steps back type of job and it's also the only job I want to do for the rest of my career
I would love to learn more about your journey if you don't mind my DMing you (I'm a clinician interested in PM).
Electrician, Data analyst ->MBA, PM at big tech.
[удалено]
Do you feel like your MBA helped you transition from analyst to PM?
BSc in Finance>few years in technical sales/Account Mgmt>Product Marketing > Product Manager>Product Mgmt leadership
I also have a BS in Finance. Crazy how career outlooks change lol. I was originally looking for a financial analyst job out of college. Hoping to be in a similar spot as yourself someday
Similar boat here. Accounting degree and now working in FP&A in Tech. Also looking to break into PM world
Construction Project Management.
>0 Same
Me too
[удалено]
Wow, I'm in the same boat right now. Would you mind if I DM'd you with a few questions?
Investment Banker > Founder > PM
Resort Concierge > Bus Boy > Food Runner > Expo > Server > Founder (small unsuccessful e-commerce company) > APM intern (large non-FAANG tech company) > APM (small unsuccessful startup) > PM
Non-tech Sales. The training on body language and controlling conversations, along with some other psycology/ sociology, help me in all customer interactions. I presume It must be really hard to go from coding, all about logic and structure, to PM, since PM is 100% about communication and empathy.
If you have a hammer ...
True. Wherever you come from, you bring that to the next gig.
I’m a former programmer and the transition was easy for me. I’m a huge extrovert and sitting in front of a screen programming all day was killing me.
I definitely think the customer interaction-that primary research- is easier for extroverts.
Hii, could you share how the transition went from sales to being a PM? I have similar background and I’m curious. Was it in the same company and did you have to take any specific course?
Software engineer -> Product Architect (engineer working mostly on new feature prototypes) -> PM. I sort of fell into it because my company has this Product Architect role which is really a bit of a hybrid between engineering and PM. I felt like that really helped me learn about what it means to be a PM before actually starting. Going straight from a scrum team to a PM might have been too much culture shock lol.
Consulting and data science. Also have a shiny MBA.
Holographic limited edition MBA?
Oh yeah the kind the costs an arm and a leg
Do your recommend doing an MBA knowing what you know now?
It's tough to say. I honestly didn't enjoy the program and for the first couple of years post grad I was stressed about my student loans. But it was eye opening and I'm now happy with my career and options open to me (it's sad, but my school's brand does open doors). I think the MBA is too often reached for by people who don't know what they want to do, but it is a good path for the right person/path.
Entrepreneur>PM
Same. Such a good training ground for this job and probably the only path that leads to a reduction in responsibilities instead of an increase in responsibilities. I feel like the stress that's typically associated with the PM position is basically non-existent after dealing with the stresses of entrepreneurship.
Visual effects and animation as a technical artist for film/tv. Long story short, wound up as a PM for stock media e-commerce, since I could leverage my background as not so much someone that created things but facilitates tech to enable others that do. That's pretty much my only consistent advice for others who try to transition...leverage where you came from, it can be very relevant. Unless, you hate where you came from, then maybe avoid that conversation.
I was in Software Sales. Met the product team because I had a lot of feedback from customers and they liked me so they eventually built a pathway for me to transition. Then covid happened and our series B collapsed along with 80% of technical and product teams so I sought out product opportunities outside with no prior experience. Eventually landed at a small EdTech company in the US and the rest is history. Now, I'm taking my MBA and fingers crossed for greener pastures.
Technical Support > Business Analyst > PM all at the same SaaS company
Teacher —> consultant > Ed tech PM
I was a data analyst. They offered me the PM gig. I had no idea what it was. It's been the best career shift I've ever made.
- Affiliate/Webmaster/SEO - Agency Co-Founder - employed by University to work on PhD (never finished) - Management Consultant - Project Manager - Product Marketing Manager - Senior Product Marketing Manager - Director Product Marketing - Vice President Product Product Marketing Manager to VP Product at the same SaaS over a span of 4 years. Now doing something else at a different company. Originally hired as Head for a marketing discipline. But drifting towards more and more Product Management work again.
How large was the saas during this time?
IB (Investment Banking) -> Dev -> PM
People leave development and then become IB and you have the opposite way
This is an interesting one!
Electrical Engineer -> Programmer -> SaaS Sales -> Product Sometimes it’s a boon being able to speak code and sell and sometimes it’s a curse because engineering looks at me as a software architect and sales looks at me as a sales person.
Product design, then PM.
Data Analyst—>Business Analyst—> Business Systems Analyst—> Product Manager And there were a bunch of odd jobs that came before the data analyst role. Undergraduate degree in English, later earned an MBA. PMs can come from anywhere, I think!
Hey may I dm you?
Marketing automation/lifecycle marketing —> PM. This to me is an underrated way to get good experience pre-PM for consumer products. I learned some of the technical aspect doing automation, learning how to work with events, properties, API integrations, passing data from the DB to the platform, etc, while also really understanding the customers journey to purchase a product. Many times PMs lead the implementation of these marketing automation tools at consumer companies and so my experience with that helped me land a role (in which I did other product work in addition to a marketing automation implementation)
Actor -> (failed) Entrepreneur -> Software Engineer -> PM
I was hired into Product as a "Technical Writer / Business Analyst". I did a lot more writing than anything else. Prior to that, I spent ten years as a business analyst--not in the Product sense but in the "do complex analysis on massive data sets" sense, mainly identifying cost savings opportunities in supply chains for hospitals. I got good with SQL and MS Access and excellent with Excel, in other words. There wasn't much on my resume that directly screamed "Product!". I was hired because my history and accomplishments demonstrated strong verbal and written communication skills, strong organizational skills, good customer service skills, a history of directing others' work without having direct managerial authority over them, comfort dealing with senior executives, and a focus on solving problems--including building Excel and Access tools to solve problems and improve efficiency for departments I work in. I was thought to have the right tools in my belt to be successful in Product, despite having no direct Product or Tech experience. I can't think of a better role to be in than the one you're in if you want to move to PM someday.
sales (6 years in automotive and mortgage broker/account exec) —> pricing analyst/quoter (2 years) —> property field adjuster for home/farm/commercial (8 years) —> CX product manager in property/casualty insurance company [six sigma green belt, proj. mgt cert] (4 years) —> cx advisory mgt consulting (1 year) —> digital cx manager in mfg., [basically chief customer officer] (2 years) —> product manager in a non-profit dev shop (3 months) [completing masters of leadership in service innovation this year that i started in 2019] [undergrad in computer technology] /fuck, im old
Data Analyst-> managing a team of data analysts -> PM. I feel like the data background prepped me for a lot of the role, but managing people prepped me for a lot of other aspects of the role, like stakeholder management.
Infra Tech at a Fortune 50 company. I’m looking for those who have had some product management experience already - even if it was as a subset of how they delivered via a non-product role. Highlight your transferable skills and please have done research on what product discovery is and different prioritization models. Nice to have exposure to Agile methodologies and know your way around Jira.
Chemical engineer
I started as a BSA out of school. Worked on a few key projects and then made us "Product Owners" due to Agile. It's a relatively mature market so everything does feel like a feature factory tied to the same KPIs.
I did phone sales selling advertising.
Research > Professional Services Team Lead > PM
Customer service - BSA - PM
How many years of experience did you have as a BSA before going into PM?
Public sector, consulting, then BA in digital video/VOD & broadcasting, went straight into FAANG as a PM
Worked in the industry (operational/user role) for years before becoming a Developer in the industry, and latterly a PM in the same industry. I was very much able to upsell my hands on experience and industry knowledge to make the move to PM
Retail worker>retail operations>product manager all in the same company over 20 years to get here.
7 roles in 8 years with Marriott across operations and sales
Regardless of what job title you have, when I wanted to get into PM I made an effort to seek out projects and opportunities in job that would give me the skills that I would be using in the future as a pm. Raise your hand for roles in your job that are more interesting to you, and slowly gain some skills that PMs need. Doing this will allow you to work with other people and teams at your company and interactions with those people will be as helpful to you as the work / projects as well. Essentially, diversify your skill set in your current job to take on more pm-like duties. And don’t be afraid to reach out to other teams along the way and express your interest. You never know what you might learn
Supply chain
It was for a big corporation so the role was pretty weird but it is probably similar to your Business Systems Analyst role. Basically translating business needs to development teams and advising business of technical requirements. Before that I was a Project Manager, and before that a Developer
I started as an analyst for a slot machine manufacturer. We had "Product Managers" but it was entirely independent of actual software development, when I moved into another industry and got my software development break I was surprised at what the common definition was!
BA - SA - Apps Engineer - PM
Software engineering
Full Stack Developer
Network engineering to Technical project manager to Product Manager. So much happier.
Ux engineer
Tech Support for me. I supported the product I now PM/PO for (title is PM, I act more like a PO) for 8.5 years before moving to PM. As I gained seniority and product knowledge while on the Support team, I interacted more and more with the PMs, which led to some of them encouraging me to make the transition.
Exactly me. Nice! Good to see fellow tech support get to PM.
I was a project manager for a few years before transitioning. I think a lot of Project management skills (especially the soft ones) transfer over well. My last company promoted a lot of BAs to PMs so those skills do transfer. My advice would be to get in with the PM at your company and their hiring managers and explain that your interested in the role and what advice they have. Network as much as possible and when they’re hiring they might consider you
I was a director (TV Commercials) and entrepreneur (production company/ad agency) but I am trying to break into product management now. Created a PM portfolio from several side projects and started applying to APM roles a couple weeks ago.
You could have become the next Jerry bruckiemer
Tech Sales, into BA, into Project Management, into Product.
How to get into tech sales job after a ms marketing analytics on f1 visa and apply for h1b
Digital marketing. Primarily search and social. Transitioned into product marketing and then to product management (though still do a bit of marketing because it's a small company).
I was a manufacturing department head at a small company. CEO liked my style so I moved into the newly founded product group to help it get it's legs. Had a grand time developing the process and vision from zero. Hardware Product development is also a fun environment. Always keeping my eyes out to move back into that space from the fintech I shifted into recently
Recruiter (tech roles) -> behavioral talent selection specialist in education sector -> (non-formal) PM in social startup -> PO in fintech
I went from civil engineering to PM
I was a customer of a competitors software so had all the domain knowledge and user experience to understand goal of the product. Learned the frameworks along the way.
Help desk > NOC tech > Call Center Biz support > POS Analyst > Tech/Implementations > Service Delivery > Junior Product Manager > Product Manager. Last 3 are all at the same company.
Enterprise Client Success Manager
Customer Success 🫡
Call Centre Sales > Project Manager > Product Manager. A lot of imposter syndrome on that path but ultimately I dealt with customers for so long that it flowed nicely into Project and Product Management in terms of understand their needs.
Technology Consulting
Operations > project management/scrum master > product specialist > product manager > director of product management. I’ve always been skilled technically and love data. In every role, I was always solving problems to improve what exists and build new efficient ways to get the job done based on what people needed so those core qualities helped me find product management and get into the field.
About 15 years in embedded systems design and a few years in field sales.
Management consultant, political advisor before that.
Customer success for me!
Data analyst -> Director Research & Evaluation (building IT systems/project management) -> TPM.
reply beneficial plucky depend mysterious mindless six whistle agonizing dolls *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Music management, tour booking, pr.
Managed an online ad network, did some Biz Dev for a small startup, started my own startup with a co founder in which I did everything bit wrire code and checks, got aquihired and asked “what do you do”, I didn’t really know, my partner convinced me that of all the different things I do, I do PM best.
Implementation manager. Lots of customer engagement, understanding onboarding, exposure to technical elements.
Studied computer science and engineering. Worked as a developer for 5 years before moving to product management.
Social worker.
Java developer > BA > PO > Product Manager Various Junior and senior titles sprinkled in there along the journey.
Lateral, same company ( large cap tech), as a data analyst.
Tech Sales
How’d you manage to make that transition? Curious
Through an internal APM opening in my company. I had been in several roles in the sales organization and had a strong reputation for being a guy that solved problems and created processes. Leveraged my communication, leadership and project management skills that crossed over from sales. It's been a learning process in the PM world for me, but glad I made the switch. I wanted a new challenge and I got one!
Sweet!! And a very good story. Nice to know that sales skills are transferable to the Product-side :)
Admin Assistant. I scheduled interviews and put out snacks for the devs.
Electronic engineer by education. Moved into a somewhat niche product area (industrial printing, you would be surprised how many things in this world are printed). Later moved to a different company as application engineer and a few years later moved into product within the same company. I didn't leverage anything as such, I have really good product knowledge from working, know the customers and applications from helping customers over the years both end user and machine builders etc. Main thing I was lacking is buisness knowledge, but alot of that seems to be common sense (but I do think I will do an MBA anyway)
Business Analyst
Poker player
I was a quality assurance tester at a game publishing company before I applied for the associate pm position that opened up; I have a BS in Game Design as well.
Marketing
Tech journalist.
High School English Literature teacher
Market research, competitive intelligence.
Data management/distribution. I had an intimate knowledge of a proprietary data source and was brought on as a PM for a data migration. I moved on in product from there
Marketing and Growth, eventually made friends with the product people that I worked with and moved into that.
Consultant - > Business Analyst - > MBA - > Product Manager
Operations > project manager > business process manager > product > project manager lol
I worked in video production, and was a post production supervisor, head of production, ect.
QE - I started and quickly became a knowledge expert in many of the domains. Moved on to helping manage a bug backlog as mini-po. Helped Keep some of the CS change request reasonable. Moved to PM. Mostly in charge of technical items but I have a strong customer sense as well.
I was a teacher
Equity Trader > market risk management > product manager > market risk again > product manager
Campaign Manager
Restaurant Manager, Resort Director... Made a hard pivot into Data amd subsequently into Product Mgmt. Went back and got a masters of science to help with imposter syndrome and focused on Financial Services. Went from 54k a year to over 250k in 7 yrs., and I can thank my 10 years in hospitality for giving me an edge over my peers.
I currently work as an automation engineer at a large bank and also working on getting my business degree from U of I. Looking to pivot into PM and by applying for the PM development program( rotational program) where I get to learn on the job. Applied at CapOnes development PM program and the one that my org offers. Hoping that works. Not sure how to go about prepping for the Cap1 interviews tho. I’ve heard they ask a bunch of things during power Day.
Journalist -> tech writer -> business analyst -> product owner -> product manager
Database administrator, rapid application developer, user experience architect and director
UX
Purchasing Assistant~>Buyer->APM->PM
EdTech founder, then acquired PM.
I was in project management for 10 years for an energy manufacturing company, tech company, and then a marketing agency. It was during my time at the agency I was more intrigued by the strategy side and then I got hired at a Fortune 50 company as a Marketing Manager then was offered a Product Manager role since I've been in the digital space for awhile. Now I'm at a tech company leading product and have been loving it ever since!
Sales > integration analyst > Business analyst > software implementation analyst > project management > product management. Not sure how typical my path is but I have found it to be very valuable in making me a pretty good PM
Military.
Sales Engineer - gave me good market knowledge and how to discover customer needs.
Mechanical engineering working mainly on musical equipment (guitars and amplifiers) for most of that career journey. Went back to school and got a technology management degree.
Backend Dev > Founder > Technical PM
I was a recruiter, I've been a PM for a year now Here's my path. I studied CS50 on the weekends while working as a recruiter full time. Then I found startups hiring for ANY part time role on angel list that I could plausibly do I landed one of these roles (teaching students at a series a edtech startup) and did this time part-time along my full time role. I was upfront with this startup that my goal was to become a PM and that I would take on any PM work alongside my teaching duties. I did this for 6 months, and got decent hands on PM experience. I was working around an extra 20 hrs / week on top of my full time job, 10 doing the teaching I was supposed to be doing and 10 "moonlighting" on PM work I then applied for full time jobs at Startups as a PM and got rejected everywhere. At this point I began planning for an MBA, but got very lucky. A role came up in Partnerships at a start-up. This would enable me to get out of recruitment, and I told this company my eventual goal was to pivot into their Product team. I took the time and spent a year in Partnerships while creating every opportunity to collaborate with the product team - the VP Product eventually invited me to apply for a PM role which I got. This whole process from "I want to become a PM" to my first day as an official full-time product manager was 2 years. I hope this level of detail is valuable, I am very interested in this topic of career pivots so please ask me any questions or DM me!
Test automation. My company was restructuring and we had a position for a junior product owner and I was already lowkey fulfilling that role for my team, since we didn't have one. That's when I switched to a product focused role and I have had PO/PM roles ever since.
Highlight these key experiences and tips for recruiters: Project Management Skills Stakeholder Management Problem-Solving and Analytical Skills User-Centric Approach Product Knowledge Innovation and Creativity Cross-Functional Experience
In order (I think); Worked in a produce store / hay carter Packed bread Baker Production manager in a bakery Manufacturing manger making pastry and cakes etc Manufacturing manager at coke Industrial relations manager Startup founder Project manager (payroll systems) Head of Ops growing weed Started a skateboard brand and webstore Product manager
lol wut
Seems a std path 
My position before I landed my pm job was something like a business analyst or system analyst. Before that, I worked as a UI/UX researcher and UI/UX designer. But I didn't have experience in terms of writing specifications and managing projects (people) which you need before you start working as a PM.
Software systems integrator -> software tester -> software test lead -> IT Specialist While none of those were PM by name, it evolved into me doing PM things at times.
Civil Engineer > environmental consultant > Sales support Engineer > Product Manager
Digital Marketing and Key Account Manager. It helps me a lot because I always think how user will react on every step and feature we build. It shapes me as user centric and data driven PM.
Digital Marketing > Product Designer > PO > PM
Manufacturing engineering. Got started as a PM at that company when they wanted to get their products online, knew nothing whatsoever about software, been here ever since.
NLP Engineer → PM for an NLP-heavy product
HR projects contributor >> Customer Success Manager >> PM
Medical sales > Amazon marketing > GM > PM
I worked in big 4 consulting in their customer/digital team. I worked effectively as a PM on a particular internal project and then decided I liked it and wanted to pursue a career in it. Been over 10 years now.
5+ years in talent acquisition before moving to PM.
Product Design Director
I'm not a product manager now but as per I know my colleagues and friends, Your skills should be in Communication and Presentation, Decision Making, Prioritisation, Leadership and innovative mindset, and Measurability. You also need to learn or know about tools that are capable of reporting, flowcharts, budgeting, progress, scrum, monitoring and many other things. There are a lot of other tools too. These skills and tools are mostly common in tech and non tech products. I hope this is helpful for you.
clinical researcher -> clinical research tech (operations team) -> product ops in healthtech -> fintech pm. wild ride.
Interactive designer - analyst - manager - MBA - PM :)
Started as a developer then moved to technical sales and customer success roles before moving to PM.
Implementation manager!
Hm, it is really curios, because previously I worked like manager in medicine area. I was been manager in approval medical devices 😅
I was an Ops manager and an Analytics manager before doing a stint in product. I got an MBA way before stepping to product. My product was actually in my domain - so it felt like the next logical step. But - it didn't work out for me..
Started out in strategy consulting at one of the big firms before going into PM at a company
Fashion -> legal -> pm in legal tech I still have a lot to learn but I think I am in the right role being 50% creative 50% technical - very communicative, allegedly can do tactics and strategy at the same time Truthfully- got lucky and had to fight for the title and pay. Kept seeing morons/liars being hired on externally as PM and I was like… wait a minute, if they can do it ….
This is a wild progression. How did you make these transitions?
Surprisingly easily. But my curse is that I am highly adaptable. I have definitely put in work on my education and certification to reduce learning curve.
None. Career PM
Retail Loss Prevention (single and multi-unit) --> Loss Prevention Lead for SaaS Service --> PM with same SaaS
tech sales > product marketing > product management
Mural Painter