Becoming a Product Manager is an in-demand career
path. It
requires deep expertise in Product Management and a
strong network to carry you along. Here are some resources to help you on your journey.
Demand for experts in Product Management is growing rapidly. Companies are
looking for people with deep expertise in the field of Product Management to help
them
build their products and services.
As a result, Product Managers are in high demand and command high salaries. According to leading
sources,
the median salary for a Product Manager is $110,000 and a
senior Product Manager can earn up to $150,000. Even entry-level
positions can command great salaries.
No wonder that interest in a career in Product Management is growing rapidly.
Explore the
resources below to learn more about how to become a Product Manager.
Best books to build Product Management understanding.
A well-written and thorough book can be an amazing path to build
deeper understanding and also act as
a
handbook as you discover the internet's vast resources.
These are our and our experts top picks to
get
started building career-relevant skills.
Product Leadership
What's better to build your understanding of product management than to build your very own product? This book walks you through how venture studios like Google Venture launch products fast and successfully.
Released in 2008, the Art of Product Management has truly stood the test of time and is among the top-selling management books, even today! A must-have in the library of any fresh product manager.
As Product Manager, user engagement is always at the top of your mind. The best way to have engaged users is to create habit-forming products. Nir Eyal walks us through the inner workings of almost addicting social apps and boils down how you can use the same mechanisms for good.
Shape Up is coming out of the product factory Basecamp. Having been in business for over a decade, both as agency and product company, they have developed a unique and well-tested approach to product management.
People love being empowered and your product's users are no exception to that. Find research and methods about how to make your users powerful and successful when using your product.
OKRs are well-established in data-driven organizations. This book by John Doerr talks about what OKRs to use and how to implement them right to focus on the right things.
These days, courses are no longer a sequence of videos. They are
usually accompanied by projects and
a
learning community, keeping you accountable and on the path.
Our
experts recommend these courses, from
free
selections to paid programs.
Product Management Specialization
Doing things by the book is always a good foundation to start from. The University of Virgina has a top-rated product management course on Coursera – a great starting point to learn the basics and ease your way into Product Management.
For quite a few years now, Product School is the go-to place for folks who want to change their careers into Product Management in the form of a more traditional school and course approach. If you are serious about the change, Product School could be a great chance!
Online, One Week PM is handled as one of the leading online courses for new product managers in the otherwise surprisingly sparse environment. With over 2,000 students worldwide, it also comes with a ton of social proof from people that took the course and used it to claim their dream career as PM.
Online or not, having Cornell on your resumé is never a bad sign. Their online branch is now offering a product management certification. Their small group course is three months long, with an estimated effort of around five hours per week.
Data and product management is inching closer and closer together every single day. The Essec Business School has seen that trend and has turned it into a course for technical product managers.
Please note: This specialization is rather technical and requires some stats and programming knowledge.
Get the guidance you need to become a Product Manager
There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a
personal mentor.
What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!
Senior Product Manager AI
at trivago
Product & AI @ trivago | ex Mgmt Consultant @ Accenture | ex Start-up founder
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Hey there 👋 I am currently a senior product manager at trivago, where I focus on integrating AI into our search experience. I have been working at the intersection of business and technology for 15+ years. I have worked as an engineer, founded a Web 2.0 tech start-up, and worked …
Sr. Manager, Principal Product Manager
at Palo Alto Networks
Product Executive & Career Coach | Ex-Google, Salesforce, IBM, Big4 (Deloitte, PwC)
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I'm a Sr. Manager and Principal Product Manager at Palo Alto Networks integrating companies and launching products in the cybersecurity space. I was also a product manager at Google, Salesforce, and IBM and an ex-consultant for the Big4 (Deloitte, PwC). I've done management and tech consulting in Fortune 500 companies …
I enjoy assisting individuals in their personal and professional development, which makes me feel both fulfilled and productive. Over the past three years, I have mentored junior product managers and individuals aspiring to become product managers. Book me for an intro call and I will do my best to help …
Lead Product Manager
at Match Group
Lead PM, former Google, Thumbtack, and Series A head of product
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I am a group PM at Match Group (the company that Tinder, Hinge, OKCupid, Match.com) where I lead the consumer product team at Match.com. My journey to product has been circuitous: I studied computer science at Stanford, but really fell in love with the cross-functional nature of product. I was …
Group product manager building B2B products with purpose
at ING
Top 5% mentor | Supported over 20 mentees in achieving their career goals. Will you be next?
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Are you ready to take your product management career to the next level? I have helped 20+ mentees developing their careers, help get into product management, and assist entrepreneurs in launching their products. 🔍 Finding product market fit, using various discovery processes 📈 Advancing your own career in product management …
Product Manager
at X-Lab
8+ Years in Product | Career Guidance | Scale-ups & Optimisation
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Product Management is a hugely desirable role, but it doesn't come without its challenges. One of its main attractions (for me) is its diversity but this can also be its most difficult aspect. As a PM you are expected to know a lot about everything... thats not easy. I want …
The Product Management must-reads you shouldn't miss.
Key articles and posts of industry experts can help you get a better
picture of what you are getting into.
In our opinion, these are some must-reads you really shouldn't
miss.
Jason Fried: One door at a time
Jason Fried's Basecamp is one of the most successful independent product business of the last 20 years and when there's something to read, one should better look closely.
It's easy to think that as a product manager you need to know what to do from day one, but Jason argues differently here: It is OK to take it all one step at a time, before trying to become the greatest.
Harvard Biz Review: What It Takes to Become a Great Product Manager
There's no such thing as a typical product manager. Most great product managers come from their own background in design, engineering or marketing to claim the position.
So, if there was an end-to-end PM school, what would they need to teach? Customer interviews, feature roadmapping, resource allocation. All the things you should have at least a look at are in here.
Alex Mitchell: Ways to Stand Out in the PM Job Market
It's hard to stand out in the PM job market. Product management is an attractive career and there aren't all that many positions out there. So, it's all about improving your odds.
Alex shows us seven ways how to improve our profile and level up our skills to claim that dream job of ours.
Opportunities and projects in the Product Management
space.
In the end, advancing your career is all about getting the right
opportunities at the right time and
a
good portion of luck.
These are some interesting things going on in
the Product Management space and you
probably don't want to miss them.
IndieHackers: Build your own product
Building your very own product puts you on the radar of any product-focused organization hiring managers, designers and engineers. Going from nothing to something requires and builds top-notch prioritization skills, the ability to stay scrappy and shows that you can get things done.
To get your foot in the door and make a difference, early-stage startups and businesses are exactly the way to go.
While the risk may be higher than at FAANG and other established businesses, you can also quickly build a lot more ownership and extend your portfolio in these companies.
What does the first Product Manager do in an early stage startup? In this article I'll explain how to organize the first months of work if you join a startup where the product department doesn't yet exist and you are the first Product Manager.
A combined passion for dogs and digital product management creates a successful small business that fulfills a need in the market while embracing creativity, giving back, and delivering exceptional customer experiences.
Understanding how to work as a product manager or early stage founder in a startup can feel like a complex task. This article shares some useful ways to make good decisions quickly and plan effectively in this fast-paced environment.
In this article discusses the five essential skills that every successful product manager should have. It highlights the importance of strategic thinking, customer empathy, communication, leadership, and technical expertise in the role of a product manager.
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