Is it hard to become a product manager?
Although bagging product manager jobs is not a walk in the park, it can be a rewarding career if you have the right blend of skills and experience to make the cut.
In a broad perspective, the duties of a product manager involve identifying customer needs, defining the product vision, and ensuring the end product meets the user requirements.
And since they oversee the entire product lifecycle, they need to have fundamental knowledge about UX, business, and tech.
This combination of skills can often be difficult to find in a candidate and therefore, the demand for product managers is high and so is their salaries.
In other words, the factors that make product manager jobs difficult to bag are the same facets that make it unique and rewarding.
Studies have shown that there has been a growth of over half a million product manager jobs over the past 6 years and is considered as one of the top 10 best jobs in the US.
Read on to learn more about product manager jobs and the following related FAQs:
- What do product manager jobs entail?
- What are some of the best product management jobs?
- How to get product manager jobs?
- What are the job requirements of a product manager?
- What are the best certification courses for product manager jobs?
- Do product managers make a lot of money?
Product Manager Job Duties
To become a great candidate for product manager jobs, you must have a clear understanding of all the responsibilities that this position entails.
While the role of a product manager can change depending on the size of the company and the industry, listed below are some of the common duties of a product manager:
- Identifying user requirements and monitoring current market trends and tracking competitors
- Strategizing product vision and generating new product ideas
- Overseeing the product life cycle at all stages to ensure the product meets user requirements
- Determining future requirements of the product and anticipating customer needs
- Liaising with cross-functional teams and ensuring their work is aligned with the product vision
- Outlining product roadmaps and identifying possible loopholes
- Preparing budgets, collecting feedback from users, and coordinating with internal and external stakeholders
Also read: What are some of the top product manager interview questions?
Best Product Management Jobs
Depending on the level of the hierarchy, background, and the focus of the role, there are various product manager roles in the industry.
Given below are the most common product manager jobs that you’ll come across:
Associate Product Manager Jobs
When it comes to entry-level product manager jobs, becoming an associate product manager is the ideal option for candidates who lack experience.
Associate product managers work closely with senior product managers and liaise with engineering teams and also the customers to identify their needs and optimize the user experience.
Technical Product Manager Jobs
The role of a technical product manager is focused more on the technical side of product management.
To bag technical product manager jobs, candidates need to have a solid knowledge of software development concepts, making candidates with a background in IT, engineering, and computer science a good fit for this role.
Technical product managers work closely with internal stakeholders during the product life cycle than the external stakeholders like customers.
Also read: How to write a compelling technical product manager resume?
Product Marketing Manager Jobs
You can say that the role of a product marketing manager is a fusion of the traditional marketing role and product management.
They are responsible for formulating and executing strategies to market a product based on the value it offers to users.
Unlike the role of a technical product manager, product marketing managers do not have to focus on the technical side of product development.
Instead, they focus on working with external stakeholders.
In large-scale companies, it’s common to have a designated product marketing manager for each of the company’s products.
Group Product Manager Jobs
Group product managers are often titled senior product managers in different companies.
They are in charge of leading various product teams within a specific group of products and have more authority than product managers within the organization.
If you have exceptional strategizing and interpersonal skills, this role could be a fit for you.
However, you must possess rich work experience in the industry to qualify for this role.
Also read: How to write a job-winning product manager resume?
How to Bag Product Manager Jobs?
Given the fact that it’s not easy to get hired as a product manager, you need to put in extra effort to land these roles.
Here are some tips that will streamline the process for you:
Do Your Research
Ideally, the first thing you need to do to kick start your career as a product manager is to learn the nitty-gritty about this role.
From their responsibilities to job expectations, you must research the role and ideally learn more about the specific requirements of the company you are targeting.
You can join professional product manager groups on sites like LinkedIn or Facebook to get a deeper insight into their role and even stay updated on the latest trends.
Also, consider reading about how other product managers landed their jobs and get inspiration on what path you can follow to get there.
Meet the Requirements
The minimum educational requirement to become a product manager is a bachelor’s degree in product design, engineering, or a related field.
Apart from having this degree, aspiring product managers need to possess work experience in the industry, along with exceptional communication skills, critical analysis skills, and solid knowledge in SEM.
Polish and Acquire Necessary Skills
Take a look at the following skills and prerequisites that a candidate must meet to bag product manager jobs:
Market Expertise: Having a thorough knowledge of market trends and customer needs is one of the most important requirements of a product manager.
Business Skills: Ensuring that the company’s product is bringing in good revenue for the company is a part of a product manager’s role. And to keep the product profitable, product managers need to have good business skills.
Leadership skills: Product managers need to have great leadership and delegation skills, as they are responsible for managing various cross-functional teams during the product lifecycle.
Get Certified
A great way to fine-tune your potential as an aspiring product manager is by taking additional certification courses that will make you job-ready.
Here are some of the in-demand certification courses that you can consider taking:
- Product Owner Certificate - PMHQ
- Product Management Certificate - Product School
- Digital Product Management Certification by Boston University (edX)
- Product Strategy (Northwestern Kellogg School of Management)
- Digital Product Management Certification: Modern Fundamentals by University of Virginia (Coursera)
- Brand and Product Management Certification Course (Coursera)
- The Certified Product Manager Credentials (AIPMM)
- Software Product Management by University of Alberta (Coursera)
- Product Management Certification with Lean, Agile, and System Design Thinking (edX)
- Certified Product Manager (280Group)
Start Networking
Networking is an important part of landing any type of job.
But, most of the candidates don't follow this approach and settle for applying for jobs the traditional way.
Hence, to beat the crowd of applicants and land your dream product manager job, you must start networking.
You can begin by revamping your LinkedIn profile and ensuring that it showcases your potential as an aspiring product manager.
Once you're sure about your profile, you can then follow the official pages of the company you want to work for and see which of your connections are associated with these groups.
And look out for alumni associated with your college or university to see if any of these people are working in the same organization.
You can reach out to them and find out if they have any referrals for you.
Build an Outstanding Product Manager Resume
Having an outstanding product manager resume is one of the most important factors that can determine your chances of landing product manager jobs.
Your resume has to showcase your skills and experiences in line with the requirements of the company that you are targeting.
Only then will the recruiters consider your candidacy.
Also, since most of the high-scale companies now use the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to select the best-suited resumes to fill their job vacancies, you need to ensure that your resume ranks high in the ATS.
You can do so by making sure that your product manager resume has enough industry-related keywords.
Also read: How to write an ATS-friendly resume?
Write a Compelling Cover Letter
To support your resume and stand out from the pool of candidates, write a compelling product manager cover letter.
In your cover letter show the recruiters how your skills and experiences are aligned with their requirements and emphasize how you can add value to the company.
Ensure to address the letter with the hiring manager's name and keep the content concise and crisp.
Writing a cover letter following these tips will help you increase your chances of getting hired and put you forward as a candidate who is genuinely interested in the role.
Prepare for Interviews
If you want to nail job interviews and bag product manager jobs, you must prepare well.
You don't second chances during interviews and if you don't prepare well, it will reflect in your performance.
Many candidates make the mistake of going to job interviews without knowing anything about the company they're interviewing for, which becomes the primary reason for their rejection.
Hence, to show the recruiters that you are sincerely interested in working for the company and frame compelling answers to common interview questions like "why do you want to work for us?" or "what do you know about the company", you must research the company.
Additionally, ensure to thoroughly analyze the job description provided in the listing and practice common interview questions for product managers.
Also read: What are some top tips to help you ace job interviews?
Product Manager Jobs Salary
The average annual salary of a product manager in the US is $89,908.
However, this salary figure can vary widely depending on your experience level, location, employer, skills, and industry.
For instance, a product manager with 3-4 years of experience can earn an average salary of $64,552 while product managers with 8-10+ years of experience can easily make a six-figure salary.
Likewise, due to the factors such as living costs, demand for talent, and labor laws, a product manager's salary will vary based on their geographical location.
The following are some of the highest paying US cities for product managers jobs:
| US CITIES | AVERAGE SALARY |
|---|---|
| New York, NY | $104,132 |
| Seattle, WA | $100,852 |
| Chicago, IL | $97,499 |
| Redmond, WA | $97,228 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $94,847 |
| Atlanta, GA | $94,403 |
| Dallas, TX | $93,639 |
| Austin, TX | $92,963 |
| Houston, TX | $91,833 |
The below-given table shows the top companies that pay extremely well for product manager jobs:
| COMPANIES | AVERAGE SALARY |
|---|---|
| VMware | $177,444 |
| Meta | $172,974 |
| Boeing | $172,409 |
| Oracle | $162,544 |
| Accenture | $158,812 |
| $155,540 | |
| Workday | $155,096 |
| Walmart | $154,238 |
| Amazon | $151,907 |
| Samsung Electronics | $147,871 |
Concluding Points
- A product manager is responsible for identifying customer needs, defining the product vision, and ensuring the end product meets the user requirements.
- Since the role of a product manager requires the candidates to have an array of skills, landing product manager jobs can be difficult.
- Technical product manager, group product manager, and product marketing manager are some of the common job titles under product management roles.
- The minimum educational requirement to become a product manager is a bachelor’s degree in product design, engineering, or a related field.
- To land product manager jobs, you must have great communication skills, domain expertise, and business skills.
- Getting certified and building a compelling product manager resume are important steps that will help you bag product managers jobs.
- The average annual salary of a product manager in the US is $89,908.
If you need expert guidance to kick-start your career as a product manager, head on over to Hiration’s career platform with 24x7 chat support and reach out to us at support@hiration.com.
