As of 2024, there are over half a million product managers in the world actively working to improve the product experience across various factors.
The product manager role has grown in prominence to the extent that every product organization is growing its product team to lead the strategic initiatives for the improvements and innovations in products.
The median salary for a product manager role across the globe is approx. $110,916 per year.
** The data may vary as per sources as these are aggregated from various websites.
Where to get started
The role has become such a crucial cog in product organizations that numerous courses are dedicated to learning this craft. Mind you, there are multiple facets to mastering the art of Product Management, the courses are ample to give you a complete rundown.
CareerFoundry.com, ProductSchool.com, Coursera.com, etc. are some of the best platforms to gain the knowledge required to begin in the role of Product Manager.
One crucial part is building a portfolio.
How did I approach the initial learning phase?
When I first started with my journey to be a product manager, I tried to break down the initial learning phase into 5 steps with each step providing a clear win for me to progress to the next stage.
Let’s break down these 5 steps.
Product Mindset
The essential step to get into product management is developing a product mindset. It means creating solutions that provide real value to the user. It involves developing a real connection with the user through continuous communication and building empathy towards the user’s problems. A product manager represents the user in an organization.
Strategic Thinking and Problem Solving
A product manager needs to always look at the bigger picture. Gather data to analyze and strategize a plan to align the future of the product with that of the overall organizational goals. Always focussing on the WHY rather than the HOW.
Take a step back to look at the holistic view before visualizing solutions. Build as many hypotheses as you can to understand the core of the problem, the right problem and design a solution with high impact and great value to the user.
Industry Trends & Latest Technologies
A product manager has to wear many hats and coordinate with multiple disciplines and stakeholders. An executive will expect you to be strategic in your dialogue, a designer will expect you to understand the design thinking approach while the engineering department will throw technical jargon at you. A product manager’s job is to bring all of them on board without actually diving too deep into any one field. It is of paramount importance to be up-to-date with all the latest trends in the world of technology and the respective domain to speak the appropriate language with stakeholders.
Certifications, Courses & Community
While self-development is key to being an expert in any field, there will always be a need to show some kind of proof of that development. Luckily, Product Management courses and certifications are available in abundance. Some provide a proper university-level in-depth year-long hands-on course while some provide a fast-paced highlight that will help you get started and learn as you tackle real-world problems. You can’t go wrong with either approach but the idea is to have a legitimate certification at the end to add to your CV.
Community is a big part of the learning process. There are product meetups in your local area, Online communities on X.com, Slack channels, and/or the product management group in your organization which can help solve many of the queries you might have on how to get started or learn about the trending topics in Product Management.
Portfolio
As it is with certifications that provide a body of proof of the knowledge you have gained around any subject, there is no better way to showcase the gained knowledge than to work on real projects and/or case studies. A typical subject for case study should include -
- A fresh look at an existing solution
- Data Focused Problem Validation and Solution
- Iterative improvement to existing product
The case study or the project should highlight your role and responsibility that showcase your proficiency for any future role you apply to. A typical structure of a draft case study includes the following, which might change as the research grows -
- The Problem
- The Goal
- Competitor Analysis
- Market Fit Analysis
- User Pain Points
- User Personas
- User Journeys
- Information Architecture / User Flow
- LoFi Wireframes
- HiFi Mockups / Prototypes
- Impact
- Metrics
- Lessons & Next Steps
Conclusion
Innumerable articles provide a detailed approach to learning Product Management and acquiring your first product manager role. This guide aims to distinctly provide a summary to look at key areas of Product Management and plan the learning route for any new and/or experienced professional.
Product Management is still an evolving field and someone with a passion to learn is a good fit for the role. What do you think? What are other essential yet simple ways to get started in product management for those who are just at the beginning of their journey?