Getting into Product Management

2023-07-01

How it all started

Like most 17/18 year olds who are asked to make big life choices about what they want to do as a career for what felt like would be 'the rest of my life', I didn't quite know what I wanted to do...I just knew what I liked and what I liked in high school was English and Sociology.

Naturally, I thought if I studied what I love, the career will follow. But the further I got into my degree, the more I realised I was becoming less aligned to a career pathway in 'the arts' and more aligned to technology.

How did this come about?

As a highly competitive individual, I was always put a lot of effort into my studies. The fruits of my labour paid off with an invitation to join an Undergraduate Research Group at Monash Uni known as the 'Global Leadership And Research Program', I applied and got in. When I started the Program, there were 150 students split out into 30 groups. These groups were tasked with putting together a research proposal and of the 30 groups the top 5 would be funded and the students would be able to conduct their research.

I was paired with 2 bio med students and 1 international business student. We didn't have a lot in common and this helped form the basis of my idea which the team decided to adopt as the research proposal; A Study of Acculturation on international students and how to bridge the gap.

The recommendations we made in our proposal were to create a game environment that would allow international students to explore a virtual version of the Monash Campus, completing and trying tasks like asking for special consideration, getting a medical certificate and navigating to classes.

We ended up being 1 of the Top 5 groups to be awarded the funding to conduct our research. This was my first exposure to a technical project, it required me to work with and solidify relationships with the engineering grads to help build the virtual environment; emailing department heads and coordinating with administration across the campus to secure further funding and access to resources to fulfil the project. I always just saw myself as 'the organised one' in the group and 'the ideas person', I didn't know then that this was my fundamental training and preparation for a fruitful career in product management.

This project was the most exciting thing I had done at uni, and it gave me a taste for IT I didn't know I had. a 6 month internship in Policy Management confirmed for me that I was done with the arts and that following a passion for technology was the best path forward for me. So, I was presented with a problem? How do I get 'into tech'?

The Answer?

Networking, Communication and Evidence.

I had no real background in tech, I hadn't studied any IT subjects outside of the project I had lived and breathed for a year. What I did have was excellent communication, a competitive edge from my time in arts that meant I was always willing to prove myself and evidence of the project I had completed that showed I had leadership skills, coordination, time management and was analytic and process orientated.

This landed me my first role as a Tender developer and later Business Analyst. I had been so worried about my degree not meeting the qualification vertical I see on most job adds that I thought I'd never get a fighting chance in IT...But I was wrong.

Micro certifications

During that first role, I took any and all learning opportunities I could to do short courses and extend myself where supported. If you're lucky enough, your employer may have an education budget, if they do, leverage it! I completed an automated testing course and business analysis diploma during covid and this helped solidify and provide me with an analytical framework.

At this point, I had never heard of product management before. The world I knew was business analysts and project managers. The language may change, but the fundamental concepts remain the same.

Once I got into an early stage start up as a Product Manager, I grew immensely. When you're forced to wear multiple hats and challenge yourself on a daily basis, you'll soon figure out if your right for that role type or not. Fortunately for me, the natural attributes I have-that had always helped me in the Arts-meant I was able to easily adapt to Product Management;

1. Time Management

2. Organisation Skils

3. People Skills/ Communicating up and down

4. Outside the box thinking

5. Confidence

Conclusion: Advocate for yourself

The most important thing above all else is not to sell yourself short. Invest in improving yourself, whether it be through online courses or through sweat equity/ start up opportunities. If you put in the work AND your able to not only know your worth but advocate for yourself, opportunities will come.