How to break into Product Management (Real Product Manager Stories)
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2021
- This is the story of how my friends and I swindled our way into product management at Google, Twitch, EA, and TikTok. I've also just released the full podcast episode where we deep dive into the lowlights and highlights of tech careers with Kristin Chen, Director of Product @ Soundcloud.
What Successful Executives Don't Tell You
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I'm Chloe ~ I tell stories about my life and I also happen to work in tech. Welcome to my channel where I share my stories on some of the biggest mistakes, decisions, and lessons in my life as a millennial techie. Enjoy!
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Love this Chloe!!! Thank you for interviewing me and sharing so much helpful advice with aspiring product managers!
Kristin!! You are so bombbbb! Can't believe I got to listen to your story. Thank you so, so much for sharing your experiences and insights. I know it's going to be helpful for others as they discover this!! :D :D
I love soundcloud, can't wait to listen to the podcast!
thank you for sharing your story!!
"Doesn't mean that we were slow to the game, we just learned different things along the way" - love that
Aww I'm glad you enjoyed that little tidbit ~ ^_^ I used to kick myself for not starting this process sooner, but I didn't have a hard time transitioning into the role since I had all that previous experience. :D
"It makes me want to create things that are a net positive on the internet." I'd say you're definitely achieving this, Chloe! Thanks for your helpful videos. More creators need to think the way you do! :)
Wow, this is so eye opening. I was fortunate to get a technology internship role in a big UK tech/media company (for each successful applicant there for around 85 rejections), and I could've been placed in any of the business-tech roles such as PM, business analyst, etc. When I started I found out that I was placed in product and was excited because I researched the role before, and was aware of the overall responsibility and day-to-day tasks roughly. BUT I had no idea it was such a sought after career. Hearing about how much work needs to be done to even get an interview is crazy. I'm glad I stumbled upon this super informative video because it gives me some fuel to really try and stand out over my final weeks here at the company.
Your content is great btw! Brilliant structure, editing, and your presentation is top notch
You deserve more subscribers and viewers!!!! Chloe I love how much you breakdown everything and give us a super clear insider view!!
This is amazing. Just found your channel. As a uni student about to graduate at the end of the year, you’ve really got me interested for this career path!! Good on you xx
So great to hear your stories and advice Chloe! I work in entry level product now, but this advice is helpful for me too!
This is so helpful! Going to listen to the podcast now and can’t wait for the video on interview tips! It would also be great to discuss how to best present/talk about your skills to suit product roles
omg you just made the most specific and relevant video for me. I am also really interested in working at a tech company, but have a bachelors of Advertising & Public Relations and I have found it impossible against other fresh techies during application phase, thanks for giving such solid advice!
I love Chloe. Because of her videos, I see possibilites for myself in Product Management and how I can try to turn those into reality. Thanks, Chloe!
Thank you for another great video. Loved the stories. As someone who only recently had a breakthrough getting a Product manager role, I was really able to relate to everything. Absolutely love how you go about your videos.. you definitely have a great product at your hand!
Hey, can you make a video on exactly what are the technical skills someone from a non tech background would need to break in ?
i subscribed halfway through the video, learning so much already and excited to binge watch your videos! ❤️
Thank you so much for this Chloe!! It is really ain't easy but having listen to stories surely gives hope and urge to try harder and do better
Love your voice! Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Keep the good content coming!
Chloe, thank you for making this video. This is super helpful. Kudos to you!
Yes, look forward to seeing more videos that offer tactical advice on how to prepare for transitioning to PM from another line such as technology consulting
Brilliant content! I started out in partnerships/biz dev and made it all the way up to management, but along the way I grew so much interest in PM, and now I'm giving it my best shot for an internal transfer.
Future content food for thought
-What's not to like in PM?
-The PM personality: are you the right one for the job?
-Common myths of being a PM
-How to piss off PMs in one sentence (and don't do it!)
From a fellow Taiwanese :) Keep up the good work!
You are giving away such awesome insight for aspiring PM's. Thanks for the videos!
Just want to say this was extremely useful in terms of some reflection. This isn't easy but not impossible - your grind is impressive!
Awesome video! I really enjoyed the snippets that you pulled in from your conversations with your friends!
OMG chloe you are so determine!! Thank you for all the useful advice!
This is such a good video 🥺 thank uu can’t wait see more and listen to the podcast
Zehra - thank you so much!! Yess, I highly recommend the podcast episode. It was really enlightening for me to even hear about from Kristin directly!
Thanks for sharing Chloe. Very useful information!
I'm sure this is super helpful to those who want to break into PM. Very insightful! Enjoyed the video, Chloe!
Always love hearing everyone's PM journeys! Each one is so unique.
amen!
I love this PM series!!!!! Could you talk more about how does PMs figure out users' needs and what features they should offer? Do they talk to users directly? Do they just come up with ideas? Or is there a department in the company that collects & analyze user data and report it to PMs?
Hi Yingxiu! Oh this is a very long process and something I can definitely help tackle. But there are generally a ton of different sources of signal for ideas to come up. Generally PMs don't look for solutions - they look for pain points. There's also always a mission/goal that we're building towards. So the question is usually "what pain points do our users face right now that keep them from getting to the goal that we want them to reach?" Data insights, user research, feedback from partners, customer support tickets, feedback from social channels (like Twitter, Reddit, etc,), and our internal cross-functional partners always give us a lot to work with already. Yes, there are also teams that collect and analyze user data to share with product teams and make recommendations!
Thank you for sharing this, Chloe! All of your videos are so well spoken and easy to pick up. I hope to see more videos!
Aww thank you so much for the kind message! Definitely motivates me to keep up the work on the channel. Hope to see you again!
Great Production Quality, Personality, Content, and Great Looks. You have all the ingredients to blow UP!!
Omgg ahhh such kind words! Thank you so much for posting such a positive comment. Really amping me up to be creative here on RUclips! :D
I'm a newborn PM and I'm loving these PM videos! Treasure! Could you please share with us your best practices? It would be really helpful! Thank you so much!
I feel inspired by you Chloe! Have similar experience (biz dev) and now I am moving into PM. Thanks for sharing!
That. Was. So. Good. So much insight/ resources in 1 video
Another super engaging and informative video! The diversity of journeys to becoming a PM from you and your PM friends was v interesting. Also I LOVE your graphics!
aww thanks ling!! yeah, it's really neat to hear everyone else's stories too! and also, thank u so much on the note of the graphics T_T i wish i took any art or design classes growing up. stuff is so cool x_x learning as much as i can from the internet to design cool stuff in the digital space!
Just the motivation I needed ❤️
I really loved this video! So helpful and insightful. Thank you so much for sharing your journey. It sounds super tough but it's good to know that it is possible to transition to PM eventually with the right network/connection/practice and patience. I would love to see more PM related videos :) You are such an inspiration!
Hi Annie! Thank you so much for sharing this kind comment! I'm glad this video was helpful. I definitely have a lot more stories to share. Lmk if there are specific topics that you think would be helpful for me to cover!
Thank you Chloe! Found your videos after seeking for an options to career change!
You’re spot about the experience required to get a job but in order to get the job you need experience is so true it hurts.
I’m a PO and eventually want to make the leap to consumer tech PM but struggling because I do not have a prestigious background. However this was very cool and insightful - thanks!
Love the quality of the content and the video editing! Thank you for sharing all this info! :D ✨
aww thank you jacob!! i'm glad you enjoyed the editing heh :)
thank you for sharing these stories! appreciate this!
Thank you for watching!
thanks for sharing all these videos about your career! i enjoy watching them! 😁
Glad you like them!
Such a great video, thanks for posting! Love your energy 😄
Thank you so much for the support! Glad you enjoyed the video ~ I will def keep up the energy! :D
This is great! I love the level of detail from different companies. Subscribed. I think internal transfers from other roles sometimes have a super power, if they are willing to put in the extra effort and take action. They can pitch ideas within their teams, engineers can build prototypes, BI engineers can go deep into the data to create a persuasive arguments. They know everyone and can rally stakeholders even before they get the PM title. This in turn will help them gain experience and pass the internal interview (where it's needed).
I agree! They've got lots of context of how other crossfunctional roles need to rely on product. :)
Love your style! And definitely super helpful since I'm wanting to break into product management as well. You've earned a new sub! :)
Aww thank you so much!! And welcome to the channel! Let me know if there are particular topics that would be helpful for ya :D
Keep up the good work and nice to hear such refreshing stories from your industry!
Yeah!! So many stories out here that we don't take the time to share out. I hope to continue sharing more!
You are really impressive. I am a grad student and doing an internship as PM but had some doubts bcz of XYZ reasons. But your videos helped me build my confidence for a PM career. Thanks a lot. Please keep posting new content. Cheers
Hi Lakshya!! Thanks so much for the kind and thoughtful comment! I'm so glad this has been helpful. :D Let me know if there are other topics you'd like me to tackle that'd be helpful. :)
Thanks so much for sharing all of these amazing stories! I hope to be able to join y'all & share my story in breaking into Product Management too 🤩 I have a product management interview coming up at a FAANG company and i am NERVOUS, but also super excited to be one step closer! 🙌🏼 been lovin' all of your videos!!!
This is such a helpful video! Love your positive vibe!
I'm glad it was helpful~ Yay for positive vibes ^_^
Loved your enegy! Informative as usual😇
Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed this!! Lmk if there are other topics that may be helpful. :)
Love your videos!!!
yes more please - tactical advice and resume advice!
Thank you for the great content, Chloe!
Thanks for watching!
Loved the video. Will wait for the tactical advice. Just started my journey.
I'm gonna be transitioning into PM from Marketing! Wish me luck. I'm excited but also extremely nervous if I'll be successful 😬
Omgg that's huge!! Best of luck on the transition!! I wish you all the success in the process ~
I'm a newbie in PM, would love some tips on how to be a good/successful PM once you've landed the role!
Your videos and Tiktoks are so helpful Chloe... Thank you!
aww i'm so glad to hear, sophia!! thanks for stopping by my youtube!
+1 to decode and conquer! it's my go-to resource for pm interviews
Another super helpful video. Thank you for sharing Chloe
Glad you enjoyed!! ^_^
Hi Chloe, Idk how the youtube algorithm works but this video was an automatic click. And I'm kind of contemplating on recent decisions I've made haha.
My situation is so incredibly similar to yours! I work at a ride-hailing tech company in SEA - in partnerships! - I love it, it's so fun and challenging, but I definitely agree, the bottlenecks are always with product teams. But that sparked my interest! There was an internal transfer for a role that works hand in hand with new features. I tried scratching the surface by reaching out to someone I knew on the team and he told me, try it! So I did, because I thought it was a great opportunity. It turns out the PM was interested in me and sought out to hire me, but I definitely chickened out and believed I was not fit for the role.
I some how regret backing out (tbh I didn't want to be one of those people you mentioned, freaked out and resigned) but I don't regret not taking the offer and staying in my current role. For now, I think I'll seek more knowledge and grow in partnerships but who knows, maybe in the future I'll be a better fit to be a PM.
Thank you so much for sharing. Looking forward to watching more of these!
Hi audy! Wow, this is such a journey! Thank you so much for sharing what you went through. No worries about that job. If you didn't feel good about it, then it was the right decision to say no. New opportunities will come very, very soon especially now that you have your intentions set. It was definitely a difficult transition for me, but I'm wishing you all the best! Hope you're able to find a PM sponsor to take you up sooner rather than later. Lmk if you have any questions or topics that you'd like me to cover here to help out!! :D
This is ao helpful. Thank you, Chloe!
Glad it was helpful!
So awesome, thanks so much for sharing your story Chloe!
Glad you enjoyed!
Ugh I wish that I had found your channel sooner! Love it!
haha, well i'm glad you're here now!
Glad that I found your channel. I am currently in an APM position and I have no clue what the next steps were.
Congrats on getting the APM position! That's huge!! Glad you found this video helpful. Lmk if there are other topics you'd find useful that I can cover for you!
Thank you so much for all the useful tips, Chloe!!!
Glad it was helpful!
This is very helpful. Thanks!
Great video - thanks for sharing your input and experience!
Thanks for watching, Gabe!
I just got transferred into my Product team and I was looking forward to career paths. This seems so exciting and fulfilling! Thank you for making this video.
Hi Suzanne! I'm so glad you enjoy the video. Let me know if there are topics you'd like me to cover! :D
@@chloeshih I currently working for an SaaS company in the digital healthcare space.. I'd love to work in the gaming industry however. I have a -few- connects, so maybe you could do industry-specific videos for different kinds of PMs? Just a thought.
Also, followed your twitch and joining your discord. Love to see more gamer girls in this working space!
tHANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO. IM IN A PIVOTING POINT IN MY CAREER AND THIS HELPED ME STAY ENCOURAGED!!
KEEP IT UP!!
Such an informative video, Chloe! Thank you for taking the time to interview different people because it gave such varied answers. Looking forward to your next video :)
Canisha - so glad you enjoyed the video! It took quite a while to curate everyone's stories properly haha. People's paths are always so different and we don't always need to fit into the same shoes as everyone else. Looking forward to creating more stuff too!!
Thanks Chloe, been a Project Management and Business Analyst in consulting and have been considering a switch, your videos on the topic are very helpful
So glad you found it helpful! Lmk if there are other topics you'd find helpful for me to cover! :)
Awesome video. I currently work in FP&A and meeting with our VP of product tommorow to start learning what exactly she does. We are a Microsoft partner so this should be fun :)
Great video! Cant wait till the video about the tactical stuff you mentioned
Yes! Let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like to hear!
Thanks for the video Chloe, once again lots of notes. I tried transferring internally myself, but, as you said, it's really difficult. Maybe I was too good as a web developer and they didn't want to lose my skills there :)
Thank you! because i'm trying to go from being an M365 Cloud Engineer to a Product Manager. I have some of the necessary skills, but i'm working on sharpening my terminology knowledge and Agile tools.
Oh wow that's super neat! Cloud Engineer to PM is such an interesting transition. I'm sure you have plenty of skills that other PMs don't have in the space. Lmk if there are other topics for me to tackle that would be beneficial for you!
Hi Elizabeth, I’m a fashion designer who is looking to transition into product management and I’m completely clueless as to where and how to begin. Would you be kind to help with leads. Thank you
Thanks so much for the advice, It really has help loved the channel =)
Thank you for this! I am a teacher trying to break into this!! I realized I have a lot of skills that I use already that PM's use!
WOO! Let's go Angeline!!
Hi Chloe! I have been working as a project manager but recently I start thinking of transition to a Product role and your video helped me a lot. Keep posting, you doing a great job. Cheers!
Thank you, this is really helpful and insightful :)
Miles - I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for taking the time to drop a message. :)
Hi! Thanks for the highly informative video. The role sounds like it would be challenging and require really strong organization and communication skills. It also sounds like there is a great deal of creativity and research involved in it too. I don't doubt for a second that it probably be extremely rewarding once a product feature rolls out but equally as challenging in moments when processes are not running as smoothly. Thanks for providing a really balanced view of the role, it is a highly sought-after role and this video really gave me the confidence to actually put myself out there!
Editing is 🔥 and entertaining/ informative
Haha thank you very much ~ Appreciate this comment a lot haha
Hey Chloe!! Thanks for the insight! I’m an Account Manager at Twitter looking to transition into PM and I can relate your background in Biz Dev! This video gave me confidence to know that I can make the transition. Thanks again! 🙏🏾
Omg I’m so glad this video is helpful! Lmk if there are other topics that you would find useful to you during your transition! Wishing you all the best in your career journey ~
Great insight! I would love to know more about your expectations vs reality being a PM.
Congrats on the 1k subscribers! Also where is the coffee? XD
Oh man expectations vs reality... That's a good topic. Thanks for the suggestion. Also, yay!! I did hit 1K~ So proud!! annnnd i knew someone would call me out for the coffee vs tea xD it's just that tea time with chloe doesn't feel the same haha
Great sharing! I guess this is the trade off for getting a product manager title? Btw, I worked in Chinese and American tech, so totally understand what you are saying. I feel like it is very hard for Chinese international tech companies to operate like American big tech, one reason is the broader culture difference, the other is the pressure from the tension between US and China. There is def much room for improvement but I don’t know when and how. I don’t think it is related to the home country’s development stage cuz if you look at companies from more developed Asian countries like Japan and Korea, the working environment has similar toxic elements. Not saying American working environment is perfect. Different system has different playbook and people problems, so my suggestion would be set reasonable expectations and do due diligence before getting in, get what you need, and go for the next.
Thanks Chloe for sharing your day, it’s really exciting to understand how the workday goes from your eyes. I’m also very similar in the sense that I tend to do things as they come along, disrupting the original work that I was supposed to focus on hahaha XD always a struggle but we’ll get through and it has its benefits too!
i swear i'm so bad at context switching, yet i do it all the time T_T
@@chloeshih Me too hahaha. I often forget what I initially wanted to do too 😅 (just realised my comment is on the wrong video 🤦🏼♀️)
Hi, glad i found this channel. Its very interesting to see how you approach challenges. This is something completelty foreign in europe I think, at least in Poland. Nice eyeopener.
Oh really!? I have no idea how the approach is in Europe, but I imagine it would be quite similar through product management. I'm glad this was insightful to you!
OMG, Chloe I came across your channel today and I've been so inspired. I transitioned from a Finance background (experience with the big 4) into product management. I've learned coding and taken a few courses on product management. Getting jobs has been a bit challenging because I don't have experience in a product role (but how can I have experience if I don't work first🙃). I've been able to take a few tips from this video, and I'm optimistic that it'll help me bag a job in PM.
Helloo!! What Product management courses did you take and where did you learn coding? Keep us updated on your journey! 😊😊
@@imakuro9066 I took some free courses from Product School™️, and I enrolled for a paid coding Bootcamp (physical)in my country. You can also learn to code virtually from online platforms like Coursera, Udacity, Codeacademy, Pluralsight, RUclips.
Tysm!!
Hi Chloe! (Ex?)-Taipei expat here. Just want to thank you for making the video. I have a consulting background and I tried to break into product but it was such a painful process from the consulting side I basically gave up. Seeing your video gave me both trauma 😪 but also hope!
I’m pivoting to software engineering now but will probably revisit product again in the future. Looking forward to the rest of your videos!
Hi Henry! Omg another Taipei expat! :D Yes consulting to PM is very common. The transition into PM is always really challenging :( Pivoting to SWE is also great! You can also work with your future manager to give you opportunities to PM some of your features on the team. That way you have experience for product and it'll be useful for you if/when you want to switch over!
Thank you, Chloe! :)
Please create more such videos in the product manager series
I don’t comment much, but her video quality was so good that I immediately decided to subscribe but found that i was already her subscriber.
Omg this comment hahah you are too sweet!
thanks so much for such a helpful video! i was wondering what would be some product adjacent roles and also could you make a video on tips for people starting out on their first job/how to get managers to advocate for you?
Hi Jen! That's a really good question! Some product adjacent are:
Product Marketing Manager (PMM)
Product Analyst (like a data analyst but specifically on a product and not like marketing)
Product Specialist / Product Operations
Product Consultant
Product Owner
In any adjacent role, you really should try to work directly with engineering, design, and product managers to make the transition easier!
Also your suggestion on tips for starting first jobs and getting managers to advocate are great topics. Will definitely add those to my videos in the near future. Stay tuned!! :)
Thank you very much for sharing!!! I'm working in product also, but in my first year only, and I have so many questions. Watching your channel really motivated me!! Can you also share what's the hard skills or tools specifically that we should keep learning to be the best product manager? Thanks again Chloe!!!
I'd say it depends on what kind of products/markets you work with. E.g. if you are building developer products, you might want to think about making developer friends and taking CS courses online.
i really like the way you shared in the video....
thank you dear ..god bless you
Hey, love your channel as I'm trying to switch my career path from SE to PM. Do you mind telling me what are the basic skills that I need to learn to land my first PM job?
Thank, Chloe. You're sunshine!
☀️☀️☀️☀️
fascinated by your style...
I really wanted to make my career in product management...
Please help me out what qualifications a PM have to... And how I can start my career in PM as a fresher/entry level
i'm so happy i found you
man can totally relate with HR/ clueless Managers blocking internal roles
The worst 😩😩😩