Job Search Boost: From Program Manager to Product Manager
How to transition into Product Management with confidence
Today, I will be trying something new with our newsletter - I've had the privilege of connecting with so many inspiring individuals through my mentorship platform. I will be condensing insights from the many sessions into a 4 part series that highlights some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve gotten from my conversations:
How to leverage your experience as a Program Manager as you try to break into a Product Manager role ← No. 1 Most Asked Question (and focus for this post)
How do you talk about your experience within Trust & Safety and Integrity as you navigate the job market
How do you land a Product Manager job in the UK when applying from abroad
How do you make sure your CV passes the initial screening and get a recruiter call back
If topics 2-4 interest you please tell me in the comments. I’d also love to know if there’s something you’d like me to cover as a part of Breaking into Product Management that isn’t listed here.
Leveraging Program Manager experience to transition into a Product Manager role
Transitioning from Program Management (PgM) into Product Management (PM) is like transitioning into Product from any other role. In a lot of ways, it feels like a logical career progression.
And for a lot of PgMs, you'll find that in the job application process, nailing that first round of screening interviews is crucial. This is the round that determines whether the interviewer (usually the hiring manager) thinks you’re a good PM fit for their team. For a lot of aspiring first-time PMs, this is usually where people reach a dead end (and often it feels like it’s over before you even have a chance). In a lot of tech companies, the interview stages follow some version of the stages below (Note: this varies by seniority):
Resume Review by ATS and/or Recruiting POCs
Initial Screening call with a Recruiter to assess basic fit
Hiring Manager Screen to assess relevant experience and culture fit
That’s then followed by the “Final Loop” which includes Product Sense/ Strategy, Execution/Data, Behavioral, and Leadership rounds.
Bonus: Some companies also have rounds to assess domain expertise with cross-functional partners (usually after applicants pass the loop) or take-home assignments (usually before placing applicants through the loop).
While Product Sense and Execution rounds require their own kind of prep [a newsletter article for another day] - the Initial Screen and Behavioral rounds draw from your lived experiences, skills, and ability to inspire confidence in the interviewer.
Positioning your Program Manager experience
That’s why leveraging your Program Manager experience strategically is key when you reach these conversations. Here are some tactical tips to help you excel during this phase:
🤝 Emphasize Your Cross-Functional Collaboration: Program managers, like product managers, work closely with different teams and thrive on cross-functional collaboration. Highlight your experience in coordinating efforts, resolving conflicts, and driving consensus among various stakeholders. Remember as a PgM you may even be better at this than a Product Manager.
🚨Keep in mind🚨: Product Managers own the team’s relationship with the company’s leadership team. They’re cross-functional collaboration extends beyond working with stakeholders to driving strategic buy-in from leadership, and as a Program Manager that may be hard to demonstrate. Be up-front about this as a possible gap and have a mitigation plan ready. **
🚀 Showcase Your Ownership of Outcomes: While program managers ensure processes flow smoothly, product managers own the product's success. Demonstrate your ability to take ownership of strategic goals, measure success metrics, and adapt strategies based on results.
🚨Keep in mind🚨: Owning the outcomes of a product is like marriage. Both wins and failures are the responsibility of a Product Manager. Ownership doesn’t just mean pivoting when A/B Test results don’t achieve the desired result, or redesigning a flow based on user feedback. Ownership extends to the entire roadmap and prioritization (or deprioritization) of projects across your scope of responsibilities.
💡 Highlight Problem-Solving Parallels: Program Managers tackle intricate challenges, akin to Product Managers. Illustrate your resourcefulness in identifying and creatively addressing issues. Showcase your ability to understand and make effective trade-offs – a skill at the heart of effective product management.
🚨Keep in mind🚨: The scope of a Product Manager’s problems typically encompasses issues across Product, Design, Operations, Engineering, Legal, etc. Use examples to illustrate how you've identified and addressed issues creatively, as this mirrors the problem-solving nature of a Product Manager's role.
👥 Demonstrate Customer Empathy: Just as Program Managers understand the needs of their stakeholders, Product Managers must deeply understand the needs of users. Illustrate your capacity to channel user needs into impactful product features.
🚨Keep in mind🚨: Product Managers talk to their core users, be it businesses or consumers. They understand the nuances of their needs and pain points better than anyone. This might be tough for most Program Managers who haven’t worked directly with users. However, if you’ve been a PgM at big FAANG company, building and managing internal tools - note that the sheer volume of internal employees using your product is often in the 10s of thousands - and that itself is sometimes the user base size of a small B2B SAAS company.
🔌 Translating Technical Details: Bridging the gap between tech and non-tech teams is a quintessential Product Manager trait. Your proficiency in translating complex technical information positions you as a pivotal communicator.
🚨Keep in mind🚨: Program Managers may not always work directly with engineering teams, while Product Managers must bridge the technical gap and collaborate closely with tech teams. Learn to bridge the skill gap by familiarizing yourself with product development rituals like writing PRDs or leading project kick-offs. Also get accustomed to working with commonly used tools like JIRA, Confluence, and Figma. Most non-FAANG companies do not have in-house tooling.
How to craft 10/10 answers to Behavioral Questions
Crafting 10/10 answers to behavioral questions in interviews requires careful preparation, storytelling skills, and a structured approach. And ideally, not a lot of thinking on your part in the moment - simply because you’re just that well prepared. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you deliver exceptional responses:
Introspect on your career and identify your big wins
Select projects that showcase a strong depth and breadth of Product Management (PM-esque) skills
Structure your stories in a STAR (Situation Task Action Result) format - Use ChatGPT to help
Whenever possible, quantify your achievements. Use numbers and metrics to demonstrate the impact of your actions. Also, try to highlight the complexity and scope of the project (through team size, company priorities, cross-org. initiatives, etc). Ideally, as you progress in your career this should expand.
Prepare STAR stories to highlight a time when you exhibited each of these traits:
User-First Approach: This would be highlighting your ability to deeply understand user needs, pain points, and behaviors. Think of a time when you regularly engaged with customers, analyzed feedback, and used insights to shape or influence product strategies.
Strategic Thinking: Think of a time when you aligned product decisions with the overall business goals. Demonstrate that you are able to think strategically, prioritize initiatives, and make informed trade-offs.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Product managers work with engineers, designers, data scientists, and more. Prepare an example of when your effective communication, conflict resolution, and motivation drove everyone toward a common goal.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Think of a time when you used (or enabled the team to use) data to validate hypotheses, measure success, and iterate on product features. Talk about the analytics tools you used, how you leveraged qualitative and quantitative data, and highlight the ability to base decisions on evidence rather than assumptions. Even if you weren’t in the driver's seat and mediated these decisions, call out your learnings and takeaways.
Adaptability: The tech landscape is dynamic, requiring product managers to adapt to changes quickly. Think of a time when you embraced flexibility, learned from your failures, and pivoted strategies when necessary.
Influence and Leadership: Product managers often don't have direct authority but need to lead by influence, or as we’re all familiar with “influence without authority”. Think of a time when you inspired teams toward your product vision, leveraging strong communication skills and credibility.
Ownership: Think of a time when you took accountability for product outcomes, celebrating successes and learning from failures.
And remember: following these pointers (or any for that matter!) won’t guarantee success. But it’ll certainly improve your odds.
In closing, interviewing is never easy but if you’re calm and confident - that’s half the battle won. Take a moment to gather your thoughts before responding if needed. Remember to get enough reps in so that can interview confidently and succinctly. Mock interviews are your best friend to improve the Interviewing muscle (which is a skill in itself!).
Until the next one!
Want my help with your job search?
I offer a variety of products for career and job search coaching
If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend!