How can someone from a different field like engineering transition to product management?

Great question. In my personal career journey as well as several hires I’ve made I’ve always found it helpful to try the new role before you go all in. When I was at a startup where we didn’t have well defined programs like Google’s 20% program or PM rotations, I asked to work with the PM team for 6 months on the side where I took on some of the PM responsibilities for a non-critical product. By doing so, I personally got conviction if the role was right for me and the PM team also got to see me ...Read More

Product management is not a field that someone usually formally studies for and gets into. This is typically a field where someone gains domain expertise and transitions into the product role to represent the customer and value for a business. Transitioning from any role into another role usually means having translatable skills. Between engineering and product there is a lot of context that is shared: Processes for building software User expectations and behaviors when interacting with software ...Read More

Fairly easily potentially, compared to transitioning from other less-related fields. Product Management is as much art as it is discipline or science. Leveraging technical expertise related to the same or adjacent PM area helps. Some job descriptions will even require engineering experience or area of study. One major pitfall to avoid however, is remaining in "engineering mode" as a PM. As PMs, our focus should be on the WHAT, WHO, and the WHY, whereas Eng/Data Science's focus is more on the HOW ...Read More

For any career transition, it comes down to being clear in your mind and being able to articulate answers to the the following questions "Why" are you seeking this transition ? "What" skills from your previous role will prove favorable as your make this transition and what skills might prove unfavorable ? For example: On the favorable front, knowing how engineering works might help you know the process and collaborate with empathy for your engineering team. However on the unfavorable front, engi ...Read More

I'm a fan of pairing. Often times Engineering works so closely with product, it is easy enough to sit more closely with your product partner and work through problems together. Ask questions and learn while on the job. If and when you get comfortable enough, start to volunteer to take on different tasks. I've worked with engineers who pair with me in writing requirements, buidling out tickets, reviewing designs, conducting user research. With this, you can now speak to first hand experiences and ...Read More

I think most great PMs come from a different field first. I have not worked with anyone who hasn't but I know they're out there. This is because the context that you gain from whatever your field is will help you have a superpower as a PM to build on. For me that was coming from analytics, so data is a core superpower. For a software engineer, understanding the architecture and being able to translate requirements really effectively could be your superpower to build from. My recommendation to he ...Read More