How do you typically go about finding new PMMs for your team? Is it mostly recruitment based or do you search within your network?

As a hiring manager, I try to balance referrals and recommendations within my network with candidates who apply directly to an open role from our careers page or job sites. If you just hire people that come from your network, you often miss out on quality candidates who bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives. I take recommendations from colleagues and connections seriously and always give them a phone screen, but I try to make sure I'm not only looking at the referrals I'm getting. That said, if you can get an introduction or a referral for a job, you should take it! You're much more likely to get your foot in the door.

As a candidate, most of my jobs and opportunities have come because of the connections I've made and introductions my friends and colleagues have created for me. I feel really fortunate that it's worked out that way. The thing I will say is that sometimes those connections have been very weak. I've had someone reach out to a friend of theirs who they haven't spoken to in a while to see if they can make an introduction. Those weak connections have led to some of my most fulfilling roles. You don't need to be best friends with someone to ask them for a connection and if you're looking for a new role, I encourage you to see who in your network can give you a boost to help kickstart the recruiting process. 

In terms of where you should spend your time, meeting other PMMs is valuable even if they can't immediately help you find a role. It's been invaluable for me to have other product marketers to turn to for help and guidance and, yes, job referrals. However, I wouldn't dissuade you from applying cold to roles. I think a lot of people assume that hiring managers only look at referrals to fill their open role, but that's just not true. Some of the best hires I've ever made are people who cold applied to a role posted on my company's website. I touched on this a bit before but, if you cold apply, write a cover letter! Don't have it be formal and stiff, spend time explaining why you're excited about the role, what resonated with you from the job description, and anything you think would help your hiring manager get a feel for who you are and what you bring to the table.