What do you look for in the backgrounds of aspiring consumer product marketers (who have never held the role before) as a signal that they will be a good hire?

In general, I don't really think "background" is that important. To me, background does not = skills. I hire for signal on skill and not for whether or not somebody has done something before.  We have some absolutely incredible PMMs on Eats and almost all of them came from a background that was not Product Marketing.  Because the function and the role is growing so quickly, you rarely find somebody who's spent 5 years in Consumer PMM for example. Instead, hone your skills.  Uncover great insight ...Read More

I myself come from a less than traditional path to PMM after spending the first half of my career on the brand side of the house. I may be biased, but I think less than traditional backgrounds are really valuable in a PMM and I typically look for a couple of key characteristics: Trust Building I look at roles this person has had before and ask about the stakeholders they've had to work with. So much of PMM is being at the center of a wheel where you need to operate without top-down automony. I l ...Read More

It all depends on the role I am hiring for and what stage a company is at, but on a general note, I would look for transferable experience and skills that could work well for the role. Crafting messaging/positioning, identifying user insights and translating them into strategy, influencing product/technical roadmaps, understanding market behaviors and trends, project managing projects from start to finish, Go-to-market campaigns (integrated or channel based), product development & packaging ...Read More

If someone is new to PMM, there are two skills I look for: Strategic thinking: Can you demonstrate an ability to take an intentional, rational thought process when solving problems? Can you get creative about solving a problem while also never losing sight of the end goal? Can you solve a problem as it develops / as you receive new information?  Ability to prioritize and execute: Can you cut through noise and narrow in on what’s most critically important? Once you have a plan, can you make that ...Read More

I have found that people who come from a customer-facing role in the past, or roles that combine the analytical with the creative, make for good hires. Specifically, I look for: Consumer-centric mindset and empathy: when thinking about problems to solve, do you put your audience at the center? How does that come to life within your role today? Have you ever pushed for something on behalf of your target audience because you cared deeply about building or communicating something to them that would ...Read More

Whether you are an experienced or aspiring product marketer, these are the qualities I look for in product marketing hires:  Customer obsessed. Product marketing is the voice of the customer and a successful product marketer is one that is customer obsessed and keeps the consumer at the core of all that they do. Product marketing's role is to help inform the product roadmap and market new products and features to consumers. If we don't have a deep understanding of who our customers are and what ...Read More

To understand whether someone new to consumer product marketing will likely succeed in that role, I usually look for a combination of skills that are both directly and indirectly related to the job. Skills that are directly related to the substance of product marketing work: Consumer-mindedness: Have they ever worked with gathering consumer insights before? Have they ever had to translate that to an action the business should take? Are they hungry for data about consumer behavior to help them ma ...Read More

I look for 3 main skills when bringing someone on the team:  Can they position themselves? If they have the skill to uniquely position themselves against other candidates, you've got yourself a master storyteller.  Are they able to manage multiple stakeholders? Test it in a panel interview and see how they do with differing opinions!  Do they have a hunger to learn? This one really takes the cake. I'll usually test this theory in real time by asking them to perform a task or brainstorm in real-t ...Read More