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What would be the best roadmap to become a successful PMM?

I had been managing a large organisation with over 4500 ppl, and nowadays I would like to shift my career to product marketing, and without owning the title previously i don't have courage to even apply a pm position. What road should i take to feel that i am ready?
2 Answers
Sharadhi (Gadagkar) Patel
Sharadhi (Gadagkar) Patel
Handshake Director, Product MarketingJune 1

There’s probably a thousand different combinations of answers to this question, depending on who you ask. I’ve seen incredibly successful PMMs come from all sorts of backgrounds - everything from engineering, to education, to real-estate backgrounds, and everything in between. However, I think there are 3 common skills that I’ve seen across the most successful PMMs I know: 


1. Empathy and understanding of your customer base and what they want.
2. Excitement and a deep knowledge of your product and the space you play in.
3. The ability to tell a compelling story to not only your market, but also across your many different internal stakeholders. 

If you can demonstrate your expertise in any of these areas based on your previous experience, that will help open the door to PMM interviews, even if you don't have direct PMM experience in the past . Also worth noting is make those skills apparent on your resume, LI, etc...and be clear about why you're looking to shift your career and how your previous experience will benefit the team. 

It’s rare to have mastered all 3 of the above skills, but in my opinion, this should be the north star(s) for every successful PMM. And lucky for us, there are plenty of roads to actually get there. 

934 Views
Josh Bean
Josh Bean
Zendesk Senior Director Product MarketingJanuary 27

Nobody is ever fully prepared to take that next leap. The fact that you're here on Sharebird learning is a good first step. In regards to building courage, the worst thing that happens is you apply and don't hear back from the employeer, there's only opportunity. If you've managed 4.5k employees you probably have some relevant experience that will get you a call back.

756 Views
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