img

Why you shouldn’t do PM internships?

Saw some misguided student post about PM internships. This is for anyone considering a PM internship. DONT. A fresher should not be going into Product Management. Focus on building hard skills first. You need an edge/alpha in your career strategy while reducing risk. Atleast work for 1 year in the industry in a hard skill role. Then, think about transitioning. This does two things. 1. You have a core differentiator compared to other candidates: Engg/ Design/ Sales/ Data Science/ Analytics. Having a PM internship is not a good enough differentiator. No company would hire a Product Management intern over someone with hard skills in another domain. Product is different. In SDE, it makes sense to have multiple internships as it gives confidence to the recruiter that you’ll be able to do your job. In PM, no recruiter worth their salt will consider a PM internship contributing to you being a successful PM. Your internship doesn’t contribute anything meaningful to its ability to communicate your skill. 2. You realise if you’re getting into a field because it’s a fad or you’re genuinely interested in it. I’ve seen many such freshers switch into product and get into suboptimal orgs. Don’t. Do your career a favour and work on your hard skills. That alone will contribute a lot more to your Product Skills than some poor internship. As a GPM at Gojek, I will never hire anyone who has done a PM internship unless they have a solid track record in a hard skill based role. You can only be a good “enabler“ if you can empathise with a “builder”. Can you be a PM out of college, YES? Should you? NO. You’ll realise this later in your career. First gain experiences building/enabling real products, you’ll thank yourself for that when it helps you build better Products. Also, stop listening to these charlatans who masquerade as Product Gurus. They are out to make a quick buck. Don’t do these Product Courses. It’s all a farce. First, get some experience and then you’ll know

img

AstroBubbles

Stealth

a year ago

Are you manas saloi? 😁
img

salt

Gojek

a year ago

No 😂, but I’ve read his blogs. He is of a better variety than Shreyas Doshi and other cringe influencers.
img

AstroBubbles

Stealth

a year ago

Hahaha.. Also, by hard skill, do you mean only coding?
See more comments
img

Elon_Musk

X.com

a year ago

Any company hiring freshers as PMs needs their funding cutoff.
img

salt

Gojek

a year ago

@Elon_Musk There’s only one argument for one to work as a fresher that I agree with. You join a mature org with an excellent Product culture and enter as an APM. Then, work for 2-3 years before making a switch. You really don’t want to worry about being laid off and then having a rough time finding your next PM job with a 3 month stint in Product. All the best Product guys I know, have been builders for a substantial amount of time. I feel having that is non-essential but for your own good. It reduces risk as you can always turn to your initial hard skill for employment.
img

Elon_Musk

X.com

a year ago

Completely agree especially with the one needs to be a builder to understand what it takes to build a successful product.
See more comments
img

PunyDrama38

Stealth

a year ago

Do you feel mba is necessary to move into product role from sde? is it ok if i focus on next five years in hardcore coding and then switch to product., will i need mba? due to competition as this role is supermarketed
img

salt

Gojek

a year ago

No one size fits all answer. You’re already in SDE right now. You have two options with two different outcomes. A. You do an MBA. You can get into a top tech company as a PM like Uber etc. B. Transition from SDE to a startup You get into an early stage start up. What you want from your career is what matters for your next step. My 2 cents: Transition to Product Role. Work for 1-2 years in PM at early stage and then go for an MBA/MS. During 1-2 years, live as frugally as possible and save a lot of money. Your Product work experience works for you when you apply to a top tech company during campus placements in India or you apply externally abroad, and you crack a product role. See, having work experience always trumps someone else have no relevant work experience. So, having some Product Work Experience post your SDE stint will look very appealing.
img

Gabbargg

Student

a year ago

This does make a lot of sense. What are your thoughts on someone with Product design experience going for an MBA to transition into a PM role? Would it be helpful? (Apologies for the question not being very relevant to the post)
img

salt

Gojek

a year ago

@Gabbargg not a bad idea, but you should always get some Product experience before an MBA, what if you don’t like it. You don’t really want to spend a lot of money on an MBA and get stuck.
img

Gabbargg

Student

a year ago

That makes sense. Thank you!!
img

shpinq

US Based MNC, India location

a year ago

Very well written 😊👏👏
img

salt

Gojek

a year ago

Thank you 💪🏻
Sign in to a Grapevine account for the full experience.

Discover More

Curated from across

img

Product Managers on

by Dihaadi

Stealth

Advice to College folks on PM career

I’ve probably seen 15+ young, impressionable college students fall prey to PM course scams in the last month only. PLEASE DO NOT JUMP INTO COURSES THINKING YOU’LL END UP IN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT FOR LONG. Please build some hard skills - SQL, Analysis, Figma, basics of python, basics of APIs, prompt engineering etc first. APMs who don’t have any hard skills and are only good at user journey, product sense, bettering a product, etc., would be massacred very soon. Shift to PM after some work experience. I’m getting my LinkedIn flooded with requests which look similar - Hi , I’m enthusiast about PM, read a few Nir eyal, Theils, have worked as an intern on <Unknown Product> and would like to apply for Position at your company. I’ve done blah blah courses and feel I’d be a good fit. NO YOU WON’T. Please save yourselves. :(

img

Product Managers on

by OnlyPopsicle

Student

PM role after Undergrad ?

I am a 3rd year student from tier -3 private college, pursuing btech is it possible to get PM roles just after under graduation, have seen people from tier -1/2 pursuing vague branches like coal mineral sort of engineering and still be able to crack roles as a PM at tech companies . Also one should aim for a role like this after undergrad or just it demands more exp? Also any roadmap you would recommend

img

Software Engineers on

by SleepyHeadF

Stealth

Do you think product managers with barely 2 years of experience required in your company?

Do you think pure product managers with no technical background add value to your company? Aren't experienced project managers with penchant for business more suitable for this role?

img

Product Managers on

by MrNoob

Wells Fargo

How do I break into Product Management as a fresher.

I am a 2023 graduate and a product Enthusiast. I am from a top tier NIT but unfortunately no companies come for PM roles. I have no idea why. I have a placement in a very good company and a very good salary but im not satisfied because its not in Product. What are my options, what do I do? I am not at all interested in another rat race to the IIMs and MBA degrees. I just want to work and hustle. What can I do?? Appreciate all the suggestions. Thank you

img

Product Managers on

by Prohunter

Student

Do you think PM roles should be there for freshers?

I believe that PM roles require much more experience in understanding the product rather than making product teardown as projects which literally anyone can do. I don't see a real skill involved, it's like a person who is a consultant but being overpaid because he is too much involved in the product. It's the startup culture which started. I think Project/product manager roles should be a promotional mark for experienced software developers or analysts.

img

Product Managers on

by SilentSpectator18

Adobe

Is Airtribe’s PM Launchpad course good?

How is this program? Do we actual get to learn something? I’m planning to enroll.

img

Indian Startups on

by Hawkmaster

Student

Guidance regarding entry level PM role/Internship

I'm an aspiring APM/Product Analyst from a Tier-3 College in India I have built a comprehensive portfolio comprising Product Teardowns,Case Studies, Guesstimates, Side Projects and PM articles I've been cold DMing PMs on LinkedIn but the response rate isn't high(People aren't reading the message I'm sending with connection request) I need guidance to get at least an internship for summer 2024, so that I can get a PPO later on PS: I'm a 2025 grad

img

Product Managers on

by BlindNest

Stealth

PM certification courses

I'm working as a technical product manager who has transitioned from analytics/data science role with over 5+ yoe and 2yoe as PM. I am earning in the range of 35-55LPA right now. While I am happy with the salary, I am not content with the role I have performed as PM so far. When I go for textbookish PM tasks and roles, I feel I don't do so much in my daily routine. Because of the nature of companies I worked in I didn't get a lot of hands on exposure into UX and the growth side of the job. I don't have a lot of confidence with many areas of product management and feel like at this stage for me to grow needs a significant skill and confidence boost. To do the same I'm looking for courses/degrees. I'm hoping to get more better opportunities if I have certification in my portfolio. What are your thoughts on the topic? Also, if you could suggest whether Hero vired certification in product management partnered with INSEAD will be a good choice? I will really appreciate objective feedback / frameworks that will help me with making the decision.

img

Product Managers on

by HandyBull26

DealShare

I believe Product Management is a really toxic role

1. High pressure on timelines- business and top management shits on you if you don’t deliver on time 2. No power to control the outcome- engineers don’t listen to you neither does the design or analytics team, you end up begging for resources 3. Too much politics- business or a senior PM can steal your bandwidth anytime 4. Lack of recognition- if it succeeds business did it, if it fails it is product teams fault (engg never gets blamed for shit)

img

Product Managers on

by CuriousCroissant

Student

APM roles for freshers!

Hey Folks! I am a final year student and am keen on joining for a Product Management role as a fresher. Can you help me jot down some good product based companies/startups that hire right out of college? PS: I am from a Tier-2 engineering college (Computer Science) Interships in Machine Learning and Product Management.