It has been a long time, and I have been receiving emails from fresh graduates, technicians, operations staff, etc., saying that for various reasons (the number one reason is actually reading a certain book, embarrassing), I found that I really I like being a product manager and feel that I am extremely suitable. It seems that this position was designed for me, but! But I failed to apply for the job many times and asked me how to find a product manager position.
Although I wrote an article " If you want to be a product manager, how do you get into the industry?" 》, but every time I still don’t know how to reply, because everyone and every company’s situation is different. There is no standard answer to this question, but after many times, I finally summarized a method, which is very simple and gives a unified answer. Reply—— _
Hi , thank you for your trust in me. You must first think about a question clearly. If you have a choice, why does a company choose you instead of an experienced product person? I look forward to your answer. 
(I think many people have received this. Exposing this will really make it difficult for me to do anything in the future, haha)
What disappoints me is that usually when this question is asked, more than half of the people don’t respond.
First of all, the other party may think that I am perfunctory or provocative, but in fact, my question is very serious. Think about it from the perspective of recruiting people. Usually, the number of places is limited. If I give up an experienced product manager and want you, you have to give me an "irresistible reason to refuse", just like the classic line in "The Godfather" - — "I'll give him a reason he can't refuse." Then, I can use your reasons to transfer your resume to the right person. This is helping you win opportunities , right?
Secondly, in the work of a product manager, you often encounter various challenging problems. If you are blocked by a simple question, it can only mean that either your personality is not suitable for being a product manager, or you are not sure about your goals . Being unclear leads to not thinking through the answer, or you have no "special reason" at all, no in- , and it's just a whim. These are fatal weaknesses for product managers.
Therefore, for future similar emails, I hope this question will be answered first, haha, and the answer should be related to what you have done in the past. If I find that it applies to another person, it will be useless. For example, the following paragraph is actually equivalent to no answer:
- Although you have only worked as a traditional product engineer in traditional industries and have only been responsible for marketing work in traditional industries, you mentioned in your book that everyone is a product manager. No matter what you did before, you can change your career to become a product manager. I believe that I am one of them. Today, with the booming development of the Internet, I can personally engage in work in this industry.
- As a person who changes careers, I am ready to start working with a newcomer's mentality, and I will also realistically choose some jobs that I am qualified for. You also described several possible entry points for entering the industry in your book. If you are commercial, you can first become an "operations specialist" and do promotion and planning work for your products.
I only tell you a possibility in the book, but you will not be able to find a job just because you agree with this possibility. We don’t want to know “what you think” but “what you do”. In fact, you have already understood the truth. Just like chasing a girl, if you just make fun of her all day long, it will not be the reason for her to accept you, haha.
A better answer. Let me give you an example. It is not an actual encounter, but an article written by Chun Yin about editor-to-product manager . The last suggestion in it, if you can really do it, may be a "difficult" one. "Reason for rejection", I can at least earn an interview opportunity, I think.
- Read more than 20 pieces of Internet news every day, subscribe to three or five Internet blogs with large update volume, and read them one by one for a month. Then subscribe to twenty or thirty blogs and read them selectively and intensively, rain or shine all year round.
- After browsing the news for a month, choose a niche product type that you focus on, such as space, Weibo, Q&A, reviews, group buying, LBS , etc., and find one or two domestic leaders in this field and one or two foreign leaders. , soak in and play. You must play as a pure user and make many friends.
- For the product type of your choice, create an excel sheet, find a dozen objects of concern, split their product points, and record your research experience and version dynamics. Updated once a week.
- After three months of doing this, I have a rough idea of whether I can switch products and how. There is no good teacher. Mastering good self-study methods is the way to go.
Did you find it? In fact, when you can easily answer "unified reply", you have already done a lot to lay the foundation for product managers. I believe that opportunities are definitely not far away from you, +U.
I thought of it. If I receive similar resumes in the future, I will directly link back to this article ~~~