How to Break Into Product Management: The Playbook to Land Your First PM Job
Aspiring Product Managers are flooded with tactics and advice. Here's the roadmap you need to make it from 'Aspiring' to 'PM.'
How I Became a Product Manager
I haven’t told this story before.
It was my sophomore year of college, in chilly Ann Arbor, Michigan.
As part of my consulting club, I was doing strategy work for a local startup.
The founders loved me. And they were growing super fast. So, one day they asked:
Founder: Want to stay on after this project?
Aakash: Definitely!
Founder: So… what will you do?
Aakash: I know how to code and there’s lots we need to build!
Founder: Say no more.
I started off helping as a true “full-stack engineer.”
They would say something like, “redesign the website.”
Then, I would go gather the requirements — and actually build the thing.
Eventually, I started spending more than 50% of my time not on code, but talking to customers, figuring out what to build.
When we sat down to do annual planning four and a half months later, virtually every single thing on the roadmap… I had come up with.
That’s when they shifted my title to Product Manager.
And the rest is history.
People Interested in PM Need a Roadmap
That’s how I became a PM. How can you?
The headlines have been downright terrible for entry-level jos. For instance, here was the Wall Street Journal one morning I was writing this piece:
I keep talking to people who are asking questions like:
Does PM even have a future; is it a good career to go into? (Yes!)
How can I become a PM when entry-level hiring is so compressed? (That’s today’s post.)
So I have been meaning to put pen to paper on the situation.
Bringing Back Nancy
I wanted to supplement my advice with real tips from someone who has helped 1000s, so I’m back with
. My many collaborations with her are amongst the most liked in the newsletter, so we are back for a record fourth-time.
Dr. Nancy Li is hosting two FREE masterclasses about how to land your next PM job in 60-90 days. Choose your experience level to attend the right one dedicated for you:
Where We Go From Here
We’ll cover absolutely everything you need to know:
Why 2025 is a Great Time to Become a PM
The Ultimate Roadmaps:
Students
Software engineers
And for everyone else
🔒 How to Build a PM Resume (With Examples)
🔒 How to Get Interviews
🔒 Acing Interviews
1. Why 2025 is a Great Time to Become a PM
Let’s be real: it’s smart to question whether PM is a good career to go into in 2025.
You’re showing that you can think critically about your future career choices.
But, what other options are out there?
Engineering also faces pressure from AI coding tools
Design also faces pressure
Strategy & operations as well
There isn’t really a job in technology that isn’t feeling the pinch when it comes to the dual trends of profitability and AI. Each is forcing careers to be more malleable.
Here’s why we’re bullish on the fate of Product Management:
“People work” is the least susceptible to automation
If we’re honest about a PM’s day, 75% of it is meetings and stakeholder management. That work is not going to get automated by robotic AI anytime soon.
The career has proven itself incredibly adaptable
Just like how PM recently shifted to become more metrics and outcome focused, because the job attracts top 1% performers, it’s very good at adapting. The PM 10 years from now won’t look the same, but those people will still be succeeding.
The short-term data backs up my claims
PM hiring has ticked back up in a substantive way, and the latest data proves it. We’re seeing the most open roles that the PM function has seen in 2.5 years, up 54% from the low at the beginning of 2023 (Source: trueup.io).
We firmly believe that the future of PM is bright, and people should view it like an engineering, lawyer, or doctor job.
It’s high paying, high impact, and a great long-term career path.
2. The Ultimate Roadmaps
So, now that we’ve hopefully convinced you that you should become a PM, let’s go further into the roadmap (depending on your background).
2.1 The Roadmap For Students
The biggest mistake we see students make? They think they need to wait until graduation to start acting like a PM.
Wrong.
You have something working professionals don't: time to experiment without consequences. Use it. These are the 6 things you have to be thinking about:
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