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How can you land your next PM job?
In today's episode, we cover key mindset shifts to landing your new role for new and experienced PMs alike. Shobhit runs the Intentional Product Manager and has coached over 1,000 PMs to jobs.
Learn his market-tested techniques:
Your angle of mastery | 2:17
Mindset shifts for career success | 13:14
How to fast-track to leadership roles | 30:01
How to build influence across career levels | 45:23
Thoughts on navigating failures and rebuilding trust | 52:43
The most common resume mistakes and certifications | 56:49
Here are the Key Takeaways
Here were my favorite lessons for PMs:
1. Tell a story with impact
It is important to create your resume based on the position and scale of the company to create a connection with the target role.
Consider the position – match the ‘how’ of the achievement to the position you’re applying for. What kind of skills are they looking for?
Context of the impact – consider the scale of the company. $50M can mean different to early stage startups vs late stage.
Showcase the story where you make it clear why the problem was so difficult for you to tackle.
2. Convey your angle of mastery
To stand out in today’s job market you need to define your brand / value. It should be something more powerful than - generic product leader with X years of experience.
You can define it based on industry, domain, application of technology, stage of product, and/or stage of company – and the challenges that come with it and how you solved them.
Shobhit calls this your ‘angle of mastery.’
For CPO / VP level target roles – illustrate how you have lived through the future problems which your target companies will face in the next 5 years.
3. Building influence to lead
Aspiring leaders can build influence in the organization by:
Borrowing influence from key stakeholders and ensuring manager buy-in.
Initiating conversations with questions - guiding others to contribute to solutions as people are more likely to champion ideas they’ve contributed to.
Day to day interactions are also essential for Product Managers to master.
4. Growth from product failures at Google
AND - learn about Shobhit’s product failure at Google – why and how he decided to kill the product and how he communicated that to his manager. Did ending the product lead to ending his job at Google?
Listen to the episode to find out.
Referenced
Alex Hormozi’s podcast – The idea of hard work and prioritization.
Paul Graham’s article – Maker schedule and Manager schedule for Product managers.
Abilene Paradox – In the conversation of product failures.
How will you measure your life book – In the conversation of how to secure top product leadership roles.
Great on the job book – Framework to leave a good impression when you don’t know all the answers.
- ’s podcast – On getting and giving feedback.
Where to find Shobhit
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Up Next
We have some great podcasts coming from Shravan Tickoo, Scott Jones, and Maria Cuasay. I’m so excited to share them with all of you.
In the newsletter, check out this week’s latest piece if you haven’t yet: The Multiplayer Lever: How to Drive Product-Led Acquisition and Expansion.
Look out for these pieces up next:
Job Hunting Sucks: Here’s What I Learned After Four Grueling Months
How to Win the Enterprise: The Ultimate Guide
How Statsig Grows
I think you’re going to love what we have coming up,
Aakash