TEI 020: How to Get a Product Management Job – with Gayle McDowell

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you episode
020 of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad
McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved
in developing and managing products become more successful, grow
their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. Our Guest: Gayle
Laakmann McDowell is an experienced software engineer, having
worked at Google, Microsoft, and Apple. In 2008 she founded
CareerCup, a company to help people get tech jobs and assist tech
companies with their interviewing process. She also authored
“Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in
Technology.” Highlights from the discussion include: The 4
Framework: Employers what product managers with skills in four
areas:Technology: the technology related to the work the company
does. For example, a product manager should understand software
development if they work for a company that creates software
applications.Business: knowledge of marketing, sales, production,
etc.,  practices, managing and motivating others, and aligning
product management objectives to business objectives.Industry:
specific domain knowledge of the industry. For example, if you’re
creating software applications for the finance industry, financial
skills and knowledge of the industry.Product: the ability to think
like the user, develop solutions to their problem, and manage the
process and people for creating a product.The priorities of the
four skill areas do differ based on company. For example, Amazon
emphasizes business skills first while Google emphasizes technology
skills first. Determine what is important for the companies you
wish to interview with before you get into the interview.