{"id":78058,"date":"2022-04-07T14:22:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T13:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/?p=78058"},"modified":"2025-05-06T17:08:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T16:08:07","slug":"product-manager-skills-and-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/blog\/product-manager-skills-and-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Manager Skills: The Best Way to Gain Experience?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

People often ask how they can get more product manager experience, whether they\u2019re current project managers who want to accelerate their career or non-product folks who want to land their first Product Management job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a valid question, and the short answer is that experience is best gained by doing. You can try your hand at all kinds of product work, no matter what your current job title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s true! There\u2019s so much solid PM-like experience to be gained through independent activities, such as side projects and showing up to product management events, plus just listening to and learning from other people in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re already at a tech company or not, you can find a way to hone that PM instinct, showcase product skills<\/a>, and present a portfolio of work at your next interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Do your own side projects<\/a><\/li>
  2. Working product-adjacent: simulate a PM<\/a><\/li>
  3. Not product-adjacent: join a support or success team<\/a><\/li>
  4. Learn from other product people<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \"Gaining<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019ll walk through each of these, but first, what is that PM instinct anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As product managers, we don’t necessarily follow the data, and we\u2019re not driven by pure numbers. We often have to follow our guts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But this \u201cgut feeling\u201d is not woo-woo at all, it\u2019s learned pattern recognition. Great product managers have developed a strong instinct based on the accumulation of so many different, tiny experiences that we’ve collected over the years. The more experiences that PMs absorb, the better product people they\u2019ll be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So, the question comes back to: How can you accumulate more <\/em>of these experiences? How can you prove you\u2019re developing a PM instinct, when you\u2019re not yet in the role?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now we\u2019re ready to dig in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4 ways to get Product Manager skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n\n

    1. Do your own side projects<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Side projects<\/a> will build up your portfolio, and show that you can understand and break down a problem. This is one of the most important ways to prepare for a PM interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In your spare time, take up some sort of hobby or project that allows you to tackle a small problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Examples of side projects you can try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n