This website recaps everything I learned in the process of researching product management in college, preparing for the job, applying to, and receiving offers from Google and Facebook’s college PM programs.
Get started with the most critical info about becoming an Associate Product Manager (“APM”) below. Afterwards, explore the rest of the website for a more complete set of resources, and signup for my newsletter to keep getting content to help you land that first PM job.
Also check out my book, The Product Diploma, a comprehensive guide on exactly how to land a PM job out of college. It covers everything on this website in substantially greater detail.
Questions or comments? Email me at davis.treybig@gmail.com
Step 1 - Is Product Management right for you?
Read this great summary by McKinsey about product management in the modern tech industry.
Read this classic post by Martin Eriksson answering "What, exactly, is a product manager?"
Hear the product lead of Asana explain why "College Students, Product Manager is the best job you've never heard of"
Learn more about choosing between PM and software engineering out of college
Do you need a technical background to be a PM? Here are my thoughts, and some thoughts from ProductManagerHQ.
Check out the rest of my resource list and Quora posts
Reach out to some current PMs and ask to learn from them. At the end of the day, the best way to learn about what it's like to be a PM is to talk to people and ask them what's on your mind.
Interview and ask questions! The PM role can differ a lot at different companies and on different products. So, at the end of the day, you're best chance at figuring out if you want to work as a PM at company X is to chat with PMs at company X.
Step 2 - Preparing for the PM Interview
Read this Quora post to get a quick summary of what PM interviews are like
Get these books to dive deep into preparing for PM interviews with practice questions
If you need more practice - try some of the online PM interview courses out there
Get a friend to give you a few sample interviews - it is not the same as doing them alone
In addition to doing practice interviews, spend some time learning about the tech industry and forming opinions on it. Check out this list of publications you should be reading.
Step 3 - Applying to PM jobs out of college
Visit the Jobs section to learn about the major tech companies that have new grad PM roles and PM internships(remember - hiring season when these jobs are actually posted is typically August - November).
Apply to the positions you're interested in. Try to get a referral if possible - it will help you get past the resume stage and virtually guarantee an interview.
Kick ass in the interviews, get an offer, and tell me about it!
Check out my book, The Product Diploma, for a much deeper dive on every step above.
