Career as a Product Manager – Kickstart Guide

When we witness a fantastic product, we frequently believe that it cannot possibly be improved upon. A product manager is responsible for these inventive improvements to already-existing products, which makes a career in product management so interesting.

Therefore, would you take the opportunity to create and promote a fantastic product or improve on one that already exists? If the answer is yes, you might want to choose a job as a product manager.

In this blog, we will discuss in detail a career as a product manager, the job roles, career paths, the educational qualifications required, and salary insights. 

What does the Product Manager do? 

To put it plainly, a product manager oversees and coordinates every aspect of the product, including its conception, execution, launch, and success (product cycle). A product manager’s duties and responsibilities differ from industry to industry and based on the product.

The nature of the job will demand the following duties and responsibilities in your career as a product manager:

• Examining client needs
• Carrying out research on a good, service, rival, or market
• Planning a strategy for a good or service (development, packaging, launching, expanding)
• Coordinating and communicating with management, teams, and stakeholders regarding a product or service
• Collecting and evaluating customer reviews of a product or service
• Creating long-term plans for products and services

Job Roles in Product Management

An individual who has worked closely with a Product Manager in product design, data analysis, sales, marketing, or engineering can get the opportunity to become a Product Manager. Another possible path is to work as an Associate Product Manager and gradually become a Product Manager. 

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In your career as a Product Manager, you will work at different levels. Let’s dive into the different levels of Product Managers:

• Associate Product Manager: Most associate product manager positions are entry-level. The APM is given a targeted or smaller amount of product-related activities. They support the product managers in gathering product information, getting customer input, coordinating with stakeholders, and advancing the product strategy.

• Product Manager:
  A Product Manager establishes the direction, roadmap, and feature specification. The duties of a product manager may also involve forecasting, profit and loss (P&L), and product marketing. 
• Senior Product Manager:
  After attaining mid-level experience as a Product Manager (3-5 years), one can advance to the job of Senior Program Manager. The duties of a Senior Product Manager are comparable to those of a Mid-Level PM. Senior PMs are usually supported by some PMs or APMs.

• Product Leader:
  Product Leaders are also referred to as Group Product Managers or Principal Product Managers. This role demands good years of experience. Product leaders need a firm grasp of business principles to enable them to weigh trade-offs and choose what is best for all stakeholders.

• Director of Product:
  A Director-level position in product management is largely concerned with big-picture strategy and leadership. It is the responsibility of these Directors to create more effective product management procedures, to maintain and improve the performance of PM teams, and, above all, to provide the highest-quality goods.

• Vice-President of Product:
  A person needs 10 or more years of prior product and managerial experience to become a VP of Product. The most senior or second-most senior product role inside an organization is typically that of the VP of Product.

• Director of Product:
  A Director of Products is responsible for defining the organization’s high-level vision and strategy across a group or suite of products in its portfolio. The development of the product management team is under the purview of the product directors, who may also be tasked with hiring and developing new talent.

• Chief Product Officer:
  The strategy and execution of all product-related operations inside a firm are the responsibilities of the chief product officer (CPO), a C-level executive. The duties of a CPO start with product innovation and vision, go through the marketing campaign, and continue after the product is released. 

Career path for Product Manager

One can become a product manager from different career backgrounds. It is a position that requires a few years of experience and creation to your credit. The educational qualifications required for a career as a product manager will be explained below. Apart from that here are the two possible career paths:

Path I

• A minimum of 55% in Grade 12 (any stream)
• Bachelors in Marketing/ Business/ Economics or related field. 
• Qualify for entrance exams like NMIMS-NPAT, IIM Rohtak IPM Aptitude Test, CUET, JIPMAT, Symbiosis SET
• Masters in business Administration/Business Management/ Product Management 

Path II

• A minimum of 55% in Grade 12 science (preferably PCB)
• Qualify for entrance exams like JEE, CET, CUET, etc. 
• Bachelors in Engineering/ Technology/ Design/Economics or related field. 
• Masters in Business Administration/Business Management/ Product Management 

Salary in different stages of a career as a Product Manager

Based on the salary figures from Ambitionbox, Glassdoor, and Indeed, the below graph presents an average annual salary of a Product Manager based on the job title. The graph also gives an estimate of what is the lowest wage, the median, and the highest pay for each of the job roles. 

Skills Required to become Product Manager 

• Core Product Skills:
  One should be familiar with the product management cycle and be able to create product vision, roadmaps, testing, and a system in the product management cycle to include consumer feedback and assess the effectiveness of the product. 

• Marketing Skills: 
  Knowing which features to highlight and how to market core product functions will prove to be vital in a career as a product manager. Studying the market and optimizing the product is part of this skill. 

• User-related skills: 
  Having a basic understanding of UX/UI features will enable you to communicate effectively with your designers and give them feedback. Computer-aided design skills can allow you to communicate with your team and seniors exactly what a product should look like.

• Business Skills:
  Though the ideation process in product management is sometimes described as a “eureka” moment, it involves meticulous analysis of market trends, public portals, and consumer feedback. Several ideas are gathered and examined for product feasibility and business viability.

• Technical Skills: 
  Developing a good prototype, researching every aspect of product development, and aiding in the process of creation through technical guidance, are important in a career as a product manager. 

• Personal Skills:
  Collaborating and communicating with, and leading teams is a big part of the responsibilities of a product manager. Developing these interpersonal skills will help you grow in your career. A product manager is a problem solver. They see where consumers’ lives can become better, and they figure out ways to make them better.

Is a Product Manager a good career option?

There are many prospects for growth in a career as a product manager, which is fantastic. One thing to keep in mind is that names, roles, and duties may differ for different companies. A few of the reasons why each company would have variations of these names are its size and organizational structure, the funding for the product, and the product itself. 

Product management is one of the most well-liked businesses, and there are expected to be 22 million job openings worldwide, according to Naukri.com, but there are currently only 20,000 product managers in India. Companies do not mind paying high wages to product managers because they are aware that there aren’t many highly trained experts on the market.

The product management industry is in high demand both in India and overseas, with more than 20,000 opportunities accessible on LinkedIn alone. According to Jobted, for product managers in India, the average salary is almost 246% higher than the country’s average wage.

Type of industries Hiring Product Manager

A product manager can fit into any industry, as companies across all industries are selling a product or service. However, some industries pay more than others.

Here are some high-paying industries for your career as a product manager:

• IT
• FMCG
• Education
• E-Commerce
• Technology
• Health and Wellness
• Medical

Top Recruiters for Product Managers in India 

Based on the industries mentioned above, the following are a few companies you can aspire to work in your career as a Program Manager: 

• Cognizant Technology Solutions
• DXC Technology
• Amazon
• Harman
• Tata Consultancy Services
• FIS
• Sprinklr
• Oracle
• Meta
• Freshworks

Courses to upskill as a Product Manager

Courses for certification can be taken before, during, or after graduation. This certificate program will assist in getting knowledge from subject matter experts in the field and project-based experience and abilities required in a career as a Product Manager. 

Name of the course	Duration
Brand and Product Management	13 hours
Product Management and Ownership by York University	3 weeks (self-paced)
Digital Product Management by EdX and Boston University	7 weeks
Product Management Certification by Product School	8 weeks
Product Manager Certification Course by Product Manager HQ	10 weeks
Product Strategy	2 months
Digital Product Management	3-6 months
Product Management Fundamentals	3-6 months
Software Product Management	3-6 months

Qualifications to become a Product Manager

After the tenth grade, a student who wishes to become a product manager can select any discipline, such as science, commerce, or the arts. After your 12th grade year, enrol in business management or a comparable college degree.

Post which one can pursue an undergraduate degree in business, technology, design, or related fields. Though a postgraduate degree is not compulsory, it will add to your credibility. One can start their career as a Product Manager one will have to gain 2-3 years of experience in the area of specialization or an Assistant Product Manager position. 

Degrees in India

One can pursue a bachelor’s degree in business management or a master’s degree in business administration to begin a career as a Product Manager. You could also pursue a Master’s degree in Business Management after earning a suitable bachelor’s degree in marketing, technology, engineering, design, economics, or a related discipline.

UG degree names 

The table below lists the bachelor’s degrees in business management in India. Finance, entrepreneurship, real estate, human resource management, accounting, information systems, and other topics are covered in these courses.

Here are a few 3-4 years undergraduate courses you can try:

• Bachelor in Business Management (BBM) 
• Bachelor in Business Studies (BBS)
• Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA)

PG 

As mentioned before, a master’s degree is not compulsory, a post-graduation will help gain business acumen and knowledge. The eligibility criteria to apply for a postgraduate degree in India are:

• Minimum 55% in Graduation or equivalent grade point average.
• Qualify for university-specific entrance exam or GATE examination.

Here are a few postgraduate courses you can apply to for a career as a Product Manager:

Name of the course	Duration
Master in Product Management	2 years
Master in Business Administration	2 years
Master in Computer Science	2 years
Master in Business Management	2 years
Masters in Business Studies	2 years
Masters of Design in Product Design	1 year
Masters of Arts in Product Design	1 year

Degrees Abroad

The eligibility criteria to apply for undergraduate courses abroad are discussed in detail in our blog- How to become a Product Manager. You can pursue an undergraduate degree in Product Design and Development, Business Management, Business Administration, Management in Business Economics, etc. 

The eligibility criteria to apply for a postgraduation degree abroad to pursue a career as a Product Manager are: 

• A minimum of 50% or equivalent grade point in an undergraduate program from a related field. 
• IELTS score of a minimum of 6.5
• TOEFL score off 88 and above.
• GMAT or GRE score
• SOP and LOR

Here are a few postgraduate degrees abroad you can pursue to have a career as a product manager:

Name of the course	Duration
Master of Digital Product Management	1 year
Master of Science in Marketing	2 years
Master of Business Administration	2 years
Master in Product Development	2 years

References for Product Manager

People you can follow

• Pavithra Kanakarajan – Group Product Manager at Google
• Priyansh Maru- Senior Product Manager at Amazon
• Manish Jain – Senior Product Manager at Flipkart
• Sushant Mittal- Group Product Manager at Swiggy
• Dinesh Rao – Product Manager at Zomato
• Pankaj Soni – Product Manager at Myntra
• Ruchi Singhania – Senior Product Manager at Ola
• Parth Detroja – Product Manager at Facebook
• Jyoti Pal – Senior Product Manager at Microsoft
• Srijit Sengupta – Senior Product Manager at Paypal

Books you can read

• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Product Leadership by  Richard Banfield, Martin Eriksson and Nate Walkingshaw
• My Product Management Toolkit by Marc Abraham
• The Product Book by Josh Anon, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
• The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen
• Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
• Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Peri 
• Measure What Matters by John Doerr 

A career as a product manager is demanding, but it can also be quite valuable. To establish the efficacy for success, product managers lay out plans for the product’s features, vision, strategy, effective cross-team collaboration, and alignment of stakeholders. 

Over the next few years, it is anticipated that the role will become increasingly in demand and relevant. It is a good career prospect.

FAQ Section for Career as a Product Manager