The Product Manager career path is different from the traditional paths in jobs like coding, sales, etc. Career growth of a PM depends on many factors.
Unsurprisingly, there is no standard definition across industries or companies for the career growth of Product Managers.
Not every company has the position of a Chief Product Officer (CPO).
Remember, there is no one size fits all here.
In some companies, product management roles up to the CTO (Chief Technology Officer).
In some other companies, product management (along with project management), roles up to the CIO (Chief Information Officer).
If you are new to the field, learn how to break into product.
This guide can also help in planning your career development plan as a Product Manager.
Product Owner Career Path
The most common progression for a Product Owner is to become a Product Manager.
Now would be a great time to go over the following differences –
Traditionally, the Product Owner classification is more common in companies that are not inherently technology companies, like financial companies.
These traditional global corporates, that are not tech companies outright, are trying to get onto the agile bandwagon.
I would say a company has not truly moved away from Waterall till a CPO has been hired!
But jokes apart, let us focus on the growth trajectory in product management.
Product Manager Growth
Most companies have a Senior Product Manager position that is the most logical next step for any Product Manager.
Some companies also have a Product Director position. This position is further divided into positions like Associate Product Director, Senior Product Director, etc.
Remember, more than anything, a Product Manager must know how to communicate exceptionally well.
Learn how to communicate like a Product Manager.
Many people also want to do a course in product management to become better skilled. This is again a personal choice.
Here is a list of the top product management courses.
Before we move on to examples, let us cover the concept of a generalist Product Manager vs a specialist Product Manager.
Generalist vs Specialist
This is the evergreen question for every Product Manager.
Should a PM progress in a niche vertical or should a PM be flexible and able to work different products? That is purely a personal choice.
From a hiring perspective, I have covered this topic in depth in this article.
No matter what path anyone chooses, product management demands leadership.
Learn the art of leadership.
Many Product Managers also choose to start out as an entrepreneur after working in product management for a few years.
The reason is simple.
Product management teaches you to build products from scratch.
That is the key skill for any entrepreneur.
It is also common for transition into private equity or venture capital firms. A different skill is at play here.
That key skill is the ability to look beyond the current product and create a fascinating product vision. It is the innate ability to identify opportunities and grab them.
Warren Buffett is a great example of how to identify opportunities.
Product Management Career Path – Major Tech Companies
Let us look at some of the major companies and the practices that they follow.
Great companies build great products.
And great products require exceptional Product Managers. Learn those skills.
Even though I don’t talk about Tesla in this article, I do want to make a special mention for Elon Musk.
Elon Musk has certain personality traits that make him an exceptional Product Manager.
One of these personality traits is relentless focus on execution. Learn all his personality qualities here.
Google has a plethora of subsidiary companies with varying team structures.
The bigger Google products, like YouTube, have their own chief product officers.
In fact, the current Chief Product Officer of YouTube, Neal Mohan, is a rockstar.
For other work streams, the role generally ends at a vice president level.
This article also gives an insight look into the product structure at Google.
Amazon
Amazon follows a straight forward hierarchy for product management.
The product teams role up to individual product VPs for different Amazon subsidiary companies.
There is no CPO and the leadership structure resembles more like the one at Microsoft.
Landing a job at any of these FAANG companies is a dream for many. Product Managers are a key profile at Amazon is a highly coveted position, and it does not come easy.
Facebook is not a very hierarchical organization.
The product career path at Facebook ends at the stage of Chief Product Officer.
On 12 June, 2020, Facebook announced that Chris Cox was returning to Facebook as the Chief Product Officer.
Chris was one of the first engineers hired by Facebook and was instrumental in building the News Feed.
As an engineer, he displayed all the acumen and know-how of a Product Manager.
For software engineers, learn how to contribute to product management.
Microsoft
Arguably, this is the one company on this list that started before the concept of product management was well established.
The common term at Microsoft is Program Manager, not Product Manager.
The structure of the product team at Microsoft is the most hierarchical.
There are many levels for the product team that ultimately lead to the path of becoming a Partner at Microsoft. There is also a CPO position at Microsoft.
Panos Panay is the current Chief Product Officer.
Product Manager Career Path – Conclusion
At the end of the day, it is important for everyone to be brand ambassadors of their own careers.
But no matter what path a PM chooses, the goal should always be to efficiently manage the product life cycle.
The Product Manager career path can also end up in a more generalist management role.
This is because, inherently, all Product Managers are excellent people managers.
After all, nobody wants their products to end up on the list of the top product fails of all time.
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