Education · 1 of 5

The path

Say this part out loud: almost nobody is hired straight into product management from school.

1. 1

   High school diploma

   Grade 12

   Build and ship something small: a website, a game, a school app, a club that runs on a system you designed. That story matters later.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   4 years

   Any subject works, but computer science, engineering, business and economics are the most common. What you need is comfort with data and with technical people.

3. 3

   Internships

   During college

   Summer internships in software, analytics or design. A few large technology companies run product management internships, and they are extremely competitive.

4. 4

   A first job next to product

   1 to 3 years

   Engineer, data analyst, designer, customer support, consultant or marketer. This is the normal on-ramp and it is not a detour.

5. 5

   Move into product

   Year 2 to year 5

   Either an associate product manager program or an internal transfer at the company you already work for. Internal transfers are the easier door by a wide margin.

6. 6

   Own an area

   Ongoing

   A feature, then a product, then a group of products. Senior, then principal or director.