My journey to becoming a Product Manager

and 3 lessons on what you can do to break into Product

I’ve gotten a lot of requests on how I broke into PM so here it is, I’m breaking it down into 3 parts:

1. Launching my first product

2. Taking on Leadership roles

3. First PM internship and startup

Launching my first product

During my first 3 years of college, I didn’t really think about my career… ya know just trynna have that college experience aha LOL I was also focused on my leadership roles at student organizations (and class i guess). At the end of my third year, I was like oh shit ! I should probably focus on my career since I’m graduating soon.

I was a Computer Engineering major, which is a combination of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I hated the EE aspect of debugging hardware and all that low-level coding. It just wasn’t my thing. However, I did actually enjoy high-level coding. So I was like ok Software Engineer it is. Time to start that leetcode grind 😭

Soooo yeah, the start of my PM journey first started with me thinking I wanted to be a SWE. I took my first SWE class in my third year. I liked it enough that I took a Udemy course to dive deeper into web development.

Now, remember how I didn’t really focus on my career throughout college. That means I didn’t have any technical projects so, towards the end of my third year, I used my new *web dev skills* to create a website for my club!

It was called…. Affirmation Messenger. Here’s exactly what my resume says about it:

When I was building this, I just thought it was another SWE project I can add to my resume. However, looking back I realized that a lot of what I enjoyed the most about this project wasn’t exactly the coding but the ability to have an idea and develop a solution that solved my fellow club member’s problems. I just used coding as a means to solve the problem.

It was my first product where I was able to apply some PM principles. I found a problem worth solving. I developed a solution for it. I tested it with users. Learned from their feedback. Iterate on the product. I launched it for the club. It was a hit! I’ve gotten many messages about how amazing it is and appreciated me for building this. It warmed my heart that I was able to create a safe space for people to connect and send affirmations during the pandemic.

The crazy thing is that I didn’t even really know what a Product Manager was at that point. I just wanted to solve a problem. It’s this quote by Steve Jobs that made me realize that this was actually a step in my journey to becoming a Product Manager.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

Here is another example of me just wanting to solve a problem and using technology to help me do that. In my third year, I did a group project for a class. I treated it as another opportunity not just to do a random project but solve a real problem I had. This problem was to improve the pairing process for mentorship programs. I was able to use the product in my senior year for a club. Launching a school project with real users is one of many good way to start thinking like a PM. Here’s what I put on my resume:

Taking on leadership roles

Now remember that connecting dot quote, well… I was able to connect the dots all the way back to my first 3 years of college taking on leadership positions. All those years invested in becoming a student leader and learning how to run an organization and build community all happened to be very useful in my journey to becoming a PM and I didn’t even know it.

I didn’t take on those leadership roles because I knew I wanted to be a PM. I did it because I was passionate about the club and wanted to give that feeling that sense of belonging to new members of the club. Because I remember how lost I felt when I was a freshman and the amazing experience that these clubs gave me, I wanted to give that back.

My passion for leadership in these clubs allowed me to develop soft skills that are applicable to the PM role. I've learned how to deal with a spectrum of characters and personalities, how to lead meetings, present to hundreds of people, and what it feels like to make mistakes and fail. These lessons and skills I've developed around communication and empathy were essential for the PM role.

Ok, we did a lot of going backwards and dot connecting. Let’s fast forward in the timeline. Where are we now?

• First 3 years of college, I took on leadership roles

• In my third year, I built two products

• End of my third year, I decided to be a Software Engineer.

Ok the summer after my third year. I started to do leet code problems. I started on the career grind. I was focused. I was applying for job applications. LinkedIn became my primary social network. I started networking. And somewhere in that mix, I came across Product Management. I thought it was just the perfect role for me. I saw this image:

I was like woAHHh. I love tech, hence my major. I’ve always been fascinated by business, was a little hustler buying and selling candy for profits in middle school. Lastly, the user experience/design aspect of it. Not the same thing, but I designed flyers in multiple clubs. I just have always been curious about design. PM also has that leadership aspect which is basically what I’ve been so focused on during my first 3 years of college. It just fits so well with my current skill set and interests.

At that moment, I went all-in on being a PM. Got a PM internship. Got a return offer for full-time and happy ever after!!

Photo by Peter Conlan on Unsplash

sike. it wasn’t that simple.

I was scared. I knew that PM opportunities were much more limited compared to SWE roles. I couldn’t just drop my attempt of being a SWE. Going for a SWE role felt safer. So it was a difficult balance between applying to PM and SWE roles and networking with PMs and SWEs.

After first hearing about PM, I really did just fall in love. I started learning everything about it. All the main resources I used are here. However, it was all just theory. All in my head. I haven’t really had “real” experience of being a PM. I needed to validate my theory.

In August 2020, I became a SWE intern for a startup. I really wanted the PM role tho. I asked the CEO about any future opportunities for it. She said that if there’s an opening she’ll let me know and in the meantime, I can take on PM tasks on top of my SWE responsibilities. A month later, a PM intern left and I was able to take on my first PM experience.

First PM internship and startup

After 5 months of being a PM intern, I was able to confirm my theory. All the challenges that come with being a PM, were challenges I enjoyed having.

Going back again to August 2020, when I started the SWE internship. I also started a startup. I got a group of my CS friends and we started meeting weekly to solve a problem. Originally, wanted to create a platform for Asian Americans to build leadership skills to help them succeed in the workplace and take on executive positions in the company. Then, we pivoted to building a SaaS solution for group management. Looking back, it was messy. But it was an experience that helped me learn how to work with developers, hold user interviews, design on Figma, and more.

And that’s pretty much it…

I continued the recruiting process starting Fall of my Senior year. I landed my Microsoft internship and I talk about my process for that here. I did well in my internship and got a return offer. I accepted it and that brings us here, in my third week at Microsoft as a full-time PM.

TLDR of my journey into PM:

• 3 years of leadership roles at student orgs

• Launched 2 products to solve a problem

• Created my own startup with CS friends

• Networked and improved my resume

• Did a couple of PM internships

So for those that finished reading to the end, thank you! I appreciate you. Here are some takeaways you can learn from my journey. I’d love to hear from y’all! Respond with your PM journey, and your favorite project/product. I respond to every single email :)

1. Build a product

It’s going to be fucking hard. You won’t know where to start. But that is the PM role, it’ll be confusing. Being able to tackle ambiguity is a part of being a PM. Just whatever you build, make sure it solves an actual problem (easier if it’s a problem you have). Then, launch it so you can have users.

2. Do what you love

It’s a very privileged thing to say, but it’s true. I just did what I loved doing in college and that was building community. It’s okay to not have an end goal in mind. If you don’t have something you love then just explore explore explore, try different things. Then reflect on all the different things you’re doing. Ask yourself what keeps you up at night? What hobbies generate energy? What makes you feel alive? Whatever the answer is, keep doing that.

3. It’s never too late to start

No matter where you are, it’s not too late to network. It’s not too late to create a new product. It’s not too late to apply (unless the deadline passed lol). The most important thing is to just start. And once you start, you’ll have the momentum to keep going. You’ll make a lot of mistakes and with that, you’ll learn and grow.