Why did I switch my career to Product Management? A short story

Product management is an amalgam of the left brain (which is more technical and analytical) and the right side of the brain (which is about design, understanding patterns, and everything that comes non-tech). My discovery of this interaction has been amazing and I ended up being a Product Manager. Are you excited to know, so let's start…

So I had two phases in my career,

1. The engineer in me and
2. Leadership skill.

I made my first LED charging bulb in class 7th and that too I made it from scratch having zero knowledge of resistors, diodes, capacitors, or anything.

I was famous for any type of repair work not just at my home but the entire society. This curiosity to open up everything and know what’s inside made me pursue my career in engineering.

During my stint at college, I published 2 patents, 1 National level Award at the India Science Festival for my project on Neuroscience, 3 years of continuous best project award winner at college, 1 Research paper, and many other small awards.

One thing was clear, I was doing great as an engineer, and because of this, I got an opportunity to join upGrad a started working as an IoT developer in 3rd year only.

The LED is still operational at my home

I started working as a Developer, but after a time, I realized I was not enjoying my work. Reason? Something was missing 😕

Any guess?

Yeah, I’ve still not mentioned the second side of myself.

Among everything, elections for College President, VP, Secretary, and other positions were going on when I was in 2nd year. I happened to participate in it and I won.

Positions could be held during 2nd year & the 3rd year and I continuously served for two years as a Vice President of my College.

After I was elected

During the journey, I organized multiple events like College Fest twice, Freshers party, International Conferences, multiple technical events, started a Research Lab, hosted many big personalities, and many other things. The interesting part was I was appointed by my college to conduct a Smart India Hackathon for the Kanpur zone twice which is an impossible position for a student, and I had directly worked in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

Overall I had managed budget in crores and it was a super amazing journey because I had over-delivered whatever I had promised before holding the position.

Because of my performance, I was one of the most privileged students on campus, I was reimbursed for all my trips, projects, and everything I did. No attendance restriction for me, I barely attended class. It was almost no rule for me whereas every other student complained of strict rules at college.

So the interesting part is I had both the technical side of me (left side of the brain) and the leadership side of mine (right side of the brain) working very well for me simultaneously.

This is the point why I was not enjoying my work as a developer because one phase of my personality (non-tech) was not being leveraged. As soon as I found this, I knew I had to look for something where both of my skills are used.

This is when I found Product Management and fortunately, I got to work with my current organisation Change Engine. How I landed up working here through the network is also an interesting story but will discuss it later.

Since then, I have started enjoying my work which is a mix of technical and non-technical skills (an amalgam of right and left brain)

Every bit of time that I have spent since then has been an amazing journey and experience for me.

Special thanks to everyone who was a part of my journey directly or indirectly.

Still exploring Product Management and yes this is not the end but rather just a milestone I have covered so far!!!!!

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Thankyou!

Anubhav Mishra

anubhavmishraaa@gmail.com