Navigating the MBA to Product Manager Journey (2) — What Can I Do Before MBA Classes Start?
Following the first installment of my series of Navigating the MBA to Product Manager Journey (1), I finally have the time to continue. This article is particularly suited for those who have already been accepted into an MBA program, lack product management experience, and have some free time to prepare for product management opportunities in the United States.
If you’ve successfully enrolled in an MBA program and want to prepare for a career in product management before classes start, this article is perfect for you. Here, I’ll share some things you can consider doing before your MBA program begins.
1. Explore the Product Manager (PM) Role and Determine Your Fit and Preferences
First, it’s vital to deeply understand the responsibilities of a Product Manager (PM). This is especially important if your past work experience doesn’t align closely with the role of a PM. I suggest starting by exploring what PMs actually do and whether this career path aligns with your aspirations. In MBA programs, the PM role is a popular and competitive choice in the tech sector. Before investing significant time and effort, carefully assess whether this role suits you and whether you’re genuinely interested in pursuing this career path.
There are various types of PMs, and the responsibilities and product types they manage can differ greatly. For instance, someone with a consulting or marketing background might start as a Growth PM, while those with a technical background might lean towards being a Feature PM. People with a background in data science might be interested in AI Product Management.
The Product School’s article, “Decoding Job Titles: Exploring Different Product Manager Types,” provides an excellent introduction to the diverse roles within product management.
In the evolving and specialized tech industry, alongside Product Managers (PMs), there exist similar titles such as Program Manager/Project Manager and Product Marketing Manager (PMM). Despite sharing the PM designation, each of these roles entails distinct responsibilities.
The Product School’s article, “Product Manager vs Product Marketing Manager,” along with the Product Plan’s piece, “Product Management vs. Program Management: What’s the Difference?” distinctly outlines these distinctions and is worth reading.
After reading these articles, if possible, directly engage with friends or seniors working as PMs to understand their daily tasks. This can be very helpful in clarifying whether you want to become a product manager.
2. Enhance Your Product Knowledge
Once you have a basic understanding of product management (PM) and have confirmed that it is the career path you’re interested in, you can delve deeper into your learning journey. Personally, I believe in the phrase “Fake it till you make it,” encouraging yourself to think and communicate like a product manager. As you gain more knowledge and experience in this field, you’ll also build confidence, especially during interviews.
Recommended Introductory Books for PM
After entering an MBA program, most peoelwill recommend reading two foundational books to prepare for PM interviews: “Cracking the PM Interview” and “Decode and Conquer.” These books provide essential insights into the product management role, introduce various types of PM interview questions, and offer valuable guidance on standing out.
If you’re not familiar with the tech industry, “Swipe to Unlock” is an excellent choice, providing an accessible introduction to the technology and business strategies of the software tech industry.
If you manage to read these three books during the MBA job-seeking process, you’ll be well-prepared for the basic level already!
If you already have some product experience and wish to explore more related books, I recommend “The Lean Product Playbook.” This book offers a clear step-by-step method, teaching you how to quickly develop a minimum viable product and validate it in the market, helping you find the product-market fit. Another worthwhile read is “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days,” which details how Google Ventures conducts design thinking sprints in just five days, from defining problems to testing new ideas.
Recommended Content — Blogs and Podcasts
Here are a few content channels I follow to absorb product knowledge when I have some free time:
- The Product Podcast (by Product School)
- Lenny’s Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
- How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Stratechery by Ben Thompson (This is more for business strategy in tech but a good read too)
These platforms provide valuable insights and are excellent sources for staying updated on product-related topics.
Moreover, Paweł Huryn (from Product Compass) has compiled a list of prominent voice product experts on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. If you have the time, consider exploring some of their insightful content.
3. Practice it — Seek Hands-On Experience in Product Management
Becoming a product manager is a hands-on journey that requires practical experience. Merely reading books and watching courses might provide a theoretical understanding, but the real essence of a product manager’s work and the required skills remain abstract. For instance, going through a Sprint process in real life will teach you more about what Sprint involves than reading numerous books on the subject.
If time allows, consider securing a short-term product management internship before starting your MBA, which is often more feasible in startups. Through an internship, you can immerse yourself in the daily activities of a product manager, such as defining problems, conducting user interviews for deeper insights, and collaborating with engineers and designers from different departments to ship a product from start to finish.
Before pursuing my MBA, I interned at Cooby, a startup specializing in WhatsApp Customer Relationship Management (CRM). This experience exposed me to product design and management methods vastly different from large tech companies. The three months of internship learning continue to benefit me significantly.
Engaging in a pre-MBA PM internship offers an extra advantage by allowing you to augment your resume with valuable PM experiences and skills. This is particularly beneficial for individuals with limited PM background. Incorporating these experiences and skills enhances your chances of securing a PM interview, be it for a Full-Time position or an MBA Summer internship. It demonstrates your passion for product management and provides tangible PM experiences to discuss during your interview, further strengthening your candidacy.
If the time and commitment required for an internship seem overwhelming, consider participating in or initiating small projects or side projects. The key is to find opportunities to personally experience and practice the entire product management process.
4. Add Basic Coding/Computer Science Skills in Your Pocket!
If your background is similar to mine — not from a technical degree, and you want to ensure that technical skills don’t become a hindrance to your product management journey — consider using this relatively free time to enhance your technical abilities.
When it comes to the most practical skills for a product manager, SQL undoubtedly ranks among the most helpful in real-world scenarios and is often a skill assessed during interviews. While product managers may not need to run complex models like data scientists using R or write code in languages like Python or C++, they frequently find opportunities to use SQL for data extraction and simple analysis. Being able to independently utilize SQL for data extraction becomes highly valuable, especially when your collaborative analytics team (Business Intelligence/Business Analytics) has limited resources to assist you. Additionally, learning SQL contributes to understanding database design and data storage methods.
For those with little knowledge of basic computer science, I also highly recommend the “Harvard CS50: Introduction to Computer Science” course if you have spare time. It’s a fully free, online introductory computer science course from Harvard University that provides a quick understanding of fundamental computer science, including front-end, back-end, and database design, along with hands-on completion of a small project.
In addition to Harvard CS50, Coursera provides various high-quality, free introductory programming courses to assist you in mastering your first programming language. Select courses that pique your interest and take that initial step toward learning!
For MBA product manager job seekers, the goal of learning programming languages is not to become a coding expert but rather a method to train your thinking process. Beyond this, through these learning experiences, you’ll not only gain a better understanding of the tasks and challenges faced by the engineers you’ll collaborate with as a PM but also enhance communication skills and deepen your understanding of the feasibility of software products.
5. Gain In-Depth Insights into the U.S. Tech Industry and Companies
Upon starting the MBA program, most career development centers at schools guide you in creating a Target Company List. This aids in focusing on companies that align with your interests and effectively managing your preparation time.
Not all tech companies you’ve heard of offer summer internship programs for MBA students, and even if they do, positions related to product management may not be included, or they might not provide visa support for international students. For example, Meta, in the past, recruited MBA interns for roles like product marketing managers and strategy/operations, reserving product manager positions for students with technical backgrounds and not open to MBA students.
As for tech companies not supporting visas for international students, their numbers are countless — you can’t even count them on your fingers! It might be easier to list companies that do provide visa support.
In conclusion, if you have specific companies or industries you’re passionate about (such as fintech, ad tech, etc.), researching before the start of the school year can be beneficial. Understand the typical requirements these companies have for candidates and check if they have offered MBA internship programs in previous years (if not, it might be challenging). This pre-preparation allows you to focus on pursuing companies that genuinely interest you and present opportunities, preventing you from getting lost in numerous choices or discovering later that your preferred company has never recruited MBA interns.
6. Relax and Enjoy Life!
Although I’ve listed many things earlier, I don’t believe you have to do them all to be considered ready. These are just some suggestions to consider if you have some free time. Personally, I haven’t done all of them myself, so please rest assured :)
The journey to secure a product management position at MBA is not a short sprint but rather a long marathon. Many individuals may spend six months or even longer to find their ideal internship role in their first time of MBA time.
The fact that you’ve successfully gained admission to an MBA program is already commendable, so don’t let yourself get burned out! Take some extra time to be with family and engage in activities you love. When you’re feeling refreshed, come back to review the earlier suggestions and choose a few that genuinely interest you to implement. As always, I hope that you, the reader of this article, smoothly secure your ideal offer :)
