MProduct: The why, the what, and the how
This June, I launched a new initiative with a few of my peers at the University of Michigan called MProduct. After struggling to find resources on product management — what it is, where to learn about it, how to get a job — we decided to launch this initiative to provide much needed guidance to U of M students, and build a community of students motivated to learn together.
Over the summer, we reached out to 20+ product managers, students, and faculty members at U of M to understand the scope of the problem we experienced and identify where we can help.
The goal of this post is to discuss the pain points we have identified for students pursuing product management and outline our solution (MProduct), our goals for the semester, and how we plan to accomplish them.
Why are we here?
Product management is one of the most hyped careers in the technology industry. Sitting at the intersection of people, engineering, and business, many call it the most entrepreneurial role within a company.
The unique intersection of technology and business skills required to be a great PM is intriguing to many university students, but the role is so vaguely defined that it is difficult to gain the necessary education and work experience to be a great PM while in school.
After speaking with recent graduates working in product roles, we have identified a shortlist of pain points students experience when pursuing product management as a career
- Many students first and foremost find it challenging understanding the role of a PM. As it varies by company size, structure, and industry, it requires in-depth knowledge of the various PM roles to condense this information into an easily digestible form. This initial learning curve turns away many otherwise interested or talented individuals
- PM recruiting is not standardized. As there are very few roles available, many companies don’t even use job postings and successful candidates lock in interviews through individual networking and using prior relationships. The process is vague and challenging to navigate for students
- Interviews for PM can cover a wide breadth of knowledge and require practice using specific frameworks and methodologies. Many students do not have peers who they can practice interviews with, leaving them underprepared for the important day
The University of Michigan offers stellar business, engineering, and UX and design curriculums. Although it maintains a culture of creativity on campus, many product management skills develop independently with no structured opportunities to collaborate and build a repertoire of transferable skills. We hope for MProduct to act as a catalyst on campus, bringing together the individual talents of our student body to form an interdisciplinary hub of product management talent.
What are we hoping to achieve?
Our mission is to educate and empower a diverse set of University of Michigan students to become product leaders across industries. We hope to establish U of M as the hub for interdisciplinary product management talent.
MProduct was started to disambiguate the role of a product manager, share knowledge and expertise from industry professionals and unique student journeys, and give students an opportunity to engage in real product management skills before entering the workforce.
Our first steps to accomplishing this mission can be categorized into three pillars:
- Education
- Streamlined Recruiting
- Hands-On Experience
Our short-term plan is to pursue initiatives organized around the two pillars of Education and Streamlined Recruiting.
Education
Like many aspects of business, Product Management relies on your ability to recognize patterns and leverage previous experience to make informed business decisions on a daily basis. As college students, we don’t have a large breadth of experience to rely on, but we can take a shortcut. Discussions and workshops with industry PMs will accelerate individual growth and give students a toolkit to succeed as a PM. In parallel, student-led product management skills lessons and workshops can fill other gaps.
Our goal with MProduct’s education initiatives is to serve as a gateway for students to engage in active discussions with real PMs and document our collective learning in a publicly accessible wiki.
Education Initiatives:
- Publically Accessible Wiki
- Member-Driven Content
- Host Engaging Discussions with external PMs
Streamlined Recruiting
It is exceedingly obvious that securing a product management job from the University of Michigan is extremely difficult and time-consuming. UMich alums in Product Management careers blame a lack of knowledge about Product Management interviews and no community with which to prepare.
Our goal with MProduct’s recruitment initiatives is to reduce students’ uncertainty by creating a concrete guide to recruiting for Product Management.
Recruiting Initiatives:
- Member-Driven Recruiting Community
- Alumni Database
How can MProduct benefit you?
If you are set on becoming a PM we can connect you to the right mentors, further develop your skillset, and give you a community of like-minded peers.
If you are interested in pursuing a high impact career but do not know how to break into Product Management, we are laying the foundational framework to enter the field.
If you are still exploring your options, we are accessible and require no prerequisite knowledge or experience.
We are committed to creating the next generation of Product leaders and hope you will come join our MProduct community. If you want to keep up with what we are doing, sign up here.
Go Blue!
