Episode 6: From Technical Program Manager to Facebook PM
In this episode of Paths to Product, I interviewed Dianna Yau and learned how she went from being a Technical Program Manager to becoming a Product Manager at Facebook.
Listen to Dianna’s episode on anchor.fm here.
Background
Dianna studied Economics in college and was passionate about economic development. Though she once dreamed of working at the UN, she eventually realized that tech might be the best path to help her make a positive social impact at scale. After college she worked at a startup in Brazil that brought successful business models from developed markets to emerging markets. Dianna then joined Facebook as a Technical Program Manager and eventually transitioned to become a Product Manager. She currently works as a Product Manager on the Facebook Connectivity team.
Top Three Takeaways
1. Find a Sponsor
If you’re looking to transition into PM, especially in the same company, it’s incredibly helpful to have people that will stand by you and vouch for your product management skills. In Dianna’s case, her sponsors were her manager, and her manager’s manager who were a Product Manager and a Director, respectively.
2. Mirror the Job Description in Your Resume
Nowadays many companies use automated systems to scan resumes for keywords. To help pass that scan, and to show the recruiter that you have the right skills, use the job description as a starting point for crafting your resume. Determine the key experiences or skills the job description is looking for, and incorporate those into your resume as best you can.
3. Mock Interview & Focus on Your Weaknesses
We all agree that mock interviewing is the best way to prepare for product management interviews. Reading frameworks and books alone isn’t enough to know how to apply them in an interview. For that, you have to practice. Dianna explains that to get better, you have to determine your weaknesses and spend time focusing on improving in those areas. For example, if you’re not good at coming up with success metrics at the end of a product design question, focus your energies on improving your ability to define success metrics instead of repeating areas in which you already excel.
