Meet Priyanka: Full-time mom with no experience transitions to Product Manager

This is the same for lots of people. Most jobs are looking for at least three years of product management experience, but Priyanka already had 12 years of experience as an engineer! She thought this meant that she couldn’t transition mid way through her career and that there would be too many people applying for too few jobs who had better experience than her. She needed a defined strategy!

2. She was time poor

As a new Mom with a full-time job, Priyanka didn’t have hours and hours to spend researching and learning how to land her dream job. She was already working 8-10 hours a day as a software engineer, not to mention a young baby to take care of. She needed to be efficient and smart with her time.

3.She needed to boost her confidence in time for Product Manager interviews

Having not interviewed for many years, and never for a Product Manager role, Priyanka needed help navigating the interview process to understand how to prepare, how to answer specific questions, and how to show her experience in a short amount of time. Her imposter syndrome made her feel like she didn’t know what she was doing and left her with no confidence to trust in her knowledge and skills.

Solutions

1. A strategy for a successful transition

When Priyanka joined our Product Manager Accelerator Pro program we helped her develop and execute a strategy that enabled her to land her dream PM job. This included reviewing her current experience to identify key transferable skills, creating a product portfolio to master FAANG-level PM skills, analyzing sectors and companies that would match her interests, and learning about the PM interview process.

2. Time management

Fail to prepare? Prepare to fail. We’ve all heard that saying before, and it really is true! Priyanka ensured that she dedicated 90 minutes every day to help her on her journey to PM. With our modules she moved at her own speed, and our weekly live training gave her the opportunity to ask questions and troubleshoot her challenges. Our course was able to fit into her busy schedule. She carved out time after her children went to bed to ensure that she could smoothly transition into a new role.

With a community of aspiring PMs and PMs at her fingertips, Priyanka also leveraged the community’s prior experience to give her behind-the-scenes knowledge into the interview process at various companies.

3. Product Manager interview help

Once Priyanka had worked through our eight modules to upskill herself, she practiced many product design case studies and conducted heaps of mock interviews to gain constructive feedback and increased confidence. Not only did think improve her product thinking, she also worked through our method to answer behavioral interview questions. You can learn all about that here!

With unlimited mock interviews on offer, and a database of all the questions currently being asked by FAANG companies, Priyanka used her time wisely to practice, practice, practice until she felt confident to answer Product Manager interview questions.

If you want to hear more about Priyanka’s story, check out the interview video at the beginning of this blog. She offers loads of great advice and guidance too. And, if you’re keen to start your own journey to PM, sign up for our next FREE masterclass here.