From End-User to Product Manager

I recently saw a tweet from SaaS growth consultant Asia Orangio with a list of routes into tech.

I replied and added one more: my journey began as the end-user of a product.

This is probably the least common route, but it has a nugget of advice for anyone looking to break into a new field: start with what you know. By digging in and translating your skills to new roles, you can take your career to unexpected places.

From End-User to Customer Success

Every company has a tech stack. From the simplest apps to enterprise solutions, products are needed to get a job done.

And chances are, no product perfectly fits every use case. Much later in my career, when I was evaluating solutions on behalf of my company, my rule of thumb was generally, “Does this do 80% of what we need it to do?” If so, we could change our process or use an additional app for the remaining 20%.

End-users have insights that even the most sophisticated product analytics can’t detect. Analytics may tell a company how their product is being used, but not why.

I began my career in banking in 2000 (though at the time, I didn’t know it would turn into a career). I was in high school and working as a drive-thru teller at a local bank. A few years later, there was a home loan refinancing cray, and I began to help with loan processing and loan review.

As I began to work with loans more and more, I realized that the bank had a loan management software that was hardly being used. I began to poke around and could see its potential to replace some spreadsheets and improve internal processes. I developed a plan to implement the software throughout the bank, and soon the product was relied on for several loan functions.

By the time I graduated from college, I had begun to consider a career in banking. Yet I couldn’t see myself as a loan officer. The bank owner said, “Well, you’re pretty good at that software stuff — why don’t you see if they’re hiring?”

So I applied to the company behind the loan management system that the bank had been using. I got a job as an implementation/training specialist, helping other banks with their implementation.

From Customer Success to Product Manager

I was able to translate my own experience to a variety of scenarios: large banks, small banks, people who resisted change, power users. By comparison, the bank I had worked for was a simple implementation. Within a few years, I was handling the most complex clients and projects at the company.

Even though every implementation was unique, after a while, I was no longer challenged. I knew what questions to ask, how to persuade reluctant teams, and how to come up with “out-of-the-box” recommendations when the product didn’t do exactly what the bank needed.

I began to envision a new role for myself, sitting at the intersection of the customers and the development group. Informally, I was already giving feedback on new product development, acting as the “voice” of the customer and interpreting enhancement requests. I thought I could make the case that this should be a dedicated role.

As it turned out, most software companies have a formal role: a product manager. But, this small company frequently lacked anything that resembled “industry standard.” After doing some research, I proposed the role of product manager, emphasized the skills I had that could contribute to the role (like ninja-level organizational skills), outlined the responsibilities, and came up with a transition plan.

I was the product manager for the remainder of my tenure with the company. I learned the software development lifecycle, how to plan and scope projects, and enough about database structure and SQL to hold my own in conversations with analysts and developers.

Even though time passed and I eventually became more removed from my days as an end-user, I still had a firm grasp of how users worked within banks. I could see their pain points and also understood what was occurring “outside” of the product that impacted their usage.

And if there was something I couldn’t figure out? I asked a customer. But I often prefaced these conversations with, “I used to work at a bank. I know where you’re coming from.”

From Product Manager to … well, anything

After 15 years at the software company, I was ready for a change. And not simply finding another role as a product manager elsewhere: a complete career pivot (hello, Great Resignation). I went back to my roots as an English major and found myself in content marketing and journalism.

I struggled at first to get interviews. I lacked the experience and many of the skills that employers were looking for. Then I realized that I was positioning myself wrong — I was too focused on what I “didn’t have.” Instead, I needed to focus on the skills I’d gained as a product manager that would lend well to any career: the ability to distill complex topics, creative thinking, and decision making.

Customizing the hell out of my cover letter with each application— translating my PM skills to the job description — had a huge impact on getting an initial interview. I made it easier for hiring managers to see what I brought to the table, landing me in jobs where I’ve been very happy.

PS: Product management skills have also served me well as a parent. Wrangling a household requires some next-level organizational skills.