How to break into Product Management during your MBA?

I have a good idea about what you are going through right now. You are really passionate about building new products and features that can solve a business problem but also give you complete ownership of the ins and outs of that product and many many more, but there’s something that’s blocking your path to becoming one. You have a lot of competition, from the same people who are also passionate about product management, but also from people who just want to jump into this career because it’s a high-paying job!

You surely might feel that this struck a chord with you because I was one among you too :)

The competition was just immense from people across all the departments. Even from students who were totally unrelated to Information Technology (IT) or product management. I have seen BCom graduates wanting to break into product management because they have a preconceived idea that prodman has no major work and it’s very simple. This along with many other factors like one where companies want to adopt diversity into their product pool will affect people like us, who want to get into a proper prodman job because our passion and career are naturally inclined towards it.

But there are some things that you can do to ensure that you come on top of all those candidates, and take land into your dream role!

To break into product management, I’m gonna cover how you can tackle the below particular two major problems that MBA students face during their preparation, in a real and practical way.

Problem #1: Your placements are right around the corner, which means you and everyone have very less time to prepare for interviews

This can make or break the way you prepare for your interviews. People tend to go in one out of two directions from here. The first one is the one where people put in the effort (hard work and smart work) to learn new skills and grasp new knowledge about how companies grew their products into the big giants they are today (like Netflix, Spotify, etc.), solve problems that these companies face on a day to day basic, and many many more! And someone who doesn’t do all of these things falls into the second category :) but hey, just know that you are in the first category because you have taken your first step, that’s researching how to break into prodman. So appreciate yourself!!! ;)

So what are some things that you have to learn/practice/understand for prodman?

1. Understanding product terminologies

2. Learn more about products that you love

3. Have a problem-solving mindset

4. Gaining product-sense

5. Becoming a great storyteller!

You might feel like, ‘Whoaaaa that's a lot of stuff to learn within a short timeframe!!!!!!!!’ and feel a small sense of quitting, but don't worry! All of this is simple to learn! Trust me :)

So what’s the easiest way to cover all of the 5 things? It’s by ‘solving product cases and guesstimates’. But wait, you can take this up a notch by having someone who is very interested in prodman just like you, and having them as your “product buddy” with whom you can both challenge, learn, and grow your product skills!

So how will just solving product cases and guesstimates with a product buddy help you cover all of those 5 requirements? It’s simple.

When you solve product cases, you will slowly learn about #1 product terminologies that are more used across companies and departments, and #2 learn more about the products you love (like Youtube, Netflix, Spotify, etc.). This will develop your #3 problem-solving mindset because every product case will have a problem that the company is facing and will nudge you to find the root cause of the issue and resolve it! Slowly you will feel like you are thinking from the product perspective, meaning, you start to solve problems by thinking about what changes you can make from your product end to resolve them. This thinking is called #4 product-sense, and it is crucial for a product manager! Finally, when you are discussing this with your product buddy, it will push you to make #5 engaging stories that will hook them into thinking why your solution is the best possible one yet. Also, guesstimates require you to have convincing rationales as to how you are ending with the number that the problem is asking you to find, so storytelling comes in handy. Moreover, you are going to be explaining all of your ideas and solutions to the interviewer, and it is crucial that you convince them and also engage them in the process.

So where can you start learning to solve product cases and guesstimates?

Your management school will have product management case study documents that are collated over the years which contain numerous case studies. Guesstimates are fairly easy to find since your consulting club would have done an absolutely great job of collating them as well.

Well if you don’t have any resources or want some extra resources, you can find some here: PMschool, Story about Calm, Robinhood, and some guesstimates.

There are many frameworks that you can use to solve cases, with the popular one being the CIRCLES framework, which involves categorizing the problem, identifying key issues, determining root causes, creating multiple potential solutions, leveraging analysis to select the best solution, establishing an action plan, and supporting its implementation. By breaking down problems, identifying root causes, and generating diverse solutions, the CIRCLES framework provides a structured approach to problem-solving and decision-making.

But my suggestion would be to not stick to any textbook popular frameworks, but develop one of your own and this can be done by solving cases. The main reason behind this is that interviewers know what the popular kind of framework is because they would have interviewed tens or even hundreds of candidates. So it’s better if you can break it down in your own way or through an extension of some popular framework.

For example, one such method that I followed while solving a case was:

Step 1: To ensure that I and the interviewer understood the problem statement perfectly

Step 2: Ask questions to narrow down your problem, target market, root cause, focus metric, etc.

Step 3: Provide 2 to 3 solutions/fixes with an engaging story with proper prioritization, as to why it would work above everything else

Step 4: Discuss what you would do to ensure it works as intended in future

‘Consistency’ is crucial with anything that you need to learn or develop. So be consistent with your efforts and I’m sure that these learnings will help you advance yourself over the crowd!

Problem #2: There are fairly fewer companies that come for prodman roles

In this case, you might need to look beyond the traditional recruitment channels and explore opportunities with startups, smaller companies, and non-traditional industries. They may offer product management roles that are not actively advertised on campus.

One such way is through “Case Competitions”.

There are many case competitions that pop up on many sites like Unstop, PM school, etc. which give the students preplacement offers or certificates for winning solutions! However, only a small fraction of students leverage this opportunity since it involves extra into preparing for the competition and winning it! Of course, it’s difficult to win case competitions, but it helps you develop the 5 main requirements which we discussed above from the industry perspective because most of the time you will be given a live problem that the company is facing.

You can also break into product management through other routes as well.

One such is “Networking”! Connect with alumni, industry professionals, and product managers outside of your school’s recruitment network. Attend industry events, conferences, and meetups to build relationships and gain insights into potential job openings. Reach out directly to companies you are interested in and express your interest in a product management role. Highlight your skills, experiences, and passion for the field. This proactive approach can help you tap into opportunities that may not be advertised.

Leverage “internships ”and “projects ”that involve product management responsibilities. This allows you to gain relevant experience and showcase your skills to potential employers, even if they don’t actively recruit on campus. Various relevant clubs and organizations enable such opportunities, as these groups often have connections with companies and can provide networking opportunities, guest speakers, and industry insights.

Above all, I have one piece of advice for you.

“Work smart and hard, consistently!”

Such that if you get only one interview shortlist, ensure that your preparation is more than enough to crack into the prodman role that you always dreamt of, in spite of who your competition is!

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Until next time! :)