How I help career transitioners get their first Product role
Francesca Jackson
Background
I’ve been a specialised Product recruiter for over 6 years now. I started my Product recruitment career in Australia when working for SustainDigital, it was a wild ride and an incredible journey that we went on. I joined them as their first Product recruitment hire and employee number 3 and it's the solid foundation for everything I know.
I am currently a Manager at 3Search a Digital and Marketing recruitment company who are part of 11 Investments, a recruitment incubator. I recruit across every level from Product Manager to CPO - feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn!
I’ve placed well over 450 people into Product Management positions across most sectors and I take huge joy in seeing people progress in their roles.
I have had particular success in a few key areas including FinTech, retail/e-commerce, travel, and emerging technology (AI, ML) across healthtech, agritech etc.
I typically work with startups and scale-ups, partnering with companies as they scale and grow and building long-term relationships where I become an extension of their company. I am now also fortunate enough to work with some global companies.
What qualities make up a good Product Manager?
I believe that some hard skills can always be tough, so soft skills are the most important indicator. Natural curiosity is a particularly strong one.
Great PMs almost seem to have an annoyance when they don’t know or understand something, and do everything in their power to fill those knowledge gaps.
It’s a constant questioning of the why, the what, and the how.
Empathy for your customers and other stakeholders is important, and that helps build good communication skills both in asking the right questions and framing the right answers.
So, if you’re unsure where to start, work on embodying these qualities. Read a lot, try and understand what they say and form an opinion on the content. Don’t just read one book and think ‘nailed it’ - you have to listen and read a lot to understand. Then you have to understand reality vs theory. The best way to be a good Product Manager is to start acting like one.
How do you get your first Product experience?
I always recommend transferring internally rather than looking outside of your company for a role. Whilst many Product skills are transferable, the business you’re currently in is most likely to know and appreciate what skills you have. You will inherently have a decent understanding of the industry and customers already from working there. They can expose you to projects that introduce Product skills gradually, whereas external companies often need someone who can hit the ground running even without having to upskill in specific business or industry knowledge.
Always supplement this with your own learning; do courses, go to meetups, start surrounding yourself with product people and begin to learn the language of Product and other disciplines like Design and Engineering. This will have the added benefit of giving you an innate understanding of what good product culture looks like so that when you are looking for a job you can accurately assess if it’s appropriate for you. Remember every company is different and it’s not a one-size-fits-all Product culture.
How do you assess a company for good Product culture?
You can tell a lot by the leadership. Who are they, where have they come from, what companies have they worked in. Secondly, look at the structure of the company. What is the ratio of designers to engineers to product people, are they onshore or offshore, are previous Product Managers of that company moving on to great companies?
Another is nurturing and progressing people. Has someone moved from lead of APM to PM to senior PM? How often do they speak to customers and it’s not just driven by a research or founder? Product decisions are based on research. Finally, use their product. Is it broken or fragmented, what is the customer journey like, how often are they iterating, what is their revenue like, are they growing YOY?
How can early career PMs work with a recruiter?
As a Product recruiter, your best tool for doing a good job is information. You need to actively listen to what your candidates and clients are telling you, but more importantly, you need to be able to ask the right questions to figure out what they’re not telling you. To successfully match great candidates with perfectly suited clients I need to know;
Why do you want to be a Product Manager?
What things about Product work do you enjoy?
What is your North Star/vision/goal of the client and is it aligned with that person?
What kinds of products do you like and want to work on?
What are your expectations and where is there room to move within them?
What is your competitive advantage?
What value do you bring what is your USP?
What have you worked on and what was your impact?
Where are your skill gaps and how have you filled/are you filling them?
How do you upskill and what do you do outside of work to do this?
What feature of Product are you most proud of and why?
What’s your product set-up and what processes or methodology do you use?
We are more likely to add value after you have entered into Product. We are unlikely to immediately get you into a Product role if you have no experience, but to me, there’s value in building a longer-term relationship. Keep us updated on your progress and the challenges you’re facing. As we learn more about you, we’ll be able to guide you more effectively.
When I look at a CV, I don’t think about the job they’ve applied for. Instead, I just try to learn who they are, and then match that to open roles that I’m working on or introductions I could make. I like to think about candidates more holistically. So the earlier you can start that conversation and the more you can tell me who you are and, the value you have driven metrics-wise, the better chance I have of finding a good match for you.
Advice for early career PMs?
Make sure that your CV is impact-focused. Everyone is focusing more and more on commercial growth, so be sure to include metrics like adoption, retention etc or an increase in % or ££ that speaks to the value/impact YOU have created.
Find a mentor, no matter what stage you’re at. Be specific on what you want from that person and get them to do a gap analysis on where you are and where you need to be. Or find someone who has transitioned and ask them how they found it and what tips they have. I have helped so many APMS with finding a mentor and you just have to ask.
There’s a general lack of resources and time at the moment, so changing sectors can be difficult. If I were looking for a job, I would suggest staying in your area where you have experience while the market is still a little challenging. If you have an economics, maths or data background then FinTech or B2B SaaS would be a good fit. Alternatively, Customer Success, Sales and Marketing work well in retail as you know the customers and their problems well. If you have particular industry experience prior to Product (ie. in hospitality or education) try to align that with a Product job in those industries. That is a winning combination that you should lean into when starting out.
I have always advised candidates to act like a Product manager when looking at your CV. Does it add value and does it serve the purpose? Do people know what you have achieved when reading it?
Ultimately, early in your career, you won’t have the best CV on paper and so you will rely more heavily on demonstrating your value in conversation. Be clear and honest about your experience, know where you’re lacking and have a plan for how to improve, and be well prepared for interview questions so that you can demonstrate your deep understanding of Product concepts even if your experience isn’t extensive.
At networking events, don’t think about getting a job. Go there to absorb and learn and listen. Find people and ask them questions, speak to people outside of Product like designers and engineers, and familiarise yourself with their workflows and priorities. This will help build your empathy and will hopefully show you to be a thoughtful and curious Product Manager. Make connections and try to find a way to add value to them. Over time you’ll see it pay dividends.
