Let's sum it up
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 10:10 am
The product manager profession is one of the most in-demand in IT. In the first half of 2021, it had the highest median salary .
At the same time, there are myths surrounding the product manager profession: high entry threshold, need for technical education, difficulty in training.
To dispel these and other myths, we spoke to three experts who shared their successful career stories.
These stories are not about how to earn a lot of money and move to live on a paradise island. They are about the fact that to work as a product manager you don’t need to know higher mathematics and sometimes to start in the profession it is enough to find useful courses, books, people and a company.
Nadezhda Butsaeva , Nikita Artemchuk and Vladimir Merkushev share their experiences .
To help you understand everything about the product manager profession, we have prepared material about who a product manager is, what they do, and how to become one .
From programmer to product manager
Nadezhda Butsaeva Product Manager Aliexpress
Where do you work now?
I work in the e-commerce industry as a Buyer Experience Product Manager at AliExpress .
In the company, I am responsible for the buyer experience or purchase experience. Now my focus is working with reviews. Previously, I was responsible for the part of the product at the intersection of the buyer experience and promotion.
To summarize my work, I optimize conversions and efficiency of a digital product, and help the company achieve its goals through changes to that product.
To someone outside of IT, I would explain it this way: a product manager helps increase profits and achieve company goals through a digital product.
What is the salary of a product manager?
People in IT earn an order of magnitude more than those employed in traditional fields, even if they are related to engineering. For example, construction.
My first salary at the start of my career in IT was higher than the income level of all my classmates. 11 years have passed since then, and my current salary is eight to nine times higher than my first one.
What did you dream of being as a child?
As a child, I dreamed of becoming a lawyer, a professional runner, a star, and a designer. Today , I understand that my childhood dreams have largely come true in the profession of a product manager.
Advocate. Just as an advocate gets to the bottom of things, a product manager gets to the bottom of things by running A/B tests and testing hypotheses.
Professional runner. Sports zeal is an important trait for a product manager. If you don’t have drive, a desire to win, and a desire to lead others, then it will be difficult in the product position.If you don’t have drive, a desire to win, and a desire to lead others, then it will be difficult in the product position.
Star. Managers are often the central link in projects and play, if not the main, then one of the key roles.
Designer. My desire for beauty has also found its way into product management. I want to make a beautiful product not only in terms of aesthetics, but also in terms of user experience. but also in terms of user experience.
Where did you study?
Until the 9th grade, I didn’t exactly “dream of becoming a techie.” Rather, I was more inclined toward the humanities: I was the editor of the school newspaper, drew, “played” with computer graphics and Photoshop. But my family decided to “retrain” me.I am inclined towards the humanities: I was the editor of the school newspaper, I drew, I "played" with computer graphics and Photoshop. But my family decided to "retrain" me.I drew, "played" with computer graphics and Photoshop. But my family decided to "retrain" me.
It so happened that the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum turned out to be one of the best educational institutions in Taganrog. educational institutions in Taganrog.
It was hard to study, but I got a great technical base. Plus, this background helped me in my work as a product manager. I liked programming, mathematics, and solving "engineering" problems. programming, mathematics, solving “engineering” problems.
After graduating from the Lyceum, I graduated from the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering at the Radio Engineering Institute.Radio Engineering Institute.
While I was studying at the institute, I became a Microsoft student partner. My friend and I organized meetups for developers. It was cool, and then I realized that I was good at building a community. A friend and I were organizing meetups for developers. It was cool, and then I realized that I was good at building a community. I realized that I can build a community.
How did you become a project manager?
P applied for an internship as a programmer at an outsourcing company.
I have never worked as a programmer, but I can write code. I even took part in programming Olympiads and also reached the all-Russian final of the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition with a team of fellow engineers. programming Olympiads, and also reached the All-Russian final of the competition from
I didn't expect that they would see a leadership skill set in me and offer me the role of Second Project Manager instead of a programmer position. I worked in this position for a year. I had a project for eight people and a customer from Greece who didn't speak English very well. I spoke even worse at the beginning, but then I improved my English.programmer will be offered the role of Second Project manager. I worked in this position for a year. I had a project for eight people and a customer from Greece,who didn't speak English very well. I spoke even worse at first, but I improved my English later.
In case you're still wondering, "Should a product manager know how to code?" we've "Can a manager program?" weprepared an article with answers in 5, 50, and 500 words .
Later, I moved to Moscow and started working as a project manager at online service for purchasing airline tickets and booking hotelsservice for purchasing airline tickets and booking hotels Anywayanyday , an online service for buying airline tickets and booking hotels . I was good at building processes, managing projects, and establishing communication with developers. But at the same time, I wanted more independence in making key decisions about the product. communication with developers. But at the same time, I wanted more independence in making key decisions about the product. independence in making key decisions about the product.
I was never interested in doing what I was told. I wanted to get to a place where people decide what the product would be like. People decide what the product will be like.That's why after Anywayanyday I got a job at a startup. I solved problems at the intersection of project and product management: I interviewed users, interviewed users,managed a technical team, drew prototypes, hired people - I was responsible for the product as a whole, although at that time there was practically no such profession as a product owner on the market.There was practically no such profession as a product owner on the market.
Then, thanks to my experience working with communities and proximity to the startup community, I was invited to community, I was invited toDigital October to launch the Generation S accelerator and the API Moscow incubator.
How did you become a product manager?
While working at Digital October, I supervised paid events and then I found what I was interested in — monetization. So, when I came to the interview at Superjob , I simply showed my cases and got an offer.
This was the first place where I was officially called a product manager.
During my time at the company, we have achieved a lot: we have increased conversions into first payments through email chains and changes in the tariff structure, optimized the main page, increasing proxy metrics for resume viewing and job posting.
My path as a product manager in e-commerce began with Lamoda . Then there was AliExpress , where I work now. For me, this is the quintessence of everything I did before. Here I learned not to be afraid of foreign speech and working in a different cultural environment. It was here that I led the largest, most complex and high-risk projects.
How did you upgrade your skills?
I tried taking courses on Coursera, but I got bored. There were no practical assignments and that drive you feel when your sales graph grows because of your decisions.
But what really pumped me up was going to the Product Camp conference . It's a great example of how the environment helps you grow better than some courses. Meeting new people, talking between presentations, discussing books - it gave me a lot professionally.
How to become a product manager
how to become a product manager
What kind of diploma you have doesn't affect whether you become a product manager or not . I got the most useful knowledge when I started working. Nobody asked me about my diploma, and if they did, they were very surprised when I said that I was a programmer by education.
Make friends with tables and numbers . My techie mind helped me in my work: mathematical thinking, the ability to work with data and tables. For me, these are not just numbers, but real people and sales.
I often see that people who are not from technical backgrounds are afraid of tables, numbers and everything related to them. But today, not only product managers need to be able to handle numbers, but also creative marketers, SMM specialists and editors. They have to calculate the budget, the cost of the received lead and conversions. everything connected with it. But today not only product managers need to be able to handle numbers, but also creative marketers, SMM specialists and editors. They have to calculate the budget, the cost of the received lead and conversions. editors. You have to calculate the budget, cost of the received lead and conversions.
Learn to work with hypotheses . A product manager should be able to translate high-flown concepts into clear hypotheses, test them, and strive to do it cheaply. It's cheap.
We talked about prioritization and testing of hypotheses in more detail in the article articleHow to Prioritize Hypotheses Using an RPG Game as an Example: 3 Proven Frameworks
Develop your visual acuity . A product person doesn't have to be a designer, but it's a plus if you have a general idea and understanding of composition. This will help you negotiate more effectively with design teams and see a good interface that creates a minimum of cognitive load for the user.be a designer, but it will be a plus if you have a general idea and understanding of composition. This will help you negotiate more effectively with design teams and see a good interface that creates a minimum of cognitive load for the user.It is more effective to negotiate with design teams and see a good interface that creates a minimum of cognitive load for the user.
Ask yourself questions :
Why did I like it or not like it?
How can this user case be solved in fewer steps?
Learn foreign languages. Knowing one or two foreign languages greatly increases your chances of finding a job. So create pages on LinkedIn and boards like Upwork .
Be part of the crowd . You don't have to be a talking head. Be more social, be visible, and meet key people.
Marketer, systems analyst and tester are positions from which it is easier to move to product managers.
General recommendation for switchers : collect all your projects that can be classified as product ones and pack them into product cases for your portfolio. There doesn’t necessarily have to be a digital product behind this. The main thing is to describe what you managed to improve, what numbers you grew it to, what hypotheses you tested, and what it gave the company.
To help you figure out how to present your experience through the prism of a new profession, together with Denis Kulkov, Head of Operations at skillsetter, we have compiled a detailed guide How to get an interview without experience in a new profession .
Guide to the best skillsetter articles
Our blog already has over 150 articles about product growth and careers in IT. For easy navigation, we have combined them into thematic collections.
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From political scientist to product manager
Nikita Artemchuk product manager prom.ua
Where do you work now?
I work for Prom.ua. This is the largest marketplace in Ukraine. We have a whole group of projects that are focused on e-commerce.
My job as Chief Product Officer is to set up the work processes of all product managers in the company. The responsibility is divided between me and the CEO. He determines what we do, and I determine how we do it together.
How to explain to a non-IT person what a product manager issuch a product manager
The Prom.ua office periodically conducts excursions, sometimes for children. To a person out of context, I would explain it as to a child :
Do you use the Internet?
Yes!
Okay. How do you get in there?
Via Google Chrome or another browser.
Do you remember what your browser looks like?
We remember.
Great. Do you know why he looks like that?
Why?
The thing is, there are people who not only figured out what your browser, search pages, and buttons should look like, but most importantly, why they should look that way. These people are called product managers.
Product managers are the ones who design what your browser, search pages, and buttons look like so you can use the internet comfortably.
And product managers are very patient. But there is a limit to everything, so in our Telegram channel we have collected the top 5 things that irritate product managers.
Who earns more: a project or a product?
Depends on the company and the functional responsibilities of the product manager. But I have not encountered the opposite situation, when the project manager gets more than the product.
For example, if someone is called a product manager in a five-person startup, he will not earn more than a project manager at McKinsey & Company or Apple.
My salary as a product manager has increased about five times compared to my first job in IT.
Where did you study?
I am a political scientist by education. I studied on a budget at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Everything was as close as possible to the European or American format of education. About 30% of the study time was taken up by mandatory courses. I could choose the rest of the areas to my taste from the department's courses.
In my third year, I started actively working part-time: as a packer at a paper factory, as a night administrator at a hostel. By the end of my fourth year, I realized that it was time to change something.
Tell us about your first job in IT
I watched the movie "99 francs" and I was captivated by the idea of marketing and advertising. I wanted to understand how it is possible to come up with something that will help or make a person make a purchase. And at the same time, so that he will like it.
At the same time, I was interested in technology and programming. Then I thought it would be cool to find something at the intersection of these two spheres.
When I learned about contextual advertising, I realized that it was for me. I started sending out resumes and the first thing I came across in the list of vacancies was an intern position at Prom.ua. From that moment on, the wonderful world of contextual advertising opened up to me.
For the first six months, I collected initial input data on advertising campaigns for clients. Based on these input data, I set up advertising campaigns, monitored, analyzed, connected clients. Based on these inputs, I set up advertising campaigns, monitored, analyzed, and connectedGoogle Analytics , and provided reports on success. My colleagues and managers taught me a lot.
If you're just starting out in your career and want to get a handle on product manager tools, save our selection.For a product manager, save our selection.
We've collected 30 free tools for product managers for analytics, research, prototyping, and organizing teamwork. We've also added guides and highlighted the limitations of free plans.tariffs.
After two and a half years, I wanted to move on. At that time, I saw only one option - to become the head of the contextual advertising department. But there was a problem I saw only one option - to become the head of the contextual advertising department. But there was a problem: I knew that I wanted to manage the contextual advertising department, but I didn’t understand why I needed itI didn't understand why I needed it
Around the same time, we had a competition for the position of department head. department.I applied, but did not get in . I understand that if I were in the place of the people who made the decision, I would have turned myself down too. I had the desire, but no motivation. motivation.
How did you become a project manager?
After Prom.ua, I joined a startup as the head of the marketing department. But my responsibilities quickly expanded, and I began to perform the role of a project manager or marketing project manager. But my responsibilities quickly expanded and I began to perform the role of a project manager or marketing project manager. I started to perform the role of a project manager or marketing project manager.
The product constantly required improvements, including in the code. I had to study this issue on my own, read books on scrum and product management. I coped with the tasks well, so most of the development tasks were transferred to me.
How did you improve your skills?
I studied computer languages on Codecademy , took additional courses on the “textbook” project management and people management on Coursera, read a lot. The top book that gave me a tour of all the scrums, lines, kanbans, and other product things was “Agile Development Methodologies” by Boris Wolfson .
How did you become a product manager?
At the invitation of Head-of-product Prom.ua, I returned to the company, but already as a business analyst. It was a "floating" role - I worked with tasks that few people wanted to do. This did not last long, as at some point we realized that the role of business analyst was excessive for the company. I retrained as a project manager, and then became a product manager of the CRM team, which is responsible for the internal infrastructure, sales tools and trade marketing.
I worked in this role for some time, and then the company structure changed. One team became responsible for sellers, and the second one — for buyers. I headed the first one and became Head of Product — I managed products, which had their own teams.
For those who are just starting their journey as a product manager, we recommend reading the article read the articleHow product teams work and 8 more popular questions about IT
What were the fears at work?
Imposter syndrome . I doubted myself and that I was doing all the processes correctly. I kept waiting for someone to come and expose me.I have to. I kept waiting for someone to come and expose me.
Feeling of uselessness in the product . This fear has haunted me throughout my career. The thought arises that I and my experience are no longer needed. This happens because I try to delegate tasks as much as possible. Employees are happy with new opportunities and growth, but the moment they start to cope with tasks without my intervention, I think: “Why do they need me?” entire career path. The thought arises that I and my experience are no longer needed. This happens because I try to delegate tasks as much as possible. Employees are happy with new opportunities and growth, but the moment they begin to cope with tasks without my intervention, I think: “Why do they need me?” need. This happens because I try to delegate tasks as much as possible. Employees are happy with new opportunities and growth, but the moment they start to cope with tasks without my intervention, I think:"Why do they need me?"
How to become a product manager
how to become a product manager
Answer this question: Why do you want to be a product manager? Product managers are often confused with project managers, product owners, scrum masters, business analysts. Figure out what you like: working with people, making decisions, drawing or testing? Or do you want money because product managers earn a lot?make decisions, draw or test? Or do you want money because product managers earn a lot?
For beginners from scratch: focus less on a specific point position. First, determine the direction of the company or the row you want to be in and try to find options close to that.
You can try to grow to a product manager within the company. The easiest way to move to products is from the following positions: support, QA, marketer, project manager, business analyst and developer. It is more difficult for other specialties to make an instant switch to the product position.
Know how to understand the product you want to work on. Hard and soft skills are important. But it is equally important to understand how your product works. For example, I have repeatedly registered on Prom as a seller in order to study the platform as a user.
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From Engineer to Product Manager
Vladimir Merkushev product manager olx
Where do you work now?
I work as a Senior Product Manager at OLX Motors . It is a division of OLX Group with products in more than 40 countries. OLX Motors deals with services for selling and buying cars online and offline. It is something like Auto.ru, but in Europe.
I am responsible for phygital car sales — a direction that combines online and offline. We shorten the user path and take on many problems: communication with buyers, answering calls and working with dealers. For example, in Poland we have a network of inspection points where a person can get a free technical inspection and sell a car in an hour.
How to explain to a non-IT person what a product manager is
A product manager is a man in the middle. His job is to connect developers, marketing people, businessmen and clients. Each of them has needs, expectations and pain points that need to be understood. To do this, we conduct research, communicate with clients and market representatives, and then transform all insights and information into a digital product. There are needs, expectations and pain points that need to be understood. To do this, we conduct research, communicate with clients and market representatives, and then transform all insights and information into a digital product. then we transform all insights and information into a digital product.
I help the team understand what we are doing, why, when, and how we can measure the benefits. we will be able to measure the benefits.
What is the salary of a product manager?
If we consider the CIS and Europe, we have a very big gap. The average salary of a product manager in European companies is from Product manager salary in European companies - from€60,000 per year, in the US - from $100,000 per year. In the CIS, a middle-senior manager gets about $30,000 per year.000 per year. In the CIS, a middle-senior manager receives approximately $30,000 per year.
As for me, with each new position and company my salary became one and a half to two times higher.became one and a half to two times larger.
What did you dream of being as a child?
As a child, I dreamed of becoming a businessman. And when I got my first computer, I probably thought for the first time that I wanted to work in IT, but I didn’t know who. computer, I probably thought for the first time that I wanted to work in IT, but at that time I didn’t know who.
Where did you study?
I received my secondary education in Kazakhstan. At that time, there was a huge shortage of students in technical specialties, so a commission from St. Petersburg came to Kazakhstan and we took exams right at home. That's how I managed to get into the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
Since my second year, I've been interested in web development. I studied HTML and CSS. Then PHP appeared, the first content management systems (CMS) - and I was completely hooked.
I didn't study to be a programmer, but it so happened that my department had a strong commercial structure that did custom research for large companies. From my third year, I started supporting several university websites. Gradually, this became my main specialty.
How did you become a product manager?
I spent a year in graduate school and realized that I was not interested in doing science, but was more attracted to everything related to the Internet. So I got a position as a junior QA specialist in a St. Petersburg company that was developing large projects for the UK market.
I knew how development and technologies were organized, so I easily got the position. From a tester, I moved to management and became the head of a small testing group. When the company grew and the product leader was promoted to CEO, I headed the project, since I worked in it from scratch.
Then there was "Kolesa, Krysha, Market" - a hybrid of auto.ru and "Ciana". I came there as the head of the web department. At that time, the company was half an offline business. We grew quickly, began to use a product approach: we thought of the service not as a website, but as a product that solves the client's problems.
In this company, I first became a product manager, and then CPO and managed all products with a team of products.
The next step is Avito . A completely new level and scale of tasks, a different approach to development. But my goal has always been OLX.
OLX is like Google, only in the classifieds sphere. I improved my English, worked with a mentor from Google on my resume and interview skills, sent responses to about 30 product manager vacancies in European countries. As a result, I received an offer from Auto1 in Berlin and from OLX in Lisbon. sent responses to about 30 vacancies for a product manager in European countries. As a result, I received an offer from Berlin from
How I upgraded my skills
I didn't take any special courses, I learned from my colleagues. Today there are many more opportunities: courses, books, educational platforms. You can enter the profession in six months.opportunities: courses, books, educational platforms. You can enter the profession in six months.
There are books that influenced me at the formation stage. Now I read biographies of famous leaders of product companies and fiction.
I try to constantly develop and learn something new. In my case, networking and running my own product channel helps a lot . To write good material, I always do research and, accordingly, learn something new.
I also regularly read TG channels:
About convenience
Digital Doctor
Sergey Kolganov on project management
TechSparks
Parables of a product specialist
Podcast "Make sense"
useful stories
In addition to this list of useful Telegram channels, we recommend checking out our selection of the 100 best Telegram channels about marketing, product growth, and careers in IT .
What were the fears at work?
I wasn't scared, I was interested. I came with my own, independently acquired baggage of knowledge - I read, tried to change something in the code, and around me there were already guys who were making a good living from this. I wanted the same.
Moving to Moscow from Kazakhstan, going from a company of 100 people to a company with more than 1,000, and at the same time proving that I know something – that was a challenge.
How to become a product manager
how to become a product manager
Gain practice. Courses without practice are useless. I advise developing a pet project or working on a friend's product: make a Lean Canvas, CJM, User story mapping. It's good if you can talk to potential users - that way you'll understand better.
To help you understand what a pet project is and how to make one, we have prepared a detailed guide based on a real pet project - the Capoeira Daily app
Communicate with users. Some are subject to the pattern "if I think and do this, then others will do the same." This is a subjective feeling, and transferring it to work is a mistake.
If you make guesses about the user's needs and problems based only on personal experience or your immediate environment, you will end up with a product that almost no one needs. So start with Customer research - after ten interviews it will become clearer what to do.
Brush up on your technical skills. There are things you need to know at a basic level. My favorite interview question is: “How does the Internet work?” Half of the candidates can’t answer this, despite three years of experience as an Internet project manager.
You also need to be able to work with numbers and metrics. Understand what probability is and know how to calculate retention.
You don't have to be able to write code or have development experience. You don't have to be a techie to move into product management. I know product managers who came to the profession from marketing and design without a technical background. But you should understand how everything works and be on the same page with the team.
For those who want to check their level of development, we recommend taking our most difficult test for a product manager by answering 10 questions .
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Product managers are T-shaped specialists. They are well versed in many areas, israel email list being experts in one of them. For example, an engineer who calculates LTV, makes MVP and understands the development process. Or a programmer with management skills and a desire to create a product.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach that will automatically make you a product manager. People with different levels of training, including those without a technical background, can enter the industry.
Motivation, development of cross-competencies, constant practice and a minimum number of skills necessary for the profession that need to be developed are important.
At the same time, there are myths surrounding the product manager profession: high entry threshold, need for technical education, difficulty in training.
To dispel these and other myths, we spoke to three experts who shared their successful career stories.
These stories are not about how to earn a lot of money and move to live on a paradise island. They are about the fact that to work as a product manager you don’t need to know higher mathematics and sometimes to start in the profession it is enough to find useful courses, books, people and a company.
Nadezhda Butsaeva , Nikita Artemchuk and Vladimir Merkushev share their experiences .
To help you understand everything about the product manager profession, we have prepared material about who a product manager is, what they do, and how to become one .
From programmer to product manager
Nadezhda Butsaeva Product Manager Aliexpress
Where do you work now?
I work in the e-commerce industry as a Buyer Experience Product Manager at AliExpress .
In the company, I am responsible for the buyer experience or purchase experience. Now my focus is working with reviews. Previously, I was responsible for the part of the product at the intersection of the buyer experience and promotion.
To summarize my work, I optimize conversions and efficiency of a digital product, and help the company achieve its goals through changes to that product.
To someone outside of IT, I would explain it this way: a product manager helps increase profits and achieve company goals through a digital product.
What is the salary of a product manager?
People in IT earn an order of magnitude more than those employed in traditional fields, even if they are related to engineering. For example, construction.
My first salary at the start of my career in IT was higher than the income level of all my classmates. 11 years have passed since then, and my current salary is eight to nine times higher than my first one.
What did you dream of being as a child?
As a child, I dreamed of becoming a lawyer, a professional runner, a star, and a designer. Today , I understand that my childhood dreams have largely come true in the profession of a product manager.
Advocate. Just as an advocate gets to the bottom of things, a product manager gets to the bottom of things by running A/B tests and testing hypotheses.
Professional runner. Sports zeal is an important trait for a product manager. If you don’t have drive, a desire to win, and a desire to lead others, then it will be difficult in the product position.If you don’t have drive, a desire to win, and a desire to lead others, then it will be difficult in the product position.
Star. Managers are often the central link in projects and play, if not the main, then one of the key roles.
Designer. My desire for beauty has also found its way into product management. I want to make a beautiful product not only in terms of aesthetics, but also in terms of user experience. but also in terms of user experience.
Where did you study?
Until the 9th grade, I didn’t exactly “dream of becoming a techie.” Rather, I was more inclined toward the humanities: I was the editor of the school newspaper, drew, “played” with computer graphics and Photoshop. But my family decided to “retrain” me.I am inclined towards the humanities: I was the editor of the school newspaper, I drew, I "played" with computer graphics and Photoshop. But my family decided to "retrain" me.I drew, "played" with computer graphics and Photoshop. But my family decided to "retrain" me.
It so happened that the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum turned out to be one of the best educational institutions in Taganrog. educational institutions in Taganrog.
It was hard to study, but I got a great technical base. Plus, this background helped me in my work as a product manager. I liked programming, mathematics, and solving "engineering" problems. programming, mathematics, solving “engineering” problems.
After graduating from the Lyceum, I graduated from the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering at the Radio Engineering Institute.Radio Engineering Institute.
While I was studying at the institute, I became a Microsoft student partner. My friend and I organized meetups for developers. It was cool, and then I realized that I was good at building a community. A friend and I were organizing meetups for developers. It was cool, and then I realized that I was good at building a community. I realized that I can build a community.
How did you become a project manager?
P applied for an internship as a programmer at an outsourcing company.
I have never worked as a programmer, but I can write code. I even took part in programming Olympiads and also reached the all-Russian final of the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition with a team of fellow engineers. programming Olympiads, and also reached the All-Russian final of the competition from
I didn't expect that they would see a leadership skill set in me and offer me the role of Second Project Manager instead of a programmer position. I worked in this position for a year. I had a project for eight people and a customer from Greece who didn't speak English very well. I spoke even worse at the beginning, but then I improved my English.programmer will be offered the role of Second Project manager. I worked in this position for a year. I had a project for eight people and a customer from Greece,who didn't speak English very well. I spoke even worse at first, but I improved my English later.
In case you're still wondering, "Should a product manager know how to code?" we've "Can a manager program?" weprepared an article with answers in 5, 50, and 500 words .
Later, I moved to Moscow and started working as a project manager at online service for purchasing airline tickets and booking hotelsservice for purchasing airline tickets and booking hotels Anywayanyday , an online service for buying airline tickets and booking hotels . I was good at building processes, managing projects, and establishing communication with developers. But at the same time, I wanted more independence in making key decisions about the product. communication with developers. But at the same time, I wanted more independence in making key decisions about the product. independence in making key decisions about the product.
I was never interested in doing what I was told. I wanted to get to a place where people decide what the product would be like. People decide what the product will be like.That's why after Anywayanyday I got a job at a startup. I solved problems at the intersection of project and product management: I interviewed users, interviewed users,managed a technical team, drew prototypes, hired people - I was responsible for the product as a whole, although at that time there was practically no such profession as a product owner on the market.There was practically no such profession as a product owner on the market.
Then, thanks to my experience working with communities and proximity to the startup community, I was invited to community, I was invited toDigital October to launch the Generation S accelerator and the API Moscow incubator.
How did you become a product manager?
While working at Digital October, I supervised paid events and then I found what I was interested in — monetization. So, when I came to the interview at Superjob , I simply showed my cases and got an offer.
This was the first place where I was officially called a product manager.
During my time at the company, we have achieved a lot: we have increased conversions into first payments through email chains and changes in the tariff structure, optimized the main page, increasing proxy metrics for resume viewing and job posting.
My path as a product manager in e-commerce began with Lamoda . Then there was AliExpress , where I work now. For me, this is the quintessence of everything I did before. Here I learned not to be afraid of foreign speech and working in a different cultural environment. It was here that I led the largest, most complex and high-risk projects.
How did you upgrade your skills?
I tried taking courses on Coursera, but I got bored. There were no practical assignments and that drive you feel when your sales graph grows because of your decisions.
But what really pumped me up was going to the Product Camp conference . It's a great example of how the environment helps you grow better than some courses. Meeting new people, talking between presentations, discussing books - it gave me a lot professionally.
How to become a product manager
how to become a product manager
What kind of diploma you have doesn't affect whether you become a product manager or not . I got the most useful knowledge when I started working. Nobody asked me about my diploma, and if they did, they were very surprised when I said that I was a programmer by education.
Make friends with tables and numbers . My techie mind helped me in my work: mathematical thinking, the ability to work with data and tables. For me, these are not just numbers, but real people and sales.
I often see that people who are not from technical backgrounds are afraid of tables, numbers and everything related to them. But today, not only product managers need to be able to handle numbers, but also creative marketers, SMM specialists and editors. They have to calculate the budget, the cost of the received lead and conversions. everything connected with it. But today not only product managers need to be able to handle numbers, but also creative marketers, SMM specialists and editors. They have to calculate the budget, the cost of the received lead and conversions. editors. You have to calculate the budget, cost of the received lead and conversions.
Learn to work with hypotheses . A product manager should be able to translate high-flown concepts into clear hypotheses, test them, and strive to do it cheaply. It's cheap.
We talked about prioritization and testing of hypotheses in more detail in the article articleHow to Prioritize Hypotheses Using an RPG Game as an Example: 3 Proven Frameworks
Develop your visual acuity . A product person doesn't have to be a designer, but it's a plus if you have a general idea and understanding of composition. This will help you negotiate more effectively with design teams and see a good interface that creates a minimum of cognitive load for the user.be a designer, but it will be a plus if you have a general idea and understanding of composition. This will help you negotiate more effectively with design teams and see a good interface that creates a minimum of cognitive load for the user.It is more effective to negotiate with design teams and see a good interface that creates a minimum of cognitive load for the user.
Ask yourself questions :
Why did I like it or not like it?
How can this user case be solved in fewer steps?
Learn foreign languages. Knowing one or two foreign languages greatly increases your chances of finding a job. So create pages on LinkedIn and boards like Upwork .
Be part of the crowd . You don't have to be a talking head. Be more social, be visible, and meet key people.
Marketer, systems analyst and tester are positions from which it is easier to move to product managers.
General recommendation for switchers : collect all your projects that can be classified as product ones and pack them into product cases for your portfolio. There doesn’t necessarily have to be a digital product behind this. The main thing is to describe what you managed to improve, what numbers you grew it to, what hypotheses you tested, and what it gave the company.
To help you figure out how to present your experience through the prism of a new profession, together with Denis Kulkov, Head of Operations at skillsetter, we have compiled a detailed guide How to get an interview without experience in a new profession .
Guide to the best skillsetter articles
Our blog already has over 150 articles about product growth and careers in IT. For easy navigation, we have combined them into thematic collections.
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From political scientist to product manager
Nikita Artemchuk product manager prom.ua
Where do you work now?
I work for Prom.ua. This is the largest marketplace in Ukraine. We have a whole group of projects that are focused on e-commerce.
My job as Chief Product Officer is to set up the work processes of all product managers in the company. The responsibility is divided between me and the CEO. He determines what we do, and I determine how we do it together.
How to explain to a non-IT person what a product manager issuch a product manager
The Prom.ua office periodically conducts excursions, sometimes for children. To a person out of context, I would explain it as to a child :
Do you use the Internet?
Yes!
Okay. How do you get in there?
Via Google Chrome or another browser.
Do you remember what your browser looks like?
We remember.
Great. Do you know why he looks like that?
Why?
The thing is, there are people who not only figured out what your browser, search pages, and buttons should look like, but most importantly, why they should look that way. These people are called product managers.
Product managers are the ones who design what your browser, search pages, and buttons look like so you can use the internet comfortably.
And product managers are very patient. But there is a limit to everything, so in our Telegram channel we have collected the top 5 things that irritate product managers.
Who earns more: a project or a product?
Depends on the company and the functional responsibilities of the product manager. But I have not encountered the opposite situation, when the project manager gets more than the product.
For example, if someone is called a product manager in a five-person startup, he will not earn more than a project manager at McKinsey & Company or Apple.
My salary as a product manager has increased about five times compared to my first job in IT.
Where did you study?
I am a political scientist by education. I studied on a budget at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Everything was as close as possible to the European or American format of education. About 30% of the study time was taken up by mandatory courses. I could choose the rest of the areas to my taste from the department's courses.
In my third year, I started actively working part-time: as a packer at a paper factory, as a night administrator at a hostel. By the end of my fourth year, I realized that it was time to change something.
Tell us about your first job in IT
I watched the movie "99 francs" and I was captivated by the idea of marketing and advertising. I wanted to understand how it is possible to come up with something that will help or make a person make a purchase. And at the same time, so that he will like it.
At the same time, I was interested in technology and programming. Then I thought it would be cool to find something at the intersection of these two spheres.
When I learned about contextual advertising, I realized that it was for me. I started sending out resumes and the first thing I came across in the list of vacancies was an intern position at Prom.ua. From that moment on, the wonderful world of contextual advertising opened up to me.
For the first six months, I collected initial input data on advertising campaigns for clients. Based on these input data, I set up advertising campaigns, monitored, analyzed, connected clients. Based on these inputs, I set up advertising campaigns, monitored, analyzed, and connectedGoogle Analytics , and provided reports on success. My colleagues and managers taught me a lot.
If you're just starting out in your career and want to get a handle on product manager tools, save our selection.For a product manager, save our selection.
We've collected 30 free tools for product managers for analytics, research, prototyping, and organizing teamwork. We've also added guides and highlighted the limitations of free plans.tariffs.
After two and a half years, I wanted to move on. At that time, I saw only one option - to become the head of the contextual advertising department. But there was a problem I saw only one option - to become the head of the contextual advertising department. But there was a problem: I knew that I wanted to manage the contextual advertising department, but I didn’t understand why I needed itI didn't understand why I needed it
Around the same time, we had a competition for the position of department head. department.I applied, but did not get in . I understand that if I were in the place of the people who made the decision, I would have turned myself down too. I had the desire, but no motivation. motivation.
How did you become a project manager?
After Prom.ua, I joined a startup as the head of the marketing department. But my responsibilities quickly expanded, and I began to perform the role of a project manager or marketing project manager. But my responsibilities quickly expanded and I began to perform the role of a project manager or marketing project manager. I started to perform the role of a project manager or marketing project manager.
The product constantly required improvements, including in the code. I had to study this issue on my own, read books on scrum and product management. I coped with the tasks well, so most of the development tasks were transferred to me.
How did you improve your skills?
I studied computer languages on Codecademy , took additional courses on the “textbook” project management and people management on Coursera, read a lot. The top book that gave me a tour of all the scrums, lines, kanbans, and other product things was “Agile Development Methodologies” by Boris Wolfson .
How did you become a product manager?
At the invitation of Head-of-product Prom.ua, I returned to the company, but already as a business analyst. It was a "floating" role - I worked with tasks that few people wanted to do. This did not last long, as at some point we realized that the role of business analyst was excessive for the company. I retrained as a project manager, and then became a product manager of the CRM team, which is responsible for the internal infrastructure, sales tools and trade marketing.
I worked in this role for some time, and then the company structure changed. One team became responsible for sellers, and the second one — for buyers. I headed the first one and became Head of Product — I managed products, which had their own teams.
For those who are just starting their journey as a product manager, we recommend reading the article read the articleHow product teams work and 8 more popular questions about IT
What were the fears at work?
Imposter syndrome . I doubted myself and that I was doing all the processes correctly. I kept waiting for someone to come and expose me.I have to. I kept waiting for someone to come and expose me.
Feeling of uselessness in the product . This fear has haunted me throughout my career. The thought arises that I and my experience are no longer needed. This happens because I try to delegate tasks as much as possible. Employees are happy with new opportunities and growth, but the moment they start to cope with tasks without my intervention, I think: “Why do they need me?” entire career path. The thought arises that I and my experience are no longer needed. This happens because I try to delegate tasks as much as possible. Employees are happy with new opportunities and growth, but the moment they begin to cope with tasks without my intervention, I think: “Why do they need me?” need. This happens because I try to delegate tasks as much as possible. Employees are happy with new opportunities and growth, but the moment they start to cope with tasks without my intervention, I think:"Why do they need me?"
How to become a product manager
how to become a product manager
Answer this question: Why do you want to be a product manager? Product managers are often confused with project managers, product owners, scrum masters, business analysts. Figure out what you like: working with people, making decisions, drawing or testing? Or do you want money because product managers earn a lot?make decisions, draw or test? Or do you want money because product managers earn a lot?
For beginners from scratch: focus less on a specific point position. First, determine the direction of the company or the row you want to be in and try to find options close to that.
You can try to grow to a product manager within the company. The easiest way to move to products is from the following positions: support, QA, marketer, project manager, business analyst and developer. It is more difficult for other specialties to make an instant switch to the product position.
Know how to understand the product you want to work on. Hard and soft skills are important. But it is equally important to understand how your product works. For example, I have repeatedly registered on Prom as a seller in order to study the platform as a user.
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From Engineer to Product Manager
Vladimir Merkushev product manager olx
Where do you work now?
I work as a Senior Product Manager at OLX Motors . It is a division of OLX Group with products in more than 40 countries. OLX Motors deals with services for selling and buying cars online and offline. It is something like Auto.ru, but in Europe.
I am responsible for phygital car sales — a direction that combines online and offline. We shorten the user path and take on many problems: communication with buyers, answering calls and working with dealers. For example, in Poland we have a network of inspection points where a person can get a free technical inspection and sell a car in an hour.
How to explain to a non-IT person what a product manager is
A product manager is a man in the middle. His job is to connect developers, marketing people, businessmen and clients. Each of them has needs, expectations and pain points that need to be understood. To do this, we conduct research, communicate with clients and market representatives, and then transform all insights and information into a digital product. There are needs, expectations and pain points that need to be understood. To do this, we conduct research, communicate with clients and market representatives, and then transform all insights and information into a digital product. then we transform all insights and information into a digital product.
I help the team understand what we are doing, why, when, and how we can measure the benefits. we will be able to measure the benefits.
What is the salary of a product manager?
If we consider the CIS and Europe, we have a very big gap. The average salary of a product manager in European companies is from Product manager salary in European companies - from€60,000 per year, in the US - from $100,000 per year. In the CIS, a middle-senior manager gets about $30,000 per year.000 per year. In the CIS, a middle-senior manager receives approximately $30,000 per year.
As for me, with each new position and company my salary became one and a half to two times higher.became one and a half to two times larger.
What did you dream of being as a child?
As a child, I dreamed of becoming a businessman. And when I got my first computer, I probably thought for the first time that I wanted to work in IT, but I didn’t know who. computer, I probably thought for the first time that I wanted to work in IT, but at that time I didn’t know who.
Where did you study?
I received my secondary education in Kazakhstan. At that time, there was a huge shortage of students in technical specialties, so a commission from St. Petersburg came to Kazakhstan and we took exams right at home. That's how I managed to get into the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
Since my second year, I've been interested in web development. I studied HTML and CSS. Then PHP appeared, the first content management systems (CMS) - and I was completely hooked.
I didn't study to be a programmer, but it so happened that my department had a strong commercial structure that did custom research for large companies. From my third year, I started supporting several university websites. Gradually, this became my main specialty.
How did you become a product manager?
I spent a year in graduate school and realized that I was not interested in doing science, but was more attracted to everything related to the Internet. So I got a position as a junior QA specialist in a St. Petersburg company that was developing large projects for the UK market.
I knew how development and technologies were organized, so I easily got the position. From a tester, I moved to management and became the head of a small testing group. When the company grew and the product leader was promoted to CEO, I headed the project, since I worked in it from scratch.
Then there was "Kolesa, Krysha, Market" - a hybrid of auto.ru and "Ciana". I came there as the head of the web department. At that time, the company was half an offline business. We grew quickly, began to use a product approach: we thought of the service not as a website, but as a product that solves the client's problems.
In this company, I first became a product manager, and then CPO and managed all products with a team of products.
The next step is Avito . A completely new level and scale of tasks, a different approach to development. But my goal has always been OLX.
OLX is like Google, only in the classifieds sphere. I improved my English, worked with a mentor from Google on my resume and interview skills, sent responses to about 30 product manager vacancies in European countries. As a result, I received an offer from Auto1 in Berlin and from OLX in Lisbon. sent responses to about 30 vacancies for a product manager in European countries. As a result, I received an offer from Berlin from
How I upgraded my skills
I didn't take any special courses, I learned from my colleagues. Today there are many more opportunities: courses, books, educational platforms. You can enter the profession in six months.opportunities: courses, books, educational platforms. You can enter the profession in six months.
There are books that influenced me at the formation stage. Now I read biographies of famous leaders of product companies and fiction.
I try to constantly develop and learn something new. In my case, networking and running my own product channel helps a lot . To write good material, I always do research and, accordingly, learn something new.
I also regularly read TG channels:
About convenience
Digital Doctor
Sergey Kolganov on project management
TechSparks
Parables of a product specialist
Podcast "Make sense"
useful stories
In addition to this list of useful Telegram channels, we recommend checking out our selection of the 100 best Telegram channels about marketing, product growth, and careers in IT .
What were the fears at work?
I wasn't scared, I was interested. I came with my own, independently acquired baggage of knowledge - I read, tried to change something in the code, and around me there were already guys who were making a good living from this. I wanted the same.
Moving to Moscow from Kazakhstan, going from a company of 100 people to a company with more than 1,000, and at the same time proving that I know something – that was a challenge.
How to become a product manager
how to become a product manager
Gain practice. Courses without practice are useless. I advise developing a pet project or working on a friend's product: make a Lean Canvas, CJM, User story mapping. It's good if you can talk to potential users - that way you'll understand better.
To help you understand what a pet project is and how to make one, we have prepared a detailed guide based on a real pet project - the Capoeira Daily app
Communicate with users. Some are subject to the pattern "if I think and do this, then others will do the same." This is a subjective feeling, and transferring it to work is a mistake.
If you make guesses about the user's needs and problems based only on personal experience or your immediate environment, you will end up with a product that almost no one needs. So start with Customer research - after ten interviews it will become clearer what to do.
Brush up on your technical skills. There are things you need to know at a basic level. My favorite interview question is: “How does the Internet work?” Half of the candidates can’t answer this, despite three years of experience as an Internet project manager.
You also need to be able to work with numbers and metrics. Understand what probability is and know how to calculate retention.
You don't have to be able to write code or have development experience. You don't have to be a techie to move into product management. I know product managers who came to the profession from marketing and design without a technical background. But you should understand how everything works and be on the same page with the team.
For those who want to check their level of development, we recommend taking our most difficult test for a product manager by answering 10 questions .
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Product managers are T-shaped specialists. They are well versed in many areas, israel email list being experts in one of them. For example, an engineer who calculates LTV, makes MVP and understands the development process. Or a programmer with management skills and a desire to create a product.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach that will automatically make you a product manager. People with different levels of training, including those without a technical background, can enter the industry.
Motivation, development of cross-competencies, constant practice and a minimum number of skills necessary for the profession that need to be developed are important.