Gain Product Management Experience By Starting Right Now

This post is part of the So You Want To Be a Product Manager series.

Last week, I wrote about how you don't need specific experience to become a product manager. Too many people get caught up in the chicken and the egg problem of how can I get experience when most jobs require prior experience. But there's a fundamental flaw in this logic that you can exploit.

Work on a side project. Want to be a product manager? Great. Start right now. Look around. There is no shortage of problems seeking solutions, jobs looking to get done, and people willing to pay for both. Take initiative. Start designing a solution.

I can already hear you grumbling. You don't know how to code. That's okay. I didn't say start building a solution. I said start designing a solution. Show me your product design chops.

One of the companies I recently worked with hired an engineer right out of school. He got the job because they liked that he had built an Android app in his free time. He didn't have any work experience, but he showcased his skills and gained experience along the way.

Product managers and aspiring product managers can do the same. You can write requirements, create wireframes, run paper usability tests, get feedback, and iterate without writing a lick of code. You can even manage a backlog, set priorities, identify distribution channels, explore business models, do a competitive analysis, all without actually having a product.

I guarantee it will make you stand out from just about every other candidate out there.

This post is part of the So You Want To Be a Product Manager series.