What is the career path for a product manager?

During college prospective product managers should be sure to take coursework in communications, economics, public relations, statistics, management, and advertising.

Product managers might also have specialized educational backgrounds if they manage products for highly specific industries, such as agriculture or the software industry. If you know what industry you want to be a product manager in, you should plan your academic career accordingly. Internship programs are also strongly encouraged in this field to gain professional experience and build out your resume.

There is a standard career path for product managers, however, certain organizations don't strictly adhere to this trajectory. Companies might have job titles that sound like they don't have to do directly with product management, when in fact they do. Some of these job titles include delivery manager, program manager, and project manager.

At certain companies, these job titles actually represent a product manager and their specific responsibilities. This is just to give you a sense of other job titles you may encounter in your own specific career path in product management.

Here is the standard career path for a product manager from the lowest role to the highest role:

• Associate Product Manager. This position has many of the same responsibilities as a product manager, just on a smaller scale. You are likely not going to set the product strategy, but you will set priorities for specific projects.

  Presenting product plans to others in the company, and keeping all necessary parties updated are standard tasks in this role. Critical background experience to gain this role includes product marketing or project management experience, however, fresh college graduates are sometimes able to obtain this role as well.

• Product Manager. This is a mid-level role in product management. When you are the product manager, you are the point person for the product team associated with your product.

  To achieve this position you should have a few years of professional experience, either as an associate product manager, or another similar role. You'll need to have a strong skill set in the areas of communication, collaboration, prioritization, and problem-solving.

• Senior Product Manager. To move into this position your company must be confident in your job performance as a product manager and recognize that you are ambitious, and want to assist the team in accomplishing broader goals.

  You should be able to articulate specific customer concerns and problems, give solutions, and tie product metrics to your company's business goals. You should also have gained the respect of all applicable departments, these might include engineering, UX, and marketing.

  Senior product managers must demonstrate a mastery of the three product manager communication streams. This role is usually only given to those that have at least five years of experience in product management.

• Director of Product. To gain this job title you will need to have demonstrated clear leadership skills, adaptability, and an exemplary record as a product manager or senior product manager.

  Larger companies often reserve this role for those with 10+ years of professional experience in product management, while smaller companies sometimes hire professionals with 5+ years of product management experience. Product directors are mentors and critical resources for product management teams. They also often are the ones in charge of specific product strategies.

• Vice President (VP) of Product. This is the penultimate role on the product management career path. Nearly all VP of Product positions require 10+ years of work experience in product management. Five-plus years managing and leading product managers, designers, and developers. Also multiple years of working with engineering teams.

  Many in this position also possess a master's degree or specifically an MBA. Much of this position has to do with making sure all operations are currently running smoothly, and then also forecasting, and preparing for where teams need to be in a year's time.

• Chief Product Officer (CPO). Not all companies have a CPO position, but this is one of the highest roles you can achieve on the product management career path at certain organizations. Sometimes this position is an expanded variation of the VP of Product role, and in other cases it represents a position that oversees many VPs of Product.

  Depending on the industry, and your specific company, this role can be reserved for those with 10+ to 15+ years of professional experience, or even as much as 20+ years of product management experience.

There are many critical hard skills and soft people skills that are associated with product management. Here we will go over some of the most important ones that will help you to advance along the product manager career path:

• Product development processes

  A solid understanding of the position and product development processes, protocol, and frameworks is critical. Product managers must be well-versed in the vocabulary and terminology of their profession. They must be able to understand the expectations and know the scope of their job in comparison to project managers, UX professionals, architects, and other key roles.

• Pricing principles

  These fundamental business and economic policies are essential knowledge for product managers. Pricing is a duty that often falls under a product manager's responsibility. They must be able to turn the underlying product economics into a successful, profitable, and expandable business.

• Prioritizing

  Prioritizing is at the core of every product manager's job. They must be able to evaluate the value and potential impact of each feature, technical debt, project, and product initiative. This helps them to develop expert and cohesive strategies, which are crucial to the role.

• Communication

  Communication skills, both written and verbal, are essential qualities of a good product manager. They need to be comfortable speaking with all different types of employees, departments, executives, and stakeholders. They also must excel at customer and user communications.

  Communication of vision, strategy, and reasoning is a constant facet of the role. Because they need to have frequent contact with many different types of personalities, product managers must be savvy communicators.

• Leadership

  Leadership is another skill set and quality a product manager must have. They must speak with confidence to their product teams, as well as executives and stakeholders. All of these parties must have a deep amount of respect and trust in the product manager if they are to be successful.

• Analytical

  Product managers must possess strong analytical skills. They need to be able to decipher different forms of information, data, and surveys, to then make competent decisions for plans of action.

Now we'll go over some certifications you should seek to obtain to have success on the product manager career path:

• The Product Manager Certificate. Product School's Product Management Certification Programs offer three separate product management certifications that are designed to be taken sequentially. The first is the Product Manager Certificate, and it is a great one for students looking to jump-start their careers in the field of product management.

• The Product Leader Certificate. This is the next one from Product School and requires professional experience and competence in areas like DevOps, data analytics, and other hard technical skills. Obtaining this credential will exhibit that you have advanced skills in product management.

• AIPMM Certified Product Manager Credential. This certification is offered through a partnership between 280 Group and the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM). This is the world's largest product management association, so this certification carries a lot of weight and is well respected in the industry. It highlights that you have core skills that are essential to being a highly effective product manager. You need a certain amount of experience and must pass an exam to gain this certification.

• New Product Development (NPD) Certification. This one is offered by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). This certification is also internationally recognized, and the PDMA is a renowned academic and professional organization. Obtainment of this certification is encouraged at any applicable stage on the product management career path.

Getting into product management is a solid career choice. According to qualified sources, product management interest in the United States has doubled in the last five years. The demand continues to rise for this versatile and interesting position.