How To Become A Product Development Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a product development assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Erin Dougherty

A product development assistant plays a major role in developing a product. They work closely with the manager to develop, design, create new, and improve existing products. They are responsible for researching how existing products can be improved for the consumers. They also have the duty of evaluating and presenting innovative ideas on products. A product development assistant must have analytical skills, communication and presenting skills, and must be people-friendly. The product development assistant should also be able to work independently and perform every other task delegated by the product development manager.

Having a wealth of experience from other jobs would help you get a job as a product development assistant. Most people working as product development assistants have a bachelor's degree. Therefore, a major in product development would improve your chances of getting hired. A product development assistant earns $25 per hour.

What general advice would you give to a product development assistant?

Erin Dougherty

Associate Professor of Costume Design Costume Director, Catawba College

Don't underestimate what you can do. Make sure to advocate for yourself, push for the max salary listed once you've been offered the job, and be firm that you meet the qualifications. Talk about the skills you can do, how you can collaborate, and adjacent skill sets that could come into play, including "soft" skills. Don't lie of course, because that will come back to bite you, and facts are really easy to check these days. You need to express self-confidence if you're going to survive in this industry, and overall, be a good person to work with.

ScoreProduct Development AssistantUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,426

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.89%

Asian 11.16%

Black or African American 10.09%

Hispanic or Latino 24.44%

Unknown 3.84%

White 49.57%

Gender

female 77.15%

male 22.85%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a product development assistant

Explore product development assistant education requirements

Most common product development assistant degrees

Bachelor's

72.2 %

Associate

16.8 %

Master's

6.1 %

Start to develop specific product development assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Tech Packs	9.82%
PLM	7.66%
Data Entry	6.73%
WIP	6.10%
Overseas Vendors	5.63%

Complete relevant product development assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New product development assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a product development assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real product development assistant resumes.

Research product development assistant duties and responsibilities

Manage vendor and supplier communications, project deadlines, pricing negotiations, production and QA testing.
Prepare costing reports via PLM for management review.
Review overseas fabric quality and track status in PLM system.
Update WIP reports for department meetings with design and merchandising.

Prepare your product development assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your product development assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a product development assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable product development assistant resume templates

Build a professional product development assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your product development assistant resume.