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Introduction: Have you ever wondered how you could land not one, but two job offers for a product management role in just 2 to 3 months? Well, get ready because in this podcast, I will be sharing with you my personal experience and the strategies I used to make it happen in just 40 days. From networking to job search techniques and everything in between, I will be giving you all the insider tips and tricks that helped me succeed. So if you are ready to take your career to the next level, tune in and let’s get started.
Introduction: Hey there, it’s your host, Sachin Sharma, a seasoned product manager with over 10 years of experience. I’ve had the pleasure of guiding over 1,000 aspiring product managers on their journey towards success. With this podcast, I aim to share even more valuable insights on product management to help you excel in your career. And if you’re looking to level up your skills and stand out from the crowd, then you’re in the right place. So let’s dive into today’s episode without any further ado.
My Job Search Journey: In October 2021, I was looking for new job opportunities and I set myself a target to secure a senior product management role. I wanted to push myself to the limits and see what I was capable of. The first thing I did was to update my resume and LinkedIn profile to make sure that they both reflect my latest achievements and skills. In your career, always keep your LinkedIn a priority because it also plays a vital role in making an impression on hiring managers and recruiters. While creating my resume and LinkedIn profile, I always emphasized adding achievements, not just responsibilities, because no one wants to know what you were doing in your previous role. Everyone wants to know what value you added to your previous employer.
Shortlisting Dream Companies: Then I shortlisted my dream companies. I always recommend applying only to your dream companies because not only will it increase your chances of selection, but it will also save a lot of your time spent on applying to a lot of jobs and attending interviews. If you need to target 100 goals, how will you do that? Fewer goals mean higher chances of hitting them. The same principle applies here as well. In shortlisting dream companies, my approach was a bit different from others. I started by selecting the industry first where I wanted to work and then selected some companies in that particular industry. I made a list of companies that I was interested in and started to research them thoroughly. I looked into their products, the markets they operated in, and their competitors. I also researched the company culture, its mission and vision, and its values. Don’t just chase big brands or big names like many people do. After I had a list of my dream companies, I started building my network.
Networking and Nurturing: I began by building my network in my dream companies, and I built this network over LinkedIn with the hiring managers and the recruiters from these dream companies. These days, your network is your net worth, so the more time you focus on building your network, the more leverage you’ll have, not only in the short term but also in the long term. After that, I started nurturing my network. I began creating value content for all my dream companies. Even though it took a lot of effort, it worked really well. I didn’t reach out to my network asking for referrals and spamming them, as many people do. Instead, I started creating valuable content for all my dream companies. This effort paid off, and I started getting calls from recruiters and hiring managers. Along with that, I was also using NOC and LinkedIn job portals, but that was just for a few hours a week because my major focus was on nurturing my network.
Interview Preparation: Next, I focused on preparing for the interviews. My research about the companies and working on their products, along with creating value content, helped me a lot in asking good questions and having answers ready for the questions they asked about their products. Beggar’s are never choosers, so I didn’t settle for just one offer. I had four offers in hand and chose the best one for myself. To summarize, here are the key takeaways from my experience:
- Update your resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect your latest achievements and skills.
- Thoroughly research the companies you are interested in.
- Build a strong network and nurture it rather than spamming it.
- Prepare thoroughly for each interview.
- Don’t get discouraged by rejection because it’s a part of the process.
- Always have multiple offers in hand to make an informed decision.
Conclusion: That’s it for today’s podcast. I hope you enjoyed it and learned a lot about product management. Before you go, I want to remind you that you can be a part of my community by joining my free training on Product Career Web Class. Take action and let me help you even more in my community. For those of you who are already part of my community and are making progress, I highly recommend upgrading to the Diamond membership. This will give you the opportunity to upgrade your product management skills, fast-track your progress, and surround yourself with like-minded achievers and action-takers. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to take your career to the next level. Thank you.
