Question 1: Which program & batch are you part of at Accredian & tell us more about your current work profile?
I am part of the GCPM Program, August 2021 batch. Currently, I am working for Broadcast Audience Research Council India aka BARC as a Project Manager.
My responsibilities include:
- Management of existing applications and web portals
- Development of new apps as required by the Business team
Since the users are restricted by the business, the scope is limited. As a result my company doesn’t have a designated PM. So I have to add any PM perspective wherever needed.
Question 2: Walk us through your career journey & what got you interested in Product Management?
I have worked with Idea Cellular Limited for 6 years before I decided to go for an MBA. There I was mainly part of the Intelligent Network team, fondly called the IN team. We took care of Prepaid Charging System, which was an Ericsson Product.
I have used CS 3.0 to CS5.0 and I still remember the excitement of getting new features from them and how ‘big’ certain features were that helped the team create many innovative products such as Magic recharge, where a random amount from 60 to 100 gets credited on a recharge of 60 Rs.
Once I realised I want to move to the business side of it, I pursued my MBA from SP Jain School of Global Management Dubai-Singapore-Sydney.
Post MBA, I have been in roles like Business Analyst and Project Manager for 6 months. While I was in this role, I got to know that I was already doing something that fell under the purview of Product Management.
So for a brief period when I was focused on a Product role for my own startup, I knew what I wanted out of the product and shaped it accordingly. I am looking forward to my career in this field as I always do things from end to end with a bigger picture in my mind and that’s what separates PM from everyone.
Question 3: What all Product Management concepts, frameworks & tools have you mastered in your program at Accredian so far?
I got to learn a lot in terms of Wireframing, Prototyping, Free website, application, posters, user experience, etc. But my favourite remains something that I learnt on my own which was developing an app design in Figma and converting it into a working apk using Bravo Studio.
Question 4: What are some of the initial challenges when you got started on your Product Management journey and how did you overcome it?
The only challenge I faced was that I needed hands-on experience. I had an understanding of the concept before. So I started learning about figma and similar things on my own.
Later, when a session was done on Prototyping and Wireframing, I could understand it better.
Question 5: Who is your favourite faculty at Accredian and what did you learn from them the most?
Sai has been my favourite mentor. Not only because all the practical classes fell under him and I was looking forward to hands-on experience more than theory, I liked the way he handles all queries.
He understands that when a student is something, what might be his counter question. So he makes the entire picture clear so the query is fully solved without repetitive questions.
Question 6: In your view, what is the goal of product management & how has it evolved in the last few years?
In my view, anyone who has the vision about a product and is working toward its launch, is a Product Manager. In recent times, technology has helped PMs define the path for themselves, their team, their users and everyone in between.
For e.g. Jira/Aha for Product Management, Figma/Sketch/XD for prototype and Wireframing.
Question 7: What are the current trends in Product Management that you are most excited about?
Low code and No code tools are making it easier for PMs to convey what they envision. This part excites me the most. I also recently learnt about AB testing in class.
The way it was explained made everything clear about what all we can achieve using it and how it is a common implementation method for many companies.
Question 8: Which are some of the Product Management blogs, podcasts, communities & channels that you follow?
I mainly follow Medium for blogs. I am also a part of a group that hosts interviews with known PMs. I sometimes join them.
Question 9: Please tell how your journey has been with Accredian so far and what are the elements that you liked.
The journey has been eventful. There have been times when I felt the theory part could have been improved.
Once the practicals started, it got interesting for me. Those are the sessions that I would definitely cover with the help of online class videos many times in future.
Question 10: What is your advice to anyone wanting to start a career in Product Management?
My advice would be to first understand the Agile Principles, framework and methodologies. Once the mindset changes to Agile thinking and capturing, understanding PM concepts become easier.
Whenever you use anything, feel free to give reviews to your products. Who knows one of them may be looking for a PM just like you. Interviewers are actually looking for what value this candidate can add to my product. Sharing reviews help you practice answers without the nervousness of interviews.
Hope you enjoyed reading this interview. If you want to read more such interesting student stories, check out Accredian Spotlight.
