Do you need a technical background to become a product manager? The simple answer is ‘No’. You do not need to have a background in computer science or any of the technical fields.
There are many paths to get into product management and here you will read about some of the most common ones. If you are trying something different it doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but you will hopefully learn about some useful tools to make your decisions easy on the road to becoming a Product Manager.
Applying to Product Manager Roles from any background
Let us start with the Associate Product Management roles. Typically this role is for college students or who have recently graduated. The first thing you will notice is that most of the companies out there are asking for candidates with a technical background.
Particularly in most cases a Computer Science major or minor. Product managers are expected to be technically fluent, however this does not mean that a product manager is going to code in their day to day.
Actually, 99% of the time product managers don’t code at all. So then why do companies add a CS degree as a requirement to apply to associate product manager roles?
Well it turns out that asking for CS degrees in the job application is an easy way to filter out candidates in the process. This filter allows companies to select candidates who among other desired skills are technically fluent because of their degree.
So if you don’t have a CS degree, would taking related classes or online courses get you into an associate product management role or any other PM role? Well yes and no. Or rather just taking the courses alone won’t get you into product management but it will definitely help you get there.
Now whether you’re looking to apply to an associate/product management role here are 2 things that you can do to transition into product management with or without a technical background.
1. Side projects in your current company
Let’s begin by understanding the things that you can do within your company. If you work at a company where there are product managers, first make sure you are being successful in your current job.
Then you should network with these product managers, set up regular coffee chats, show interest in what they do, ask them about their work and what you can do to get involved or help them.
Your goal is to understand more about their job to eventually help them on some tasks. In time you’re going to learn about the day to day job of a product manager, gain some experience and this will give you plenty of stories when you apply to PM roles within your company or outside.
Also, in some cases you might get invited to join a team after demonstrating that you can take on PM responsibilities. Many people have become product managers this way.
Another thing that you can do is to start a side project within your team. Look for a pain point in a process that your team is currently doing. It can be regarding anything. Then, treat that project as if you were the product manager.
2. Side projects outside of work
You would also want to explore opportunities for side projects outside of your work. Remember that working on a side project is more than just learning how to code and build an app or a website.
Actually learning how to code will certainly show your technical skills but it won’t show your product management skills.
To help you visualise this better and get started, take a look at this side project life cycle:
Create a presentation and upload your project at a public place like Github for recruiters to see.
But what if your specialisation is from a completely different industry? What should you do?
Be it a person from design, consultancy or marketing. You may be ready to get involved in the development of a product that your company might be working on.
You do not have to think much about the skills and experience you may have. If you have the vision and drive to make things better by solving relevant problems, you are on the right track to become a Product Manager.
Hopefully this blog has helped you understand that technical skills are not a necessity for having a breakthrough into a Product Manager role.
