I just did a search on LinkedIn for product manager jobs .

And there are 181,186 open positions worldwide!

Of these, 56% are in the US, 23% in EMEA and 21% in APAC

Then I did a search for product manager occupation in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics database…

To my surprise, it is NOT listed!

These two datapoints tell me a couple of things:

  1. The product manager role is still classified under many existing domains (i.e. IT, actuarial, marketing etc) depending on the work performed
  2. Most product managers are trained on the job so anyone who is very keen to pursue it can definitely excel
  3. There’s an increasing demand for product managers due to the evolving customer needs and the rise in digital and technology solutions
  4. Businesses realize that it is essential to have product managers on their team if they want to remain competitive and profitable, so you should take advantage and join the band wagon

Some of you are wondering….

What does a product manager do exactly?

And why should I be interested?

Watch the video below to learn more about the critical role that a product manager plays on a team and in a business

Then, let me know…

Has it been a game changer or a chokepoint having product managers on your team and/or in your organization?

 

41,192 – EMEA (23%)

38, 231 – APAC (21%)

97,577 – US & Canada (56%)

Video script:

In simple terms, a product manager is tasked with fully understanding the target customer for a specific product, and to create and evangelize a roadmap for the product which reflects the customer needs and their criticality

This definition varies from one industry to another and from one company to another

But in general, whether you are in IT, actuarial, marketing or other domains, the overall

Here the five key skills/qualities that one needs to master to be a successful a product manager

  1. Data and metrics driven
    1. We live in a data-driven world and as such, in order to create a robust product roadmap, you have to leverage historical data, stay on top of trends and articulate your vision clearly
  1. Customer centric
    1. If you snooze on the customer experience, you will lose a lot of potential customers. So it’s important to prioritize everything around customer feedback and requests
  1. A strategic thinker
    1. You must be able to leverage the data insights, your creative mindset and the customer feedback to derive a product roadmap that shows your vision for the product
  1. A strong project manager
    1. As you can imagine, you have to be able to manage many stakeholders, all of whom want their opinions included in the scope of work. So it’s necessary to have the ability to prioritize and to execute
  1. A great communicator
    1. You have to be comfortable with articulating your roadmap and gaining support from the management team and the project execution team

So if you have this skillset combined with your wealth of experience, you are sure going to make a great product manager

Now, I’d like to know….

Has it been a game changer or a chokepoint having product managers on your team and/or in your organization?