How to crack a PM or SPM role with proof of work? 📝
Specific actions that have worked.
I will be brutally honest in this career growth edition. As we are evolving this newsletter, we will have specific editions focused on career growth, founder problems & business growth - just keep some sabr - a lot is in works.
The free learning event is happening on Sunday - 28th July 1PM, India time.
If you are a PM, marketer, founder or part of revenue teams - this is for you. Over 1,000 startup founders, PMs, Marketers from Zepto, Google, CRED, Jio, Zoho & more are attending.
Most applicants who interview for a entry/ Senior PM role get rejected in the first round of interviews. And, most don’t know why they are getting rejected.
Now, I want you to remember the last time you attended a product interview. I’m sure you were asked about past experience and the interviewer must have asked you a couple of deeper question about a specific experience.
Can I tell you an honest truth?
That interviewer wasn’t interested in what your exact experience was, they were trying to figure out do you have the “ability” to solve specific problems in the PM role they were trying to hire for - that’s all.
Most of the times, in the heat of the moment we tend to give generic answers. Generic answers are the tools of the dumb, they don’t show your depth of experience.
Showing depth of experience & your role in a specific business outcome is what matters in cracking a senior PM role- something most PM's don’t in interviews.
Now let’s invert this scenario, instead of giving a generic response, you pull up a case study from your portfolio that details how you improved user retention by 20% through a feature enhancement you led. You walk them through the problem, your solution, the process, and the business outcome - all backed by data. This turns the conversation in your favor, making you a memorable candidate.
Oh, and by getting the interviewer walk through a specific case, you have built the Chakravyuha of next set of questions that the interviewer has to ask to really understand that proof of work. This means you are now in your comfortable territory.
Should you build proof of work?
We have seen 1000s of PMs at early, mid and director level scale inside GrowthX. I’m summarising what we have learnt from vertical and horizontal transition and what helps non-PMs get into PM and what POW helps early PMs really scale to senior leadership
In India, proof of work for product managers is not yet a common practice. Which is a good thing - I want you to use it to really stand out. A traditional resume lists your skills and experience, but a proof of work showcases them in action. Plus, if you are transitioning into a PM function, this is your only response to “Do you have relevant experience”.
Step 1 → Goal setting
Pick the right goal - is it transition to a new role / industry ir is it career progression from PM I → Senior/ Principal PM. Now, take a step back and think about your broader objectives. Grab a pen and paper, or jot down notes on what is your ultimate career objective is — whether it's advancing to a specific role, transitioning to a new industry/ or just thrive in your current industry.
Step 2 → Key skills based on goals
Alright, so let’s break it down. Product management combines strategy, design, leadership, and marketing, all rolled into one to get a product off the ground.
Take a peek at job descriptions across different levels of product management roles. They’ll give you the lowdown on what skills, responsibilities, and qualifications you should be aiming for at each stage. This will hep craft your resume, build your proof of work at a granular level.
And, it changes by the stage of PM careers
1. Early Level (Junior/ Associate Product Managers)
Primarily get stuff done
In the early stages of your product management career, you'll be primarily focused on executing against a defined strategy or roadmap. Your responsibilities include ensuring the team operates effectively day-to-day and provides support for product development. You'll typically work on relatively well-scoped problems with a general direction set by senior leadership.
2. Mid Level (Product Managers)
Take strategic ownership
Moving into mid-level product management, your role expands to setting strategic direction for your product or portfolio. You'll advocate for resources needed to support your strategy and coordinate efforts across multiple teams, including partner teams, to ensure alignment and delivery. Client and stakeholder engagement becomes crucial as you communicate the product vision and gather feedback to refine strategies.
3. Senior Level (Senior Product Managers)
Defining purpose, strategy, and scaling senior leaders
At the senior level of product management, your focus shifts towards defining the overarching purpose of your organization or product line. You take on leadership in setting the organizational culture and ensuring overall effectiveness. This includes allocating resources strategically across various priorities and leading transformative changes within the organization. Your role involves navigating complex challenges and driving initiatives that shape the future direction of the company.
Step 3 → Proof of work at PM I/II/SPM
If you’re someone with zero experience in product management, you’ll find this section particularly helpful in guiding you to choose projects to build your PM Portfolio. If you already have a lot of experience in product management, you can benefit this part if you are switching industries (say Fintech → Travel-tech).
No prior experience (trying to break into PM)
Focus on building a portfolio that has a combination of market research, competitor research, feature improvement, product tear-down, and feature suggestion projects.
Early Level (Junior/Associate PM)
In addition to the projects mentioned above, just double down on more depth in feature improvements & execution level skills.
Mid Level (PM with 2+ Years Exp)
At this level, you will build hypothesis to solve a problem - not just execute like a junior PM. Show how well you can do user research, how well you can differentiate observations from insights that can inform specific business decisions.
Senior Level (Senior PM or Above)
3 things in life - show how you can ship for business outcomes, manage engineers & mentor junior PMs. Plus, how many times you say “we did it” vs “I did it” in that proof of work.
Step 4 → Pick a specific project to show
If you are someone with prior PM experience.
Life is relatively easy. Start by making a list of all your relevant product management projects & experiences. Include project name, duration, and your role.
Select your best work - pick projects that you were involved from the inception, don’t pick something that you were just part of and never co-lead/lead it completely. During interviews you might fall flat if specific conviction questions are asked & you are faltering on specifics.
These should include before and after of part of a product/ growth funnel, specific user research that helped you build conviction on the solutioning, final product from mobile/ desktop versions that paint the feature/product from ideation to launch.
If you are someone with no prior PM experience.
If you’re about to begin building your PM portfolio from scratch, here are some problem statements that you could work on. Pick the ones that are most relevant to the role you are aiming for, it helps to have a combination of these projects on your portfolio. If you are targeting B2C role, please pick a B2C problem statement and so on for B2B - don’t miss this filter.
Market Research and Competitor Research Analysis Project
Example - Paytm for Business, the B2B arm of Paytm, aims to develop AI-driven analytics tools for SMBs in sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail. Assess the market readiness, competitive landscape, and growth potential, Paytm can develop a compelling market entry strategy for its AI-driven analytics tools targeting SMBs in India. Propose a market entry strategy.
Feature Improvement Projects (Focus on one feature)
Example - Souled Store, an e-commerce platform specialising in pop-culture merchandise in India, faces stiff competition in the crowded online retail market. To differentiate itself and attract a loyal customer base, Souled Store aims to enhance its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to increase user acquisition and retention. Suggest feature improvements.
Existing Product Tear Down
Example - CleverTap is grappling with user interface (UI) complexities, user experience (UX) inconsistencies, feature set limitations, and performance issues affecting their platform's effectiveness and user satisfaction.
Feature Suggestion Project
Example - As the Product Manager for Aarogya Setu, you are tasked with ensuring its ongoing relevance and engagement among the Indian population post-COVID. The challenge is to enhance the platform's utility and user engagement to position Aarogya Setu as the primary health platform trusted by the government and the public. Suggest innovative features that can be added to the platform.
UX Design Project
Example - You have recently joined as a PM at Urban Company. Analysis reveals that a substantial portion of service providers discontinue using the platform within 30 days of their first booking. Your goal is to improve the experience for service providers, increase their bookings, and enhance their satisfaction with Urban Company's platform. Suggest ways to achieve this.
Metric-Focused Projects
Example - As a product manager at Myntra, your goal is to increase the conversion rate by 15% among visitors who browse but do not complete transactions. Develop product solutions tailored to achieve this goal.
Acquisition and Referral Products
Example - Currently, Swiggy faces challenges in acquiring new users amidst fierce competition in the food delivery market and in encouraging existing users to refer friends and family to the platform. Develop a strategy to expand Swiggy's market presence, boost customer acquisition, and foster organic growth through user referrals.
Build your product and launch it on Product Hunt
Example - Build small tool and iterate to generate some traction get atleast few paying customers and retain them. This shows true builder mentality.
Here’s a base level checklist for POW.
Evolve it, this is just a starting point.
Provide an overview of the project
Define the Problem Statement
Define the problem and explain its impact on your business or target market. Share specific data points that illustrate the severity of this challenge.
Understand these when you’re doing your research:
Who exactly is feeling the pinch? Identify the audience most affected.
What are your goals for tackling this issue through your research?
How does this problem tie into the company's bigger objectives and values?
Why is solving this crucial for the users or business?
Conduct market research
Summarise what you've learned about our market through research
Conduct competitor research
What have you uncovered about your competitors' strategies and weaknesses?
List down the Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) - Focus on pain points
This is what you’re going to solve for.
Get to decision making based on insights
Based on the insights you got from market, competitor and user research, take a decision on how you’re going to solve the problem statement. Be it coming up with new features, refine existing ones, and tailor growth strategies to enhance KPIs.
Solid visuals
Attach visuals like prototypes, wireframes, or designs to illustrate our ideas.
The outcome
Quantify impact with numbers that matter (think user adoption/ revenue)
Insights & recommendations
Share key insights gained and suggestions for future improvements.
End it with the conclusion
Summarise and highlighting the significance of what you've achieved.
As someone trying to break into a PM role, this was really helpful. Thank you!
Amazing read!