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Getting shortlisted for a product management interview can be quite difficult especially if you have limited experience in the space. There are primarily three reasons why this happens.
Product Management is one of the most sought after jobs and the competition is ferocious. There are high chances that you are getting lost in the crowd despite having a stellar background. You need to standout.
There have been an exponential increase in product management opportunities across the globe. However, the nature of the job varies vastly. You may be in a product management role but if your job has limited product discovery work, then your role lacks product management rigour.
Product discovery is the core job of a product manager where the product manager discovers unsolved pain areas of his/her users. If you are not doing enough of this work, then your role lacks rigour.
You have a stellar background but in a difference space. This can be adjacent spaces such as product marketing or non-adjacent spaces such as Business Development, Consulting.
While the reason for not getting shortlisted may vary, the actionable remain the same. Product managers are builders. They build something useful which makes people's life better. They uncover hidden pain areas and solve it so well that its users love them. Hence the best way to get a shortlist is to
"Make something people want" is Y Combinator's tagline. This is extremely powerful. Note that it says "Make something people want" and not "Make something people need". As a side project, you should build a product which is a great solution to solving people's needs.
Before you jump and say "How can I build something, I do not know coding", "Building something is no joke, it takes time and effort" etc, there are plenty of no code tools which you can leverage to build something quickly without needing anyone's help.
Tools such as FlutterFlow, Adalo help create native Android & iOS apps in no time. And they are not expensive. Tools such as Webflow and Wix help create website easily.
All you need is an idea and some effort and time.
Nothing impresses a hiring manager more if you can discover a pain area which was hidden until now and many people have it. Having said that, unearthing one is hard, really hard. But when you have one, it is a gold mine.
Discover a pain area and DM it to the hiring team. This is a sure shot way of getting a conversation started and differentiates you instantly. Please keep it short and crisp. If you can send along a prototype of the solution, it is even better.
For someone who has limited product management background, landing a product management interview can be tough. However, if you are willing to put the work needed to differentiate yourself, this is achievable. The best part is that the world is full of tools to help you out.
