How to approach product management after tech consulting - Banreet Kaur, Product @ Microsoft

I moved from a tech consulting role at Deloitte to product management (called program management) at Microsoft. And I have been asked the question of how I made the transition way too many times now. I had already replied to many messages when it struck me that I should write about this transition. So here is my story about how I approached product management at ISB.

The Background

It’s important to know if work-ex aligns with kind of work a PM does

I started working with Deloitte US-India as a business technical analyst (called BTA) right after my undergrad (I am a computer engineer from Thapar University, Class of 2017). My role at Deloitte allowed me to work on mobile apps and websites of a US telecom company from a business analyst point of view, where I wrote user stories based on scenarios along with doing functional and user acceptance testing. I was also involved in creation of business requirement documents (called BRD's). This detail is important because all these activities are what product managers do too. First step for anyone would be to research and make notes to familiarize themselves with the kind of work a PM does.

PM work includes but is not limited to defining product scenarios and writing user stories as well as preparing product requirement documents (called PRD's).

My Approach

After about 2 years at Deloitte I figured that I enjoyed the job but wanted a more product and tech-oriented role. I discussed it with my peers and colleagues and found that prod management would be a natural progression for me, but it involved a lot of business acumen. So, I decided to study business management and gave the GMAT exam (prepared for 6-7 months along with the job). CAT was not my cup of tea and hence I chose the exam I was comfortable with. I applied to ISB and was accepted in the ISB Post Graduate Program for Management.

Once I started my course at ISB, the path to PM became clear. It was clear for me in the sense that I was only interested in product management. I was not looking at any other roles or opportunities available on campus placements.

Campus placements at ISB require candidates to send in their resumes to companies. On the basis of the resume, students are shortlisted for interviews. Here is a list of things which I think helped me for the placements:

1. Time prioritization

I made it a point to dedicate my time only to product management related sessions. Usually a lot of info-sessions are going on around the same time and it becomes difficult to choose if we are not clear about the goal.

2. Theory is important

I leveraged theoretical knowledge to my advantage. I read "Decode and Conquer" from cover to cover along with "Cracking the PM interview" and binged on multiple online product blogs (stellar peers, mind the product etc.). I also watched PM mock interviews on YouTube and made notes about ideas or structures that I liked. Then, I came up with my own structure. It was the one that helped me in solving product cases without losing out important points. It was written on the white board in my room and it became etched in my memory with practice (more on practice in next point).  You should try and customize your own structure so that it's easier to remember and communicate in product interviews as they are usually product case based.

3. Peers pressure for practice

I was able to find a group of people who were solely focused on PM roles. They helped me learn about PM mindset, product thinking etc. I prepared for interviews with my prep group. This is where the theory was put into practice. Create a dedicated prep group, schedule meetings/mock interviews, make timelines, hold each other accountable and be regular in your prep. 

4. Product project

I took up a product strategy and marketing project (called ELP - experiential learning program at ISB). The project helped to display my interest in product management and became a talking point in a lot of interviews. It also gave me hands-on experience about market research and product feature ideation. Doing such a project shows initiative and is almost always a good learning experience.

5. Creating opportunities through case competitions

I participated in several industry case-comps and won the Microsoft PM engage case comp. While preparing for national round of the PM engage case comp, I learned about the values and qualities MS was looking for in its PM's. Some case comps also give a chance to directly move to interviews.

6. Alumni association advantage

I leveraged any alumni interaction I had to the maximum with official/unofficial resume reviews and mock interviews. My focus was to spend a major chunk of time in the interactions on feedback. The feedback could be good/bad, but I always made sure to write down each feedback point and work on improving or incorporating them in future interviews etc. 

7. On point resume

My resume had close to 30-40 iterations. Always customize a resume for each company you apply to on the basis of the job description. I had to compensate for my short work-ex (of only 2 years and 7 months) in my resume and this is where the case comps and product projects helped me fill in the gaps. I got shortlisted by great product companies (Razorpay, EA sports, Walmart labs, Media.net etc.) on basis of my resume, even though I had no prior PM experience as well as shorter than average work-ex. by ISB standards.

8. Focused interview prep

This is common knowledge, but the interview prep needs to be company focused. Some companies ask a lot of technical questions, while others are more inclined to see if you are a fit for the company. All this information is available online and requires some research. In case of Microsoft, displaying structured thinking and keeping my composure when in a pressure situation was important. Prepare well about each point in your resume, read the current news about the company and what's new from a technical perspective. Prepare the basic introduction, strengths/weakness etc. questions well in advance.

If you made it till here, I hope this article will be helpful to you in the process of making the shift to PM or preparing for placements. Good luck to everyone trying to land a PM role, I hope you get it, because of course it is the best job out there (wink wink).

The article has been written and shared by Banreet Kaur.

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