Victoria Rubanovich’s Post

🌟After insightful sessions with 10 seasoned Product Managers in various industry during my time in Canada, I've received invaluable insights to shortcut this journey to land a PM role and stand out from the competition. Here's a concise roadmap: 1️⃣ Craft Industry-specific Templates: Prepare 5-6 templates tailored to your favorite industries (healthcare, fintech, travel, etc.) to showcase your adaptability and domain expertise. 2️⃣ Leverage Heavy-weighted Sentences: Demonstrate your communication prowess and technical acumen with clarity and confidence. 3️⃣ Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile: Elevate your online brand by optimizing your LinkedIn profile alongside your resume, ensuring it reflects your unique value proposition and professional journey. 4️⃣ Build a Portfolio: Set yourself apart by creating a portfolio showcasing your product management projects using platforms like Wix, Webflow, or Notion. Let your work speak volumes about your capabilities. 5️⃣ Network Strategically: Forge meaningful connections within your desired industry through LinkedIn, online forums, and in-person events. Remember, networking is key to opening doors to new opportunities. 6️⃣ Share Insights and Experiences: Share your insights and experiences as a PM through articles on LinkedIn or Medium. Establish yourself as a thought leader and engage with the community. 7️⃣ Conduct Mock Interviews: Practice makes perfect! Engage in mock interviews with PMs actively seeking new opportunities to hone your skills and gain valuable feedback. 8️⃣ Join Communities: Engage with like-minded professionals in communities such as Slack or Facebook groups. Collaborate, learn, and grow together. By implementing these strategies, you'll not only enhance your visibility but also position yourself as a top candidate in the competitive landscape of product management. Let's empower each other to achieve our career aspirations! Feel free to connect with me to discuss further or share your insights. I will explain my experience with each one in the next posts. #ProductManagement #Careerroadmap #JobSearch #Networking #PMcanada

Here's the latest Product Management job market report for August 2024. The number of Product Manager jobs worldwide is down 2%. This compares unfavourably to July 2024, where it was down 6.3%. So, three months of decline, but it's slowing. ♻️ Please reshare this post for others 🌍 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 Canada and UK saw the biggest Month-over-Month (MoM) 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨, 9% and 4% respectively, while LATAM and APAC saw 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨 at 25% and 2%. 👨🏻💻 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗢𝗻-𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗛𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 Remote jobs 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 28% MoM, driven predominantly by a big mix-shift in US roles where on-site roles 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 20%, and remote roles 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 by 32% with hybrid roles 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 by 6%. 👩🏽💼 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 There are 3,321 Product Leadership roles open, or about 13% of total roles worldwide. The US, UK, and Canada have the highest mix of Leadership roles at around 16% across each market, with APAC and LATAM at the low-end with 5-7% of roles having leadership titles. Hat tip to 🥙Abdo Wahba who requested this new cut! 📣 Comment below with any additional cuts you want. I will consider adding for next month. How are you finding the job market? What are you currently struggling with? Let me know as I'd love to help you. --- There are many perceptions about the PM job market. And then there are the facts. I deal in facts. 👍🏻 if this is helpful 🎙️ ask questions below 💡 follow me for more insights & tips

Our founder James Gunaca has published the latest PM Jobs report. If you need support on your journey through this challenging market, consider joining Product Sphere to get the support you need!

Are you an entry-level product manager? Emphasise these skills/experience on your CV to stand out amongst your peers - 1. Leadership. It seems like an oxymoron, but leadership isn't about a job title. It's about leading a group to achieve a goal. Have you led your classmates or teammates on a project? Add this experience to your CV. 2. Basic product management skills. You can gain product management skills through online and physical training. It's essential to show you know product management concepts through training and personal projects. 3. Industry experience. If you are transitioning, it helps to detail the type of company you've worked at. If recruiters find similarities between the companies you've worked at and their company, it could give you an edge. For example, if you worked as a customer service rep for a fintech organisation and are now applying for a product manager role in a fintech company, that's a plus. 4. Basic technical understanding. Having a *basic* technical understanding is a plus, even though not all hiring managers expect you to have this. If you do, it helps you stand out amongst your peers. These technical skills include basic computer programming, data analysis, software release management, etc. 5. Analytical and problem-solving skills. Strong problem-solving skills and other soft skills are necessary for any job. But don't just list them in the skills section - anyone can do that. Include a few notes in your experience/accomplishments section about how you introduced X [solution] to solve Y [problem]. __ Hello there, I'm Obianuju. I write about becoming a Product Manager and how junior PMs (0-2 years of experience) can thrive. Follow for more. Are you looking for a community where you can learn and grow, or you've got a PM question, join the Unstoppable PM community here: https://lnkd.in/eXFgfgVm

I don't envy those seeking their first product manager role. I saw an associate PM role requiring 3+ years of product experience. How do you build that many years of experience without actually being a product manager? It feels like an impossible task. My advice – find ways to act like a product manager without actually being a PM. Shadow PMs at your company, observing their roles, asking them questions, and potentially picking up some of their duties. Eventually, you’ll build a toolkit that provides you the experience necessary to apply with confidence. To begin, build relationships with the PMs at your company. Find one who’s working on something interesting and schedule a coffee chat. A baseline relationship will go a long way. Next, lend a hand with a current initiative. Contributing to an existing project rather than initiating a new one will help ensure you're seen as helpful, not a hindrance. Here are 5 ways you might be able to do this: 𝟭. 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸. ↳ If you interface directly with users, share feedback directly with the PM as it relates to their current focus area. Explain why it matters. If implemented, follow up to learn the results. Document any success metrics and choose the best ones to highlight on your resume. 𝟮. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀. ↳ Ask to sit in on upcoming interviews or user tests. Offer to take notes and share insights during debriefs. This will give you insight into the discovery process and user experience principles. When I transitioned into product, this was the go-to skill I highlighted. 𝟯. 𝗤𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀. ↳ Product teams are frequently launching new features. Being part of the testing process can give you firsthand experience in QA, exposing you to their ticketing structure, board management strategy, and deployment process. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. ↳ The PM might be researching competitors for a new initiative. Participating in this research can provide you with insight into the business strategy and a view of the competitive landscape. 𝟱. 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮. ↳ If you're savvy with data analytics, use it to highlight something interesting or insightful that can aid the product team. You might reveal a perspective they hadn’t considered. This is a great way to showcase your analytical skills. Don’t let the years of experience intimidate you. Start building your toolkit today to showcase your potential as a great PM tomorrow. #ProductManagement #Jobs #Upskilling

Many aspiring product managers asked me for application advice recently. This is the advice I give 99% of the time: Show how your work influenced the success of the product. Success is not only defined by revenue. It can also mean improvements in efficiency, usability, customer satisfaction, etc. Why is this important? Because great product managers are able to make decisions that improve key metrics for the product and business. This is far more impactful than simply listing your job responsibilities. A good framework for this: 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗹𝗲𝗱, 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱, 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗲𝘁𝗰.) + 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 (𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲) + 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 (𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗫% 𝗼𝗳 𝗬). When I was applying to my first PM job, I became discouraged after facing many rejections. It felt like I couldn’t get my foot in the door. I had never worked as an official PM, but I had gained transferable discovery skills from my experience in a research lab. After using the above framework to reframe my experience, I saw immediate improvement in my job search. For example, a bullet initially read: • Collaborated with a research professor and team to understand healthcare provider goals and workflows. After refinements, it became: • Led user testing with 30 clinicians, achieving a 60% increase in usability across three prototype iterations. The key is to help the recruiter or hiring manager visualize you excelling as a PM. Showing your impact on the product is one of the best ways to do this. -------- Feel free to reach out for personalized advice on how to craft your PM resume! #ProductManagement #Careers #JobSearch

Here's the latest Product Management job market report for July 2024. The number of Product Manager jobs worldwide is down 6.3%. This compares unfavourably to June 2024, where it was down 7.9%. So, two months of decline. ♻️ Please reshare this post for others EEA and APAC saw the biggest Month over Month declines, 5.3% and 4.8%, respectively. This month, I added a new slice: Remote vs. hybrid vs. on-site. Nearly half of all jobs are on-site. Remote/hybrid are about even. If you want regional views of this, comment below and I'll add it next month. How are you finding the job market? What are you currently struggling with? Let me know as I'd love to help you. --- There are many perceptions about the PM job market. And then there are the facts. I deal in facts. 👍🏻 if this is helpful 🎙️ ask questions below 💡 follow me for more insights

Product Managers dilemma in job search mode... I have done XYZ, why am I being instantly declined for new roles? I have worked in this industry and still no body will talk to me? I have assisted many product managers land wonderful new roles! While working with Hiring Managers and Jobseekers alike from both sides of the equation I have developed this tool that has helped others. It just might help you too... 1. Do you work for Big Business or Small Business in Product Management? 2. Do you work in SaaS, Tech, Finance or Consulting? 3. Understanding what pieces you actually touch in product management is imperative. Product Managers are asked to do a wide array of tasks depending on their company, the product, the team size and support, the level of product. - Product Design - UI/UX Design - UAT - Scrum Master - Daily Stand Up - Team Leadership - Client Facing - Executive Facing - Documentation - New Features - Team Leadership - Software Engineering, UI/UX, Sales, Account Management, CSM, Operations, Finance, etc... The size of your organization will largely determine which pieces you actually touch and do on a daily or weekly basis. Smaller organizations require Product Managers to be a jack of all trades that has to understand and touch/lead all of this. Larger organizations touch some of this stuff and others support them. Enterprise level Product Managers typically only interface with the client and lead meetings with entire teams supporting them on each and every phase of the product. They are master strategist and guide the product development over a long period of time to generate $M of additional revenue through new features their Fortune 500 clients need to fill a gap. No matter what size your organization is, it's imperative that you understand there are different types of product managers and you aren't qualified for every role. I had a Hiring Manager I know well, interview 2x of my past clients within a couple weeks of each other. Client 1 got an "A" and checked all the boxes they were looking for in their small organization. Client A received the job offer and still is killing it there today! Client 2 was an extremely qualified Product Manager with an MBA and 10+ years experience in Enterprise level products. She lacked the technical expertise to lead this type of product development on a quick paced timeline. She received an "F" in the interview because she only marked a few of the boxes. Client 2 received a job offer from Bank of America out of New York City just a couple weeks later. They both were very talented in their own right, just very different skill sets. I promise understanding and articulating this in your job interviews will land you more job offers!

3 things you need to remember when you want to hire your first Product Manager: 1️⃣ The first product hire is probably one of the most critical roles in a startup, so you have to be picky:  - You need to know what specific product expertise you are looking for. No one knows it all.  - You need to have a plan: what to delegate and when. Complete onboarding of the first product hire can take 3 to 6 months.  Keep in mind: Product Manager is not a magic solution to ALL product problems. 2️⃣ Often, projects don’t need more Product Managers, but they can benefit from:  - Project Manager to help with managing tasks across the board,   - Business Analyst to write more specific requirements, - Part-time Agile Coach to help with communication inside the team, - Marketing Manager to help with positioning and user acquisition.  3️⃣ Ideally, you or your cofounder have domain expertise AND product management skills. If you have trouble determining WHAT to build, you might need a domain expert or product advisor to guide you through the Product Discovery phase. If you need help with hiring, please let me know. I have plenty of case studies to share.

🌟Why Product Management is Like Being a Superhero (Without the Cape) 🌟 Ever felt like a superhero in your day job? No? Well, clearly, you haven’t tried product management yet! 🦸♂️ Superpower #1: Mind-Reading PMs magically anticipate what users need before they even know it themselves. If only we could use this skill to predict the next big stock market trend! 📈 🦸♀️ Superpower #2: Time Travel We’re constantly living in the future, mapping out roadmaps and anticipating problems. And just like that, we're back in the present, fixing bugs and answering emails. 🚀📬 🦸♂️ Superpower #3: Multilingual Fluent in tech, business, and user-speak, all at once. Translating between developers who speak in code and stakeholders who speak in ROI metrics is our daily workout. 🧑💻📊 🦸♀️ Superpower #4: Negotiation Ninja Balancing the needs of customers, the demands of stakeholders, and the capacities of the dev team is like performing a high-wire act, but without the safety net. 🎪🤹 But let’s face it, even superheroes have their weaknesses. Ours? Trying to explain to our family what we do for a living! 😅 So, here’s to all the product managers out there, juggling priorities, fighting fires, and building the future one feature at a time. Keep wearing your invisible cape with pride! 🌟🦸♂️🦸♀️ #ProductManagement #OpentoWork