That realization motivated me to build my own network. I noticed there were virtually no female role models from whom to learn or emulate. Back then, I was the first female product manager in my division at Google. Nancy Wang (AWIP) – I founded AWIP in 2017 as a meeting of product managers in my living room. I enjoyed being able to talk a bit about my background and the work our teams are doing in AWS Training and Certification in the course, and I hope that it is inspirational to others. But as I got into it, I realized it was all the same: the formalization of new features, ensuring alignment with customer need, measuring success or failure of adoption, the application of agile development, the concept of backlog, etc. Prior to entering the training “product” domain, I wasn’t sure how traditional PM methods would apply to non-physical products. This new concept of “product” got me curious. My orientation around product was always related to something physical that I could touch or feel. Like you mentioned, I saw the opportunity in the marketplace, particularly when I noticed the concept of “product” becoming more commonplace: for instance, mortgage products, financial products, and other things that were more abstract. Nancy Gessler (AWS) – I segued into training product management around 2016. I’m always fascinated how PMs got their start. This credential gap is a major part of AWIP’s mission: to provide our members the substantive, skills-based training that empowers them with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to advance in their careers. And while an engineering hiring manager can administer a live coding interview, a PM’s expertise is much harder to evaluate with precision during a 45-minute interview. Unlike the bar or CPA exams, there is no reliable PM certification that validates your skills to a hiring manager. Most companies will need to staff their newly product-centric organization with product managers.įinally, the PM field is quite new, and individual managers’ expectations might vary greatly. Since the PM is an important and highly visible role at technology companies, the CEOs of technology companies will continue to recruit them, and the CEOs from other industries will continue adopting the management techniques of technology companies, including the evolution from a department-centric organization to a product-centric organization. And if you look at those industry-level trends, you’ll see that from a balance sheet perspective the technology sector has outperformed energy, banks, industrials, and all other sectors in their hiring of PMs. So where is this demand coming from? The answer is individual employers, acting independently, whose aggregate actions over time created this trend. A recent study calls this the “ Golden Age of Product Management,” citing a 32 percent increase in PM jobs from 2017 to 2019, which is 5x the increase of all other jobs (at 6.6 percent). Nancy Wang (AWIP) – If you look at macroeconomic trends, there has been a huge spike in the demand for product management. And that leads me to my first question for you, Nancy, what was the impetus to create this course? In my opinion, there is such a need for what you and your organization are doing. Nancy Gessler (AWS) – I am excited to be associated with, and actually be a contributor, to this project. Nancy Wang (AWIP) – Nancy, it’s great to talk to you, and thanks for participating in Advancing Women in Product’s Real-World Product Management specialization! It’s wonderful to have you be one of the instructors in the course and bring your expertise in not only training solutions, but also product management (PM), new product introduction, and product-focused engineering in very fast-paced environments. Nancy and Nancy shared their thoughts on the in-demand product manager (PM) role and how the course came to be. The goal of AWIP is to help women and minorities get the skills, training, and support to advance into exciting roles and career opportunities. Nancy Wang, founder and CEO of Advancing Women in Product (AWIP) and Nancy Gessler, senior manager of Learning Products, AWS Training and Certification, spoke about their work together in the new course, Real-World Product Management specialization.
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