So you decided to pursue a product manager career path and are curious about what your career may look like in a few years?
Or, maybe, you're still deciding if a product manager career path is the right track for you.
Either way, we've got you covered! In this article, we'll be sharing:
- Product Manager Careers To Pursue
- The Product Manager Career Path: Roles, Skills, & Progression
- Product Manager Salaries (Entry-Level, Mid-Level, & Senior Level)
- Level-Up Your Game: How To Step Into A New Product Manager Role
Product Manager Careers To Pursue
There are several different career opportunities you can explore in the product management field. However, different industries might require more expertise in specific areas.
For example:
- A product manager role at a tech startup might focus heavily on agile methodologies, feature prioritization, and rapid prototyping to quickly bring products to market.
- A product manager role at a healthcare company could emphasize regulatory compliance, patient-centric design, and stakeholder collaboration to deliver impactful healthcare solutions.
- A product manager role at a retail company might involve e-commerce strategy, inventory management solutions, and customer behavior analysis to optimize sales.
Not all companies will demand every specialty, but every specialty has a place within many different companies!
So, if you're thinking about which product manager career you should pursue, it might be a good idea to first consider what kind of company you would like to work for.
Maybe you'd like to work for a company in big tech.
Maybe you're aiming for a recognized brand in healthcare.
Or, maybe, you'd like to join a startup.
You will find different product management opportunities with different scopes and setups. Having clarity about where you'd like to be within a certain time frame is key to deciding which path is right for you.
💡 Pro Tip:
If you're struggling to find out where you'd like to be, check out the article “What Should I Do With My Life? A Step-By-Step Guide” and read it from top to bottom. If “product management” still feels like the right path, head back here and continue reading!
Once you've set your mind on your career path it's time to understand what roles might be a good fit for you.
The Product Manager Career Path: Roles, Skills, & Progression
We've selected the most common product manager roles for each level and their job descriptions. Take a look below!
Entry-Level Product Manager Roles
Most people begin their product manager careers in specialist roles, such as:
Associate Product Manager
This role offers broad exposure to different product management activities and doesn't usually require extensive experience.
📝 Associate Product Manager Job Description:
Responsible for assisting product managers in market research, backlog grooming, and feature planning while gaining hands-on experience with product lifecycle management.
✅ Skills Required: Basic understanding of product management tools (JIRA, Trello), stakeholder communication, and analytical skills.
⬆️ Possible progression: Associate Product Managers can progress into a Product Manager role.
Junior Product Manager
This role requires a basic understanding of product development and focuses on supporting more senior product managers in their work.
📝 Junior Product Manager Job Description:
Responsible for coordinating with cross-functional teams, managing smaller projects, and contributing to roadmap planning.
✅ Skills Required: Familiarity with agile development, strong communication skills, and problem-solving abilities.
⬆️ Possible progression: Junior Product Managers can progress into a Product Manager role.
Mid-Level Product Manager Role
As you gain experience, you will be able to step into a Product Manager role. Here's what you need to know about this position:
Product Manager
At this level, professionals are responsible for managing the end-to-end development of products, from concept to launch.
📝 Product Manager Job Description:
Responsible for owning the product roadmap, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and delivering high-quality products on schedule.
✅ Skills Required: Roadmap planning, user research, and advanced stakeholder management.
⬆️ Possible progression: Product Managers can advance to roles like Senior Product Manager or Product Lead.
Senior-Level Product Manager Roles
Senior-level roles involve greater strategic oversight and leadership, often requiring professionals to guide larger teams and make high-level decisions.
Senior Product Manager
This role focuses on managing larger-scale products or multiple product lines.
📝 Senior Product Manager Job Description:
Responsible for driving product vision, mentoring junior team members, and ensuring alignment with business goals.
✅ Skills Required: Strategic thinking, leadership, and deep understanding of market trends.
⬆️ Possible progression: Senior Product Managers can move into positions such as Director of Product Management.
Product Lead
This role is more specialized and requires the ability to oversee complex product strategies.
📝 Product Lead Job Description:
Responsible for guiding product teams, managing budgets, and ensuring the delivery of impactful solutions.
✅ Skills Required: Leadership, resource allocation, and advanced project management skills.
⬆️ Possible progression: Product Leads can progress to roles like Head of Product.
Product Manager Salaries (Entry-Level, Mid-Level, & Senior Level)
Now that we’ve covered the most common product manager career paths, you might be asking yourself what the pay range is for each role.
To answer this question, let’s head over to one of our favorite tools for salary research: Glassdoor.
Glassdoor is one of the world’s top job and recruiting websites, where users can anonymously provide information about their companies – including their current salary. Glassdoor provides an average salary range for various roles based on the information sent by its users.
According to Glassdoor, the base salaries for the most common product manager roles in 2024 are:
Entry-Level Roles
- Associate Product Manager: $73K – $124K / year base pay
- Junior Product Manager: $75K – $139K / year base pay
- id-Level Roles
- Product Manager: $83K – $138K / year base pay
- Senior-Level Roles
- Senior Product Manager: $128K – $185K / year base pay
- Product Lead: $116K – $187K / year base pay
Level-Up Your Game: How To Step Into A New Product Manager Role
Whether you're looking for an entry-level job in product management or aiming to advance in your product management career, it's important to know that you don't necessarily need a graduate degree or specialization to move up the career ladder. Your unique experience and skills can go a long way, as long as you learn how to sell them!
1. Run A Resume Scan To Find Out Skill Gaps In Your Target Role
Wondering if you are the right fit for that target role you've been eyeing?
We've got you covered. Here's a simple, step-by-step guide:
- Copy the job description of the product manager role that sparked your interest
- Head over to ResyMatch.io
- Upload your resume on the left side
- Paste the job description on the right side
- Hit “Start Resume Scan”
Boom! ResyMatch will compare and score your resume against the job's description and identify missing skill gaps, for example:
ResyMatch will also make sure your resume is ATS compatible (ATS is a software that recruiters often use to track candidates through the hiring process). And of course, ResyMatch will provide suggestions and outline best practices you can use to edit and improve your resume!
Use our shortcut below to get started:
Scanning...
2. Update Your Resume With Compelling Resume Bullets
After you've compared your resume against your target job description, you will likely find yourself in one of two scenarios:
1. You have some missing skills that you'll need to master before taking on a new role — if that's the case, you can take action and start building those skills through online courses and a portfolio strategy.
OR…
2. You have already mastered most of the skills — if that's the case, all you need to do is update your resume with compelling resume bullets, leveraging the keywords found in your resume and job description scan.
To get started, you'll want your resume bullets to have just the right amount of hard and soft skills, action words, measurable results, and common words.
This means a compelling resume bullet for someone applying for a Product Manager role might look something like this:
Developed and implemented a feature prioritization framework using Agile methodologies, boosting customer satisfaction by 25% and cutting delivery time by 30%.
This bullet focuses on hard and soft skills specific to a Product Manager role, while also showcasing measurable results!
To help you write the perfect resume bullet, we've created ResyBullet.io, a free resume bullet analyzer that helps you write your resume in a way that grabs attention and illustrates value. Simply copy and paste your resume bullet below to begin your analysis:
ResyBullet will analyze and score your resume bullet and give you actionable insights for improvement.
Here's how our resume bullet scored on ResyBullet:
If you're a visual learner, check out our video that walks you through the step-by-step of writing a crazy-effective resume bullet:
3. Build A Visually Appealing, ATS-Friendly Resume
Now that you've updated the content on your resume, it's time to transfer it over to an awesome layout that's also ATS-friendly.
We recommend using a resume template so you can save the time you'd normally spend designing your resume and instead allocate it to your job search.
You can use ResyBuild.io, a free AI resume builder, to easily build and customize your resume in no time. Just pick one of the templates below and get started:
Free Job-Winning Resume Templates, Build Yours In No Time.
Choose a resume template below to get started:
Choose from 8 proven templates and easily create, edit, and customize your resume. ResyBuild's AI assistant also helps you craft personalized, job-winning bullets in a single click. Simply add your experience, hit “Optimize,” and watch the magic happen.
4. Don't Apply Online — Do This Instead
The most common next step in the process is to start applying for cybersecurity roles.
While applying online can absolutely be the next step in your job search, the truth is, it will only get you so far. In fact, only 2% of resumes submitted for the average open role end up reaching the interview stage.
Sure, optimizing your resume will boost your chances of being a part of that 2%.
But some estimates, like this one from the Wall Street Journal, show that 80% of hires come from referrals.
This means your best shot at landing the role you've been eying is through networking.
And no, we're not talking about attending conferences, events, and meetups. We're talking about a fresh approach that really builds relationships and gets your resume to the top of the pile at companies like Microsoft, Google, Uber, and more.
You can read all about it in our flagship guide for effective job searching:
Read More: How To Get A Job Anywhere Without Applying Online
Final Notes
Whether you're just starting out or looking to advance in your Product Manager career, getting clarity on the possibilities ahead of you can help you navigate your career with more ease.
Just don't forget: your career path isn't set in stone. Jobs and career goals will often evolve with life transitions. Always remember that your career should adapt to fit your life and not the other way around.
