Suggestions for someone transitioning from Software Engineering to Product Management?

Hi all!

Recently, I made the decision to transition away from being a software engineer. I have around 5 years of experience in software engineering, mostly in AI and SaaS. And the job search for PM has been difficult. I keep getting approached by recruiters for engineering roles, but my applications to PM jobs have seen no responses. Do you have any suggestions/tips for someone going through this transition, especially in the current job market?

The reason for the transition: even though I'm pretty good at engineering, I don't see myself as an enthusiastic one. I want to start my own company down the road, but I do not want to be the technical co-founder. Therefore, I want to try more horizontal roles like PM (especially technical product management) to gain more non-technical skillsets.

Thanks for reading!

Iynna·Jul 14

congratulations on this pretty big leap! Check out Prowess - a free community for Product Managers to create a portfolio, show their work and network. There's apparently a Slack channel as well mostly for PMM though (Product Marketing Alliance) with jobs posted there every day with the hiring managers available on dms. The other option for you to pivot is to either switch into a product role at your company (is that possible?) or find a product role in a role where you have domain expertise.lastly, check out this thread https://elpha.com/posts/8cepvy4z/seeking-advice-to-pivot-into-product-management mostly focused on pivoting into PM

janeliang·Jul 15

Thanks for sharing! This is super helpful :)I'm currently on a career break as well, so I'm not able to switch roles, but I will try to highlight my domain expertise!

Iynna·Jul 15

of course! perhaps your former company but yes you have a lot of options there!