I've been working as Project Manager for Marketing Operations for almost 3 years now,I want to break into Product Marketing Management,is it possible, and if so how can a pivot and what skill sets from my current career translate well within the role
2 Answers
Rekha Srivatsan
Salesforce Vice President Product Marketing • July 27
Congratulations on figuring out what you want to do next! Project management skills are invaluable to any function, particularly in PMM. The reason being PMMs are often handling multiple cross-functional projects at the same time. Here's what I would do:
- Shadow PMMs in your organization to understand closely their day-to-day roles and responsibilities. Develop a better understanding of what you like in what they do -- this will help you anchor your PMM role.
- Ask for an "extra credit project" from a PMM. This will help you get a much closer look and can be resume-worthy. This does not have to be a full end-to-end project, but rather a V1 draft of what a PMM is tasked with. For example: if your interest is in messaging/positioning, the next time the PMM has to do messaging for a new feature, ask them if you can do a V1 of that first. Also, ask them for their process and you can emulate that as much as you can.
- Reach out to PMM leaders in your organization to mentor you. And make it clear from the get-go that you are interested in PMM. This will help them align projects, team members with you and think of you next time they are hiring.
Good luck!
978 Views
Jeffrey Vocell
Panorama Education Head of Product Marketing | Formerly Narvar, Iterable, HubSpot, IBM • April 7
Yes! It's absolutely possible. A few ways you can think of the transition:
- Look at some PMM job descriptions and think about transferrable skills. If you've worked as a Project Manager, then it's likely you've led cross-functional initiatives, so lean into that.
- Highlight an internal communication and enablement you've done as a part of project leadership, and how you measured success.
- Share any writing you've done to communicate results of a project.
- Since you're in Marketing Opersations, you hopefully had the opportunity to get to know the technologies your company is using. Share some of this expertise and how it's contributing to your marketing pipeline. Product Marketers (especially at a more senior level) are expected to know the business from a product, value, and metrics perspective -- so show this off if you've done any of it.
Also, if you've worked with any specific marketing technologies that your company uses (for example, Iterable) then consider looking at PMM openings at those respective companies because you likely will have some expertise around the product and implementation that will serve you well as a part of the interview process and as a PMM at that organization. Good luck!
281 Views
Related Ask Me Anything Sessions
Brex Director of Product Marketing - Travel and Expense Management, Jesse Lopez on SMB Product Marketing
Atlassian Head of Product Marketing, Jira and the Jira suite, Claire Drumond on SMB Product Marketing
Iterable Director of Product Marketing, Jeffrey Vocellon SMB Product Marketing
Top Product Marketing Mentors
Morgan Joel
Intuit Head of Product Marketing, QuickBooks Live
Nisha Srinivasan
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Stevan Colovic
Sharebird Product
Claudia Michon
Automation Anywhere Senior Vice President, Product & Solutions Marketing
Surabhi Jayal
Sharebird Marketing Associate
Kelly Farrell
Intercom Product Marketing Manager
Claire Drumond
Atlassian Sr. Director, Head of Product Marketing, Jira and Jira suite
Meg Murphy
IBM CMO, IBM Systems
Natalie Louie
ICONIQ Capital Product & Content Marketing
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing
Related Questions
What can I include in my marketing portfolio to standout from the crowd as a product marketing candidate.How do you structure your Product Marketing team?What are keys to enabling your service partners to sell your product to SMB customers?How would you approach this product marketing interview assignment?How do you drive alignment across the exec team on messagingWhat should I include in my product marketing budget?