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21 " An open mind, a deep sense of curiosity, and constant desire to learn. You can’t be afraid of going into an area that you don’t know much about – you have to be comfortable getting up to speed quickly in new and potentially intimidating areas. You need to be a consummate and life-long learner. The key is to ask questions, be curious and learn from your team. "
― Gayle Laakmann McDowell , Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology
22 " is that I try to make sure that, as much as possible, when you open the mobile app, you get straight to the value with as few bumps as possible. So if we’re adding a feature that won’t be used by everyone, we avoid welcome screens and tutorials. "
23 " I’ve spent working under experienced exes. At this point of my career, I’d rather work for someone I can learn from and ask questions of than be at the top. "
24 " A resume isn’t read; it’s skimmed. A resume screener will glance at your resume for about 15 seconds (or maybe less) to make a decision about whether or not to interview you. This forms the guiding principle of resumes. A resume should be optimized for that 15-second skim. "
25 " who got an MBA after starting as a PM at Microsoft, decided to go to business school when he noticed that well-designed products didn’t always become market winners. “I saw that good design isn’t enough,” Arjun noted. “There’s something else, and I wanted to learn what that something else is. In business school I realized you could ask business questions and answer them really easily, on the back of a napkin. "
26 " whoever writes things down has the power. People in different disciplines such as test and dev think that PMs make all the decisions. Then when they switch over and they wonder how they got to make decisions, and it’s because whoever writes things down records history. The ways you write things down and what you write down define history. The power of the pen. "
27 " When I’m interviewing, the thing I check for, no matter what, is passion. Do you care enough about your work that you’re spending your free time learning about it? "
28 " Some people will say that the product manager (sometimes called the program manager or project manager) is like a mini-CEO of their product. That’s accurate in some ways, since a PM takes holistic responsibility for the product, from the little details to the big picture. The PM needs to set vision and strategy. The PM defines success and makes decisions. "
29 " Of course you don’t have the knowledge to truly solve the problem. Of course you could solve it better if you did. But that’s not the point; in fact, it’s not even an issue. An interviewer is not evaluating you on the correctness of your eventual conclusions but rather on the process you take to get there. "
30 " Communicate what you are doing. In a big company you really need people above you who will allocate resources and get conflicting projects to be on your side, so messaging what you are achieving becomes important. "
31 " You learn to write by reading. "
32 " Another way to build credibility is paying attention to people’s perceptions of you and ensuring that you’re creating the perception you want. Make sure you’re building a reputation as a smart, skillful, competent, and dependable person with good judgment. "
33 " Marketing folks focus on getting users into the product, while product managers define what happens once the user is in the product. "