How to Transition From Software Engineering to Product Management

Software engineers work closely with Product Managers (PM) in their day-to-day roles. So it’s no wonder why so many consider transitioning from Software Engineering to Product Management as the next step in their career. 

If you’re a software engineer interested in the end-to-end process of building a great product, including identifying customer needs and achieving business outcomes that answer those needs in a cross-functional team, you should consider transitioning into Product. This article will show you how. 

Learning the Basics: Software Engineering to Product Management

Your logic and technical skills developed during your career as an engineer build an excellent foundation for the role of Product Manager. You already have technical knowledge and understanding of how a product is invaluable for PMs. On top of that, you also have the ability to turn an idea or solution into reality. 

However, there are some critical differences in terms of responsibilities, salaries, skills, and mindset to consider when comparing the Product Manager and Software Engineer roles.

What’s the difference between the two roles?

Let’s talk about the differences between the two roles within the organization. The type of product or service the company is offering will influence the specific tasks each role has to take on. But here’s a basic overview to give you an idea:

What does a Product Manager do?

A Product Manager is responsible for the success of the product. He or she is also in charge of the different processes teams go through to reach that point of success. From identifying customer needs, and building a product roadmap, to communicating with different stakeholders, the tasks will be different each day.

If you would like to know more about what a day might be like working as a Product Manager, check out our post: The Typical Day of a Product Manager.

What does a Software Engineer do?

Meanwhile, a Software Engineer works more on the technical side. This role uses technical capabilities to execute a vision, create a solution, enhance a feature, or maintain a system. Software Engineers also work with different teams like the product and design teams to bring an idea to life.

Comparing Salaries

The salary may not be the deciding point for you to transition. However, it’s important to get as much information as you can when it comes to comparing the two roles to achieve a better understanding. 

So which of the two roles is paid higher? According to Glassdoor, a popular website where employees can leave reviews for the companies that they have worked with, a Product Manager has an estimated total pay of $160K. The company offers bonuses plus equity. 

The salary range of a PM will vary depending on the level and role. For example, if you start out as an Associate Product Manager, you can expect to earn about 96K to 155K as base pay. As you go through the PM career path, your salary increases.

Additionally, if a PM has a specific area of focus, it can also affect the salary range. For instance, a Product Manager could have a lesser salary offer than a Technical Product Manager (TPM). A TPM is a kind of PM that focuses more on the technical side of Product Management.

On the other hand, a Software Engineer can have an average base pay of around 126K. Companies can also offer bonuses and equity plus other benefits. Areas of focus also affect the salary of this position. For example, a back-end engineer can have a different base pay than a full-stack engineer.

What’s going to change for the Software Engineer?

Transitioning into the role of Product Manager, you have to have the right mindset and right expectations. There are a lot of things that will change so you have to prepare yourself even stepping into the role:

Moving to the Forefront

As an engineer who’s working on a product or feature, you’re not always visible or known to other teams. Of course, the teams that you work with may be familiar with you. Despite this, the rest of your organization may not know the kind of contribution you put in. There may be a lot of engineers working on the same product so your visibility is limited.

This is going to change when you transition to the PM role. You’re going to move to the forefront as you communicate and collaborate with different teams in the organization.

Similarly, the PM role is also going to require you to interact with the customer more. It is part of the job. You have to directly work with customers to understand their needs and come up with creative and innovative solutions that can be useful to them.

Involved in More Steps Within the Process

If you were only used to working on the technical aspect of the product, it’s definitely going to shift. You’ll be more involved with the different aspects that go into product development.

Four Hard Skills Every Product Manager Needs to Know

To succeed in becoming a PM, you’ll need to develop hard skills that you may not have had the chance to practice or develop as a Software Engineer. Even before transitioning to Product Management, you have to work on the following:

#1 Business Skills

Product Managers must work with other stakeholders to get the resources they need to build their customers’ products. Developing strong business acumen is essential when pitching the business value or opportunity. 

Product Managers must be able to consider the impact of their efforts from a cost and resource perspective and be able to prove ROI. And of course, they need to have strong project management skills to carry a project to completion efficiently and cost-effectively.  

#2 Strategic Thinking

The role of Product Manager vs Software Engineer varies most in the mindset that’s used to do the job effectively. While Software Engineers must develop applicable code in the most efficient ways possible, Product Managers must think in broader terms. For instance, a successful PM synthesizes customer needs and the company’s mission and long-term goals to create a product that delights the customer and reinforces the company’s brand reputation.

Strategic thinking in the Product Management space is done systematically through the use of models and frameworks. Here are some examples of tools that guide strategic thinking in Product Management:

• Weighted Scoring for product features
• Value vs. Complexity Quadrant for assessing new initiatives
• Kano Model for evaluating feature costs vs. value to customers

#3 Research and Statistical Analysis

The nature of business is to launch products that solve real customer problems. This almost always guarantees that no Product Management initiative will be precisely the same as previous versions. To forecast demand, uncover opportunities, and identify threats, you’ll need to spot trends in the market. This is done most effectively through research and statistical analysis.

You’ll need to know how to collect data from targeted sample populations. It’s also required that you know how to evaluate the data based on predetermined criteria. You’ll need to interpret the data to make appropriate decisions. Research and analytics skills allow Product Managers to conduct user research, better understand needs, and use that data to explore trends. All of this is done for product improvements or even for creating new features. 

#4 Market Knowledge

When comparing the Product Manager vs Software Engineer role, you’ll notice that the PM’s job is customer-focused. While developers concentrate on fulfilling a product’s technical specifications, PMs must know everything about their targeted customers and how competitor products fulfill existing needs in the market.

They are responsible for applying knowledge of the market to identify customer pain points correctly and help guide decision-making about which new features to introduce, when to roll them out, and where to place the updated products for distribution.

How to Transition From Software Engineering to Product Management

Transitioning from software engineer to Product Manager requires considerable planning. However, it can happen in a variety of ways. Here are the three most effective methods to switch roles from Software Engineering to Product Manager:

#1 Gain Relevant Experience at Work and Study Up

When looking for the right way to transition from Software Engineering to Product Management, the answer may be closer than you think. Ask for opportunities to gain Product Management experience in your current department at work. There are many benefits to using this method, but the most obvious one is that you’re already familiar with the company’s product line.

When approved, begin shadowing a PM who works on a product that’s similar to one with which you’re familiar. As an Assistant Product Manager, learn how to identify problems and craft new initiatives that achieve measurable business outcomes. Bring something to the table for your PM. Offer up your knowledge of technical development practices to enhance product usability, manage customer expectations, and achieve increased user satisfaction. When you’re ready, ask for junior-level projects that allow you to gain more experience.

Tip for new PMs

Some of the essential skills for PMs include showcasing the ability to understand and empathize with the needs of the customer and the ability to manage a cross-functional team to build products.

Remember that there are also plenty of opportunities to learn outside of the office. We recommend that any software engineer looking to transition into product add eight books every product manager should read in 2021 to their weekend reading list:

• Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts
• The Design of Everything
• Lean UX
• The Lean Startup
• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
• Lean Analytics
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things
• The Mom Test

Yet, the best way to develop the skills necessary to transition from Software Engineering to Product Management is to build your own product. The process of designing, developing, and producing your product gives you invaluable hands-on experience and credibility – and a great supplement to your resume.

When building the product, you’ll need to gather requirements from users to determine the set features. Since you (and maybe your friends) are the users of the product you are building, it will be easy to empathize with your specific use cases and problems you are trying to solve. 

#2 Transfer Internally

You’ve been studying the field of Product Management for some time and believe that you have the requisite skills to be successful at the job right now. If you can adequately demonstrate those skills to a hiring manager, it’s time to ask for an internal transfer. Companies love hiring from within, especially when there’s an overabundance of Software Engineers and Product Managers in short supply.

#3 Go to a New Company

Getting a Product Manager job at a new company is the method that incurs the most risk to you. If you aren’t familiar with the company or its current product line, it will be more challenging to transition from Software Engineering to Product Management. However, it’s not impossible as long as you can showcase your experience and any of the other skills PMs need to do their jobs effectively.

Since Product Managers focus on business outcomes and customer satisfaction, you’ll have an edge if your current company and prospective employer target the same market.

The new company will likely scrutinize your experience and credentials more than it will the credentials of its current employees. All things considered, the best way to get a Product Manager job at a different company is to approach them directly and prove that your past experience makes you suitable for a PM role because you understand the product.

Preparing for the PM Interview

Whether you are applying to a new company or transferring roles internally, it’s always good to prepare for the Product Manager interview by doing the following:

Take a Course

At PM Exercises, you will find a Product Manager interview prep course that contains the knowledge you need to master your PM interview skills. There are over 100 video hours plus more than 100 online lessons that will equip and make you feel more confident before your interview.

This course will help you have a foundational understanding of Product Management as well as allow you to practice some of the most common and trickiest questions asked of potential PM candidates. Also, it contains insights and tips from seasoned PMs – useful information you can use to prepare for your PM interview.

Read Answers to PM Interview Questions

Research, read, understand, and practice answering sample PM interview questions. You will find over 2,000 PM questions asked at the biggest tech companies in our database. 

You’ll be able to review both questions and answers supplied by our PM Community – a group of individuals who are also preparing for their own PM interviews. They actively give feedback on the answers to the questions, allowing those who are reading it to look at the answers from the perspective of the interviewer.

Do Multiple Mock Interviews

One of the best ways to practice answering PM interview questions is by finding a partner and then doing a mock interview together. On PM Exercises, we have a feature called “Practice” where you can find other PMs who also want to partner up for a mock interview.

Keep Practicing

You can go through the process as many times as you want. In fact, most of the successful PMs we’ve had the privilege to interview have gone through the PM course several times. They’ve also practiced answering and giving feedback to as many PM questions in the database as possible. Lastly, they have gone through several mock interviews with partners.

Tips to Transition From Software Engineering to Product Management

Before we wrap up this guide, here are a few tips that will make your transition easier and smoother. You have to go into Product Management with the right mindset so the following tips should help you get to where you need to be in terms of perspective:

Think About Your Why

Think about why you want to shift in the first place. Understanding your “why” helps you find your purpose as a PM faster. You can also check out “Why Product Management?” to find out why it’s necessary to discover the answer to this question.

Do the Job Before You Do the Job

Work on a project as a Product Manager. It can be a hackathon or a side project that you are working on during your free time. Offer your PM services for free and join a team. Although some companies don’t require any experience as a PM, it’s always advantageous to show that you are passionate about Product Management through this step.

Doing a project as a PM also makes a good point of discussion when in an interview. The recruiter will be able to gauge your capabilities as a PM, and you’ll have valuable experience that you can put on your resume.

Come to Terms with Parts of Your Job that You Might Not do Anymore

As a Software Engineer, you might have created your own process. Or maybe you may have already gotten used to how you did things. When you make your transition, it’ll be like you’re starting from scratch so you have to unlearn, learn, or relearn a few things.

Unlearning is the difficult part because habits are hard to break. But it’s important to keep an open mind about change – a necessary perspective to adapt if you want to succeed as a PM.

Putting It All Together

Product Management encompasses a host of tasks, from product conceptualization to facilitating user testing. Intense preparation is the best way to demonstrate that you have the skills to take on a challenging Product Management role.

If you’re ready to start your journey to becoming a PM but don’t know where to start, you are in the right place. PM Exercises with an extensive list of interview-prep resources, including self-guided interview questions, an online PM interview prep course, and a practice feature  –– all to help you ace your big interview! 

FAQ

Can a software engineer become a product manager?

Yes. In fact, software engineers can be great product managers because they already have the technical knowledge. They can also work well with other engineers in the team because they already “speak the language”.

Do product managers make more than software engineers?

Yes, Product Managers make more than Software Engineers. The PM role also gives more options to transition to other roles afterward like marketing, CEO, or even Business Development.

Do you need to be a coder to be a Product Manager?

No, it is not necessary for a Product Manager to know how to code. It is an optional skill. But it can come in handy when a PM might want to shift to becoming a Technical Product Manager, or is interested to work in bigger tech companies like Google.