How to Find a Product Manager Mentor

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Countless reasons point us towards getting a mentor when becoming a product manager, or even when attempting to land the gig. A product manager mentor can walk us through each step with deliberate and experienced guidance. 

Having a product manager mentor is great, but finding one is easier said than done. Mentors help you to avoid rookie mistakes and give you the feedback that you need to truly succeed in your new position. But how exactly do you find one? It isn’t as easy as going up to strangers on the street and asking for help. Finding the right mentor means finding someone that fits with your work style and personality along with being able to know where you need to grow. 

When looking for the right mentor, we have a few different tricks to help you out. Read our tricks and tips to get going on your hunt for the perfect mentor that will help you grow and succeed as a product manager. 

What is a product manager mentor?

To start off with, we need to understand what a mentor even is and why they’re so sought-after. 

A mentor is someone who helps guide you and provides feedback in your professional career. They’re a trusted advisor that has a large amount of experience in the product management field. They’ve gotten to a high level in the company because of their dedication and hard work, and most importantly, they’re willing to share the “how” with you. 

What you’re looking for in a good mentor is going to have a lot to do with your personality and your goals. Finding someone that meshes well with you is inherent to building a good relationship. Here are a couple of guidelines to follow as your begin your search:

1. Check their availability. Does this mentor have enough availability to meet with you weekly, bi-weekly, monthly? If you are wanting a mentor, you need someone that has the time to give you the feedback that you want. If someone has a packed-tight schedule, they may not make a great mentor because there’s no time to fit you in.
2. Do they have the knowledge you want? If this mentor has a similar field of experience that you’re after, they probably have a deep well of knowledge that you can draw from. If you’re looking for a product management mentor, you’ll need to find someone who has held that position before.

A mentor can also lend you a huge hand by connecting you to their network. If they have ties to certain companies or other higher-ups, you can benefit greatly from the connections they have. If they don’t seem to do much networking, it could help you to look elsewhere for someone who can help you build your own network. 

For the rest of the article, we will explain how to find a mentor that helps advance your career!

Do a Quick Self-evaluation

The first step in finding a mentor is to do a quick self-evaluation. Ask yourself these questions before you even start:

• What am I looking for in a mentor?
• What is my communication style?
• How can I benefit from a mentor?
• Who do I know already that I get along with well?
• What kind of people do I struggle to work with?
• What areas do you need the most help? Product design questions? Product strategy?

By evaluating yourself, your needs, and your style, you can help to match yourself up with the right mentor. Going through the process of finding a mentor is difficult and finding one that you don’t work well with means you’ll have to do it again. 

Where to start looking for your Product Management Mentor

There are plenty of different places that you can start looking for a mentor. The easiest place to start is within your own company. Go to your HR department and ask about any internal mentoring programs that may already exist. These internal company schemes are great resources that are easy to access, plus they’re free of any cost that you may find outside of your own company. 

Looking inside your own company will be the easiest start because you can just walk up to people that you know and start talking about mentorship. If you have formed any good connections with higher-ups, ask around and describe your needs. This way, someone will be able to recommend someone else or offer their own mentorship. 

1. Internal Company Scheme

Internal company schemes are often found in large organizations, as they end up being the most cost-effective for large-scale connections. If your organization has a formal scheme, joining it will only be beneficial to you. 

You can join these groups and still pursue another mentor outside of your company. That’s the beauty of these easily-accessible schemes. You can try it out at no cost, and if you don’t like it, just head elsewhere. 

2. Product Management Meetups

Most major cities in the US have a hub for product management meetups. These meetings happen just about once a month and are phenomenal resources for finding a mentor. Going to these meetings will start to form your network, and within that network, there is likely a mentor for you. Inside of the meetings you can walk up to people that seem to have a lot of experience and that you would get along with. Starting conversations in these social circles is one of the best ways to find a perfect fit. 

Some chapters offer a mentorship program that you can join in on. These meetings alone are a form of mentorship as product managers come together from across the city and meet to share invaluable information. Here you’ll learn about the latest trends, polish your skills, and earn PDUs towards your next re-certification. 

If you can’t find any kind of meetup near you, Product Management Exercises is a great digital space that allows for more networking with ease. 

3. Independent Coaches

If you just aren’t finding what you’re looking for, you may need to pursue an independent coach or mentor. These are easy to find online and it’s an easy way to find exactly who you are looking for. A lot of coaches will offer you a short meeting for free to talk about what your needs are and if they can help you out. A couple of these short interviews will definitely guide you towards the right mentor in no time. 

At Product Management Exercises we offer private coaching from seasoned PMs working at Google, Amazon, and other top tech companies. 

Sometimes, being the only PM at your company can be difficult. Good product management is about bouncing ideas off other PMs and hearing new suggestions. Independent coaches often have a huge wealth of experience from other clients they have coached or their own personal work experience. 

You’ll definitely be paying a more hefty sum to get the privatized mentorship, but you get what you pay for. If you’re really wanting a mentor that will be 100% focused on your growth in product management, a private coach does exactly that. 

4. Peer-to-Peer Mentoring

Another option that you can pursue is peer-to-peer mentoring. In this style of mentorship, it’s about getting together with others that are roughly on the same level as you are. If there are other PMs within your organization you will be able to set up this program easily. Get other PMs together, even if it’s just one of them for a coffee, and just talk about what’s going on.

It’s always likely that a peer has had similar experiences to you. They may have encountered an issue that you’re currently struggling with and found the answer that they can share. This is a back and forth relationship closer to a conversation with a friend than it is mentorship. That being said, it’s another great way to get new ideas and perspectives without asking for a higher-up’s time. 

Final Thoughts

Product manager mentors are invaluable resources that will doubtlessly help you move up in your career as a product manager. It’s one of the best professional moves to make, but asking can always be difficult. Working through different forms of mentorship and looking at different sources of mentors can be a long process that pays off in a wealth of knowledge and experience. 

Don’t be shy to ask around, approach the other PMs that you respect and get along with, network with our community of experienced PMs, or book a private coaching session here. In all likelihood, they will be flattered and glad to help out. Go out and get a mentor to really bring your career to a new level today.