If you don’t have PM experience, there are two ways for you to break into Product Management. One is to try your luck at applying to different openings armed with a solid PM resume. Two is to become an Associate Product Manager or APM.

While there is no one road to getting a Product Manager role, a seasoned Product Manager would agree that becoming an Associate Product Manager may be one of the best ways to do it. In this guide, you will learn everything you need to know about an APM. 

What is an Associate Product Manager?

An Associate Product Manager supports the work of a Product Manager by collecting data, doing customer and market research, developing product features, and coordinating with all the stakeholders involved in the project. 

APMs have similar responsibilities as Product Managers but the role is more like an apprenticeship where an individual can gain experience and learn while working on the job. The APM role is more of a junior or entry-level role which makes it a great jump-off point to becoming a Product Manager. 

It’s a great option for those who want to transition into Product Management. It could also be the first job for a fresh graduate since recruiters are mostly thinking about potential during the hiring process.

Associate Product Manager Responsibilities

Just like a Product Manager, the responsibilities an APM has will differ from company to company. However, APMs are generally responsible for:

• Gathering quantitative data and metrics through market research
• Analyzing consumer research data
• Determining improvements to product features
• Developing new product features
• Coordinating findings with the product team and aligning them with product goals
• Reporting to the Product Team Lead
• Collaborating with the product development team

In most cases, APMs work on specific features of a mature product instead of working on the entire product itself. The role is also more supportive as it aims to enhance a PM’s work and provide support to the product development team in the way the PM sees fit.

The teams an APM will work with will also depend on the company. In some, APMs have a dedicated team they work directly with. In others, APMs are not required to work with the engineering team for product development.

Associate Product Manager Requirements

The requirements needed to apply for an Associate Product Manager position will also be different depending on the organization and the product it is developing. In most cases, however, the common requirements are as follows:

• 2 or more years of product experience (it’s possible to not have experience at all)
• A bachelor’s degree in marketing, business management, computer science, or a similar field
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written
• Knowledge of marketing research and data analyzation
• Experience with project management tools is an advantage
• Excellent time management and multitasking skills
• Basic knowledge of product sense, execution, and data analytics

Why is the Associate Product Manager Position important?

You might be asking why an Associate Product Manager is needed in the first place when the company could hire another PM or already has a PM working in the team. There are two main reasons why a company would want to hire an APM:

Capture Talent Early On

Product Managers that fit the mold of what a company is looking for could be scarce. Although talent is abundant in the industry, more and more companies are looking for qualified PMs every year. 

Companies are still hiring product managers in 2022 because PMs are creatures of efficiency. More than ever, with the apparent dive of the economy, it’s crucial to develop innovative and efficient practices, and prioritize customers’ needs – all of which a PM can help with.

Are Tech Companies Still Hiring Product Managers in 2022?

Since finding the right candidate can be challenging, some companies opt to look for junior talents to fill the APM position. From there, the company can train and mold the APM into the exact PM that they are looking for.

PMs Need a Bit of Help

There are cases where a PM in a company gets overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done. Hiring another Product Manager might be too much so hiring an Associate Product Manager may make more sense, especially when considering the budget of the company and the output needed. 

Key Skills an Associate Product Manager Must Possess

So what kind of skills should a candidate possess if he or she wants to become an APM? Since the role is very similar to that of a Product Manager, the skills are also similar. To succeed as an APM, one would need:

• Communication Skills
• Analytic Skills
• Time Management Skills

One would also need to be decisive and adaptable to adjust to whatever situation that arises on any given day. If you would like to know more about the other soft skills needed to become a good PM, we recommend reading “6 Soft Skills Every Product Manager Needs”.

How about hard skills an APM needs to possess? It’s really up to the company the candidate is applying to but generally, some hard skills should include business knowledge and strategic thinking.

Tip: An APM doesn’t need to have technical knowledge but it is an advantage to understand the basics. To sharpen your technical skills, check out our guide posts that contain FREE technical resources PMs can learn from.

Associate Product Manager Salary

To cut the long story short, APMs are paid less than Product Managers because it is a junior role and they take on lesser responsibility. In general, the exact rate will depend on the industry, location of the company, years of experience and company pay scale.

To give you an estimate, Glassdoor, a popular online job board that provides insights about jobs and companies, estimates the salary of an APM with 0-1 year of experience to be $98,354 per year in the United States.

Associate Product Manager Jobs/Programs

Are companies hiring Associate Product Managers now? Yes, there are plenty. Just to give you an idea of what the demand for APMs is like, we’ve listed down a few openings and programs from different companies:

• 2022 Associate Product Manager (Graduate) at Atlassian
• Product Development Program Associate – 2023 at Capital One
• Meta RPM Program
• Associate Product Manager (APM) at SalesForce
• Associate Product Managers at Schmidt Futures
• 2023 Associate Product Manager, Tech (APM Rotational Program) at Uber

Each of these opportunities is different in terms of role, responsibilities, and the team that the APM will work with but the one thing all of them have in common is that they all provide environments where an APM can gain valuable experience and grow professionally.

Preparing for the Role

How, then, will you prepare for an Associate Product Manager role? PM Exercises recommends doing the following:

Review Potential Interview Questions

Read up on as many questions as possible so you’re familiar with them and how to answer them. Check out the PM Exercises database of 2500+ PM Interview Questions with answers given by the PM Exercises community.

Take a PM Interview Prep Course

Going through a PM Interview Prep Course will give you more confidence before you enter the interview. The course is going to prepare you for the questions that will be asked during the interview, it’ll have tips, assignments as well as company guides you can refer to.

Practice the Real Thing

Do a mock interview – practice the questions with a partner. With the PM Exercises prep course and database of questions, there’s also a Practice feature where you can find other product managers who are also prepping for their interviews.

Prepare Accordingly

Because of the pandemic, some APM interviews are conducted online. You have to make sure to prepare for that scenario by checking your hardware as well as your internet connection.

Relax – It’s a Learning Experience

It’s common for most to treat their upcoming interview as a “life and death” kind of situation. Yes, the pressure can be immense but always remember that every PM interview is a learning experience.

If you want more details about how to prepare for an APM role, we recommend reading our post: How to Ace Your Associate Product Manager Interview.

Associate Product Manager Interview Questions

1. How would you design a cafeteria app for employees?
2. Estimate the number of hotels in NYC.
3. How would you improve Google Maps?
4. You are the PM for a streaming video service. You come into the office and see that one key metric has dropped by 80%. What will you do?
5. If you were the PM for the Save feature at Facebook, what metrics would you use to define the success of this feature?
6. If you were the PM for the Save feature at Facebook, what metrics would you use to define the success of this feature?
7. How would you acquire more users for Uber?
8. Design a library for the future.
9. You’re a PM at Amazon. You released a new feature in the items search functionality recently and found out that searches increased by 10% but the results page load time is 2 seconds longer. What would you do?
10. Calculate the number of queries answered by Google per second.

Note: For some questions, you need to upgrade your account to view the complete answers. 

All of these questions have been asked during APM interviews in companies like Capital One, Google, Meta/Facebook, Amazon, and Uber. 

At PM Exercises, we’ve put together 2500+ Product Manager Interview Questions with sample answers from our PM community. 

After you sign up and become part of the community, you can contribute questions and answers in the database as well, and have other members of the community give you feedback.

Summary

The Associate Product Manager role is a great jump-off point to becoming a Product Manager. During the hiring process, it’s an advantage to have experience in developing a product but recruiters are more focused on the potential of the candidate which is why the APM position is suited to fresh grads and those who want to transition into product management.

An APM’s role and responsibilities vary depending on the company but it isn’t very different than that of a PM. An APM still needs to be part of the product development process but with less independence because it is more of a junior role. 

Companies typically hire APMs to help out their PM and to hire talent early on.

If this is a role that you’re considering, the best way to prepare for it would be to take a PM Interview Prep Course, review interview questions, and then practice them with a partner by doing a mock interview.

FAQ

What is the difference between an Associate Product Manager and a Product Manager?

The APM position is more of a junior position. The APM typically assists the PM with different tasks the PM sees necessary. In some cases, the APM works on a specific feature of a product instead of being involved in the entire product development process. An APM is meant to learn as much as he or she can from the PM.

How long until an APM gets promoted?

The promotion will depend on the company but typically an Associate Product Manager would have to work anywhere between one to three years to be promoted to a full Product Manager.