- Tech companies like Google, Meta, and Uber offer rotational or associate product manager programs.
- These programs target new graduates or people with little product experience to train them.
- Here's how to get into an associate product manager program at a tech company.
When Renee Kar-Johnson graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship, she didn't know what she wanted to do with her career, other than that she was drawn to the world of tech.
Her answer came when she found herself working at the credit-card giant Visa — specifically, in its associate product manager, or APM, program. She was drawn to working in fintech and the idea that the APM program would let her rotate through several teams at the company, helping her find the right role for her. Ultimately, she found she had a passion for go-to-market strategy, leading to her current role as a senior associate product manager at the company.
"After graduating, you're still kind of confused, at least for me, on what I want to do," Kar-Johnson said. "I was not sure what I concretely wanted to do every day."
Kar-Johnson is in good company: Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor kicked off his tech career as an APM intern at Google, while the Instagram cohead of product Ashley Yuki is an alum of Meta's equivalent program.
With interest in a lucrative tech career higher than ever, APM programs at companies like Visa, Google, Roblox, Salesforce, and Meta are proving a popular path into the field for anybody who either didn't study computer science in school or doesn't have relevant work experience. These programs, which generally last for a year to 21 months, can fast-track a budding career, while also providing a lucrative salary: Data from the career site Glassdoor suggests that Google pays its APM participants as much as $158,000, while Meta is said to pay as much as $139,000.
"If you're someone who enjoys speaking the language of a software engineer and a designer while considering business and user needs— that is a strong indicator of a good PM," said Hemangini Raina, a product manager at Affirm.
What these programs involve
When Raina started looking for opportunities to work in product full time as a recent graduate, she found that most product-manager positions were for workers with more experience. Her research suggested APM programs could help her break into the field, however, and ultimately she got accepted into Uber's program.
APM programs train people in product-management skills by having them work with different teams during their time in the program. Participants will go through extensive onboarding and orientation before getting placed with various teams for weeks or months at a time.
In each rotation, APMs get to try a little of everything. Depending on which team they're assigned to, APMs might get tasked with writing product specifications and documentations, working with engineers to design a new feature, putting together marketing plans, studying customer feedback, and managing product launches. They're often mentored by more senior product managers, who help guide them through learning each new skill.
"We treat them like most other product managers on a team," said Shreya Ramamurthy, the chief of staff at Roblox. "While they have a temporary stay, they're given the reins to execute on a product."
Once APMs graduate from the program, they can get placed into a more permanent position at the company if there's an open role.
"One of the compliments I got when recruiting for my next job was, 'Wow, for someone who has been a product manager for a couple of years, you are able to grasp problems and thrive in ambiguity quickly," Raina said.
Who can apply
APM programs often — but not always, depending on the company — focus on recruiting graduates straight out of college to "harness the creativity of a younger generation," Roblox's Ramamurthy said.
Beyond that, these programs value candidates with experience working on projects like websites or apps who have a strong understanding of technology. They should also show they have the skills to solve confusing problems and get a group of people motivated to complete their tasks. They should be passionate about working across teams. Product internships help but are not a requirement.
For their part, candidates should consider their options when it comes to applying to an APM program. An APM at a startup may have more impact but in a less-structured environment, while a large company may have more established processes but also more bureaucracy and less immediate chance for advancement.
Tim Matthews, a lead product manager at Meta, recommends joining meetups around product management like ProductTank and Silicon Valley Product Group so people can talk to working product managers and learn more about their job.
"People don't know if product management is right for them until they try," Matthews said. "If you have that passion for technology and core competencies, breaking down ambiguity, that's really what we're looking for."
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