📄️ 24.1 Create
Some professionals, like graphic designers or software developers, are expected to have an online portfolio showcasing their work and skills. Product managers, however, aren't typically expected to provide a portfolio during the interview process. Nevertheless, having a digital artifact that you can share with a potential employer is a good idea. It can be a great networking tool, prepare you for the odd company that might request to see proof of your skills, and will definitely help you stand out, especially if you have no prior experience in a product role.
📄️ 24.2 Sharing
If you were a developer, you'd be expected to have an active GitHub profile where your elegant, well-documented code projects could be viewed by potential employers. If you were a designer, you'd probably need to submit a link to your personal portfolio site with every job application. However, as a PM candidate, you have more wiggle room in terms of where and when you share information about your past or current projects.
📄️ 24.3 First Years
As you start your first job as a PM, you might be surprised at how little oversight you get in your work. PMs are often expected to be self-starters—meaning that you should be able to figure out what to do and how to do it by yourself, or by consulting your stakeholders. Even if your manager is lining up work and assigning it to you, you'll be expected to take the lead on determining how to spend your time and be successful in your responsibilities.
📄️ 24.4 Managing Your Time
As a PM, everyone is going to want your time. The sales team will want to discuss new features that will help them close deals, the marketing team will want to ask about preparing for new launches, and your team of developers and designers will want you to answer questions about their work. And you need time to do your own work, too: exploring all those ideas you have for KPI improvements, digging into the data, talking to users, and—uh-oh, there's another email you need to answer!
📄️ 24.5 Excelling As A PM
You don't just want to get a PM role. You want to do very well in your PM role and enjoy a long and successful career. But one of the contradictions about product management is this—you depend on others to complete your work, but are also expected to be able to work very independently. It's a tricky balance. You need to do your job well, even though so much of implementing your vision actually depends on what others do.