Additional Information
You need many skills to do this job. There isn't one clearly defined educational
pathway toward this career.
Besides being able to manage other people and market their software products,
software product managers need an understanding of the technical side of the
industry.
The majority of software product managers have a technical background,
such as a degree in the sciences. A bachelor's degree will take three to four
years to complete. You can add at least another year or more if you want to
go on for a master's degree.
Software product management is generally not an entry-level role. Many
managers start off as software developers, or come into it with business and
marketing experience.
"There are very few people, I think, that come right out of college into
a product management role," says software product manager Justin Grant. "Typically,
what they'll do, they'll go do something else for a while. They'll gain expertise.
They'll be a software developer, they'll be a QA (quality assurance) engineer,
they'll be a support engineer. They'll have something that will help them
understand how the software development process works. There are certainly
really, really bright kids that do come right out of college and are good
at this, but they are few and far between."
"Some project managers have a technical background, others have a business
background," says Amber Shah. She's a software developer who has been a software
project lead for NASA. "For me, staying closely connected to the technical
roots is vital," says Shah. "I prefer a project manager/team lead hybrid [mixed]
position which allows me to work with the business and the programmers best.
A project manager with a business background is always going to be limited
as to how much they can push back on their team and will always rely heavily
on a strong technical team lead."
Although technical skills are essential, you also need to be able to work
with people. "The core skills are social, of course, not technical," says
John Turnbull. He's a former software product manager currently working as
a systems consultant and technical editor.
"Your most useful experience might be coaching a team or leading an expedition,
a musical group, or teaching a practical class," says Turnbull. "You have
to recognize other people's emotional state and their capability, then help
them recognize it themselves. You apply these skills to both your build team
and your clients/customers.
"People who do difficult and often solitary work will produce for managers
they like," says Turnbull. "So the manager has to have enough experience,
skill and credibility to appeal to everyone on the project. You are, by definition,
a mentor, not a military commander. That's harder when you are young."
Some managers are trained in a specific field, such as financial planning
or accounting. This kind of background allows the product manager to specialize
in certain types of software. For example, a product manager who is trained
as a financial planner might be put in charge of any software that has to
do with financial planning.
"I find that most successful product managers tend to have a technology
background," says Grant. "They tend to have a B.Sc. in computer science. There
are certainly some that are self taught, and I don't have a B.Sc. in computer
science, but generally that's a sound way to get started.
"A lot of product managers have MBAs," Grant adds. "I don't think it's
a requirement, but it seems helpful. I do see that people who don't have a
technical background... tend to struggle. So that if I had to choose, would
I rather have an MBA and have to teach them the technology, or have the technology
and have to teach them the business part, I'd rather [the latter]."