Job Skills in the Time of Uncertainty
by Bruce McCarthy
I am not going to claim miracles here. Because of the virus, many talented product people are out of work, and may be for quite some time. However, I have been a hiring manager with product openings in economic downturns, and here are a few job-hunting tips that you may not have considered.
Branding
Why shouldn’t we give our most important product (ourselves) as much thought as we do the products we work on all day? An experienced hiring manager I know is fond of asking interviewees for a positioning statement about themselves. Are you the person who can revive a moribund product? Can you get an MVP out the door in no time? Can you get an enterprise sales team excited? Don’t simply sell me on your skills or experience. Tell me what business problem you solve as a product person.
The Resume
Likewise, think about storytelling on your resume. One of my favorite resume geeks is Melissa Appel, an Associate Director of Product Management at Wayfair. “Tell me a story on your resume!” she says. “What in your background is unique and appealing to hiring managers?” The 3-5 sentence personal statement at the top of your resume should clearly explain your distinctive perspective. Many fall short. “I was reviewing a resume recently, and I asked the job hunter, ‘What have you done recently that makes you proud?’ It wasn’t on the resume!” Sigh.
Another communication skill: brevity. Says Melissa, “When I was last looking for a job, I had ten years of Product experience. My resume fit on one page.” You can always add more details on your LinkedIn profile to be picked up by recruiters.
As for the job history, make sure that you highlight your business outcomes. What was the impact of your work? What was the revenue generated? Time saved? Happy customers? The more numbers you can point to, the better. In a similar vein, use more active verbs. “Engaged, doubled, optimized, led….These imply impact,” says Melissa. “Helped with, participated, worked on... not so much.”
If you are not a native English speaker, make sure to get a read from a native. Frankly, everyone should get an edit.
Recommendations
If you are a Rock Star Product person who is laid off, your manager will be heartbroken about letting you go. Ask him or her to write a LinkedIn recommendation for you. People look at those recommendations. I’ve also seen letters from grateful bosses, a nice touch. Ask them to help you to find your next gig. You may return the favor in the future.
What Hiring Managers are Looking For
Conor O’Mahony, CPO at Klaviyo, says his company hires people who are “curious, positive, humble, collaborative, meticulous, take ownership,” and are “remarkable.” Are you that superhero or superheroine? He’s hiring. Here’s a website for product jobs in Boston. Specific product traits Conor likes: “exercise great judgement, customer oriented, outcome focused, efficient, and strong technical aptitude.”
How are your presentation skills? How are your virtual presentation skills? Maybe you want to record and watch yourself before your next interview. “We have all our PM candidates do a homework exercise and present in a white board session,” he says. “Now we do the interview in Zoom and Whimsical.”
I believe it is more important that you hire a good leader and communicator than a good technologist. See my article, Don't Hire a Product Manager Because They're "Technical". Conor values these skills, of course, but points out that “Product must maintain a healthy tension with Engineering. You have to get as much as you can from them. That is hard if you don’t have enough technology context to be able to question their approaches.” How technical are you? How much of a leader? Ask current PMs at companies to get a sense who they are hiring.
I hope you found these tips useful in this time of uncertainty. Do you have others to share? And don’t forget to use your BPMA network to your advantage!
About the Author
Bruce McCarthy helps growing organizations achieve their product visions through workshops, coaching, and speaking at events around the world. Bruce co-wrote Product Roadmaps Relaunched: How to Set Direction while Embracing Uncertainty and opines regularly in his Nano-Letter blog at Product Culture. He is a past president of the BPMA.