6 Books on Women in Tech for Women’s History Month

It’s tough to start a new career, especially if you plan to have a career in an area that’s dominated by another group, which is the case when it comes to women breaking into technology and product management.

In this book list we’ve included some stories from those who are pushing the boundaries within technology, those who are highlighting the challenges that are being faced, and stories of success.

The biggest challenges facing people moving into product management

We all have challenges when we move into a new career, and if we knew what they were going to be then we could take steps to prepare ourselves for what was in store. Here we ask those already in product management roles what were the challenges were for them, so others can learn from their experiences.

Course Review - 30 Days of Product by Rutul Davé

There's lots of product information out there and sometimes it's difficult to know which you should invest in and which you shouldn't.  I've previously looked at the Product School Masterclass and now it's the time for Rutul Davé's 30 Days of Product - a hands on learning course which walks you through the building of an app.

Do you need an MBA to be a Product Manager?

I've seen many people suggest that an MBA is a key attribute for any serious product person to hold, and you can read stories of how an MBA will set you up to lead a product to success. However, MBAs are expensive and really time consuming, which means you really need to commit to it if that's something you want to pursue. The question here though is whether you NEED to have an MBA to be a successful product manager?

How to transition from Software Developer to Product Manager

The transition from Software Engineer to Product Manager represented 10% of all transitions into product, the third highest career path into product management roles. What skills are easily transferable to a product role and how can software engineers maximize their opportunities?

How to transition from Project Manager to Product Manager

In their 2019 trends survey, the Product Management Festival found the range of different roles that product managers were in BEFORE they started in product management.   The transition from Project Manager to Product Manager was the most frequently followed career path. I’m one of the ones who had been a project manager in a previous life, and there are numerous skills that are directly transferrable.

How to transition from UX Designer to Product Manager

In their 2019 trends survey, the Product Management Festival found that the transition from UX Designer to Product Manager represented nearly 2% of all transitions into product.  How can designers maximize their skills, focus on their skills gaps and get their dream product job?

How to transition from Marketing to Product Management

In the Product Management Festival study on product trends, the transition from Marketing to Product Management was one taken by 6% of all those in product management roles.  How can marketing professionals maximise their skills, focus on skills gaps, and get their dream job?

How do people get started in product management?

Despite what you get led to believe if you listen to the 'product experts', you do not need to get a degree in computer science and then get hired by Facebook, Google or Apple in order to become a product manager.

Product Managers come from all walks of life, and wherever people are in their careers now, there are routes into product management.

Taking a career sabbatical to learn new product management skills

There is an acknowledgement these days that careers are not what they used to be. Portfolio careers and career pivots are now becoming the norm, but even that might seem beyond us when we're seemingly tied to our salary in order to pay for crazy rents and high costs of living.

If we like the idea of working in product management, but we're not sure, and we can't find the time to figure it out then the answer to our problem might be a sabbatical from work.

How to manage a career pivot

Over 60% of us would consider a complete change to our careers, but many people struggle to take the leap and put those dreams into action.  How do we know when we should pivot?  How should we go about pivoting our career?  What do we need to consider?

Creating a career vision

We're all guilty of drifting in our lives at one time or another.  Waiting for opportunities to fall in our lap.  Where else do we wait for things to happen for us?  We don't wait for the TV to turn over to something we like.  We don't wait for a partner to appear in our lives.  We go click the remote, we go to the bar or sign up for dating sites. Why should our career be any different?