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.
"I find that most successful product managers tend to have a technology
background," says Grant. "They tend to have a B.S. in computer science. There
are certainly some that are self-taught, and I don't have a B.S. 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]."