Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 133 posts

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#11

Post by [deleted] »

realo wrote: post #10
toomuchtodo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EDIT: I realize this is directed more towards IC->management, and less IC->product manager. I'm still leaving it, as it feels like it will have value to OP. If you stay in tech, you will be forever slinging code and at the whim of the business. You will forever be on the tech treadmill, learning new frameworks, languages, and programming languages. You will have an artificial compensation ceiling. If you move into ma…

Sir... you are definitely a “people person”... but not every one fits that model. Cheers!

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#12

Post by mdgrech23 »

crazygringo wrote: post #4

My $0.02, having been a PM for many years: Read Cracking the PM Interview [1] (for an overview of the job, not the actual interview tips) and The Lean Startup [2] (for general philosophy). 35 is a great age for a PM, especially since PM's often start elsewhere -- maturity is a plus here. I'd say there are 3 main ways into it -- as an engineer, who starts to do PM-type stuff on a team where there's no PM. As a designe…

> Also, if you want to be a PM then you'd better enjoy meetings, slides, people, and communicating & convincing all day long, day-in day-out

I transitioned from dev to architect. This statement is so true, even more so for PMs.

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#13

Post by ingend88 »

I strongly think that the certifications are not critical. I moved in PM around the same age since Google offers rotation program for Engineers to try out PM. I would be happy to chat with you along with providing some insights into PM interview training. DM me.

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#15

Post by ViorelMocanu »

I am 32 and switched to Product Ownership last year, after 15 years of design and front end development. It was, to some extent, nearly seamless since I knew the product and processes inside out after being a team leader in the same product. I guarantee you will face some unknown challenges along the way, but they will also make you a better developer if you ever plan to switch back (greater business and process knowledge is often what a developer needs to really shine, alongside the obvious tech skills).

Age brings wisdom and balance, which are mandatory in a management position if you want to lead, not merely boss people around.

So go for it!

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#16

Post by cryptica »

doubleocherry wrote: post #2

Why, specifically, do you want to move into Product Management? To answer one of your questions: Age doesn't matter.

I think it's pretty obvious. After you've been coding for almost 2 decades across multiple industries, coding becomes predictable and tedious. By that point, you've become an expert in many sub-fields within computer science; you probably even started to forget some of the old technologies/methodologies that you used to be an expert at.

You come to understand that software development methodologies are just fleeting trends. Unlike with many other fields, the returns that you earn from investing in yourself as a software developer/engineer don't compound; they start to depreciate as soon as you stop trying to keep up with the trends.

The subskills that actually compound in value are things like understanding project lifecycles, building teams/culture, understanding good coding standards, CI, deployment, testing, quality assurance, etc.. These 'management' skills never go out of fashion.

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#17

Post by muxator »

crazygringo wrote: post #4

My $0.02, having been a PM for many years: Read Cracking the PM Interview [1] (for an overview of the job, not the actual interview tips) and The Lean Startup [2] (for general philosophy). 35 is a great age for a PM, especially since PM's often start elsewhere -- maturity is a plus here. I'd say there are 3 main ways into it -- as an engineer, who starts to do PM-type stuff on a team where there's no PM. As a designe…

> Also, if you want to be a PM then you'd better enjoy meetings, slides, people, and communicating & convincing all day long, day-in day-out.

Leave me in my room with my beloved keyboard! I can sense other likely-minded beings over the wire. No slides, no meetings, no politics. Only the austerity of code, measurements, technical merit.

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#18

Post by _ah »

civilian wrote: post #7

I have a random related question-- will product management pay as well as engineering? Or is the OP implicitly asking for a loss in pay?

The bands overlap a lot. While the top end for in a product role is likely to be higher, that doesn't mean a guaranteed income change when making the leap. A senior dev will be higher than a junior PM. A very senior (principal level) dev at the top of the compensation band will likely be higher than a first-time PM, even is the role is "Senior". However other commenters are correct: anything in management heads to bigger responsibility and compensation, so the top-end is effective uncapped. It's very different work than writing code though, and it's not for everyone.

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#19

Post by dnautics »

vgy7ujm wrote: post #5

Willing to give up on coding? Do you love presenting stuff to big audiences? Are you good at selling? Then a PM role might be right for you. If you love coding/technology or don't have good presenting/selling skills then stick to engineering... my $0.2.

what if you like both? Asking for myself since I'm transitioning to a product ownership role. To be fair, i've only been coding professionally for 3 years (nonprofessionally for ~20), but in my current role I rescued two products, have done technical demos and customer engagement.

Re: Ask HN: Move to product management at 35?

#20

Post by cocoa19 »

vgy7ujm wrote: post #5

Willing to give up on coding? Do you love presenting stuff to big audiences? Are you good at selling? Then a PM role might be right for you. If you love coding/technology or don't have good presenting/selling skills then stick to engineering... my $0.2.

Presenting and selling skills are learnable. It's more about whether you like it or not.

You can join toastmasters to improve your "soft skills".

Post reply on HN