What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
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What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
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Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#2I don't think that Product Manager is exclusively a trophy job, if at all. It takes quite some skill to manage a product properly, maintain healthy product boundaries, create a sensible roadmap, combat feature creep, etc.
A product manager's skill set can make or break a product.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#3I don't think that Product Manager is exclusively a trophy job, if at all. It takes quite some skill to manage a product properly, maintain healthy product boundaries, create a sensible roadmap, combat feature creep, etc. A product manager's skill set can make or break a product.
The author acknowledges this, that a given job is a trophy job for some and not others. PM becomes a trophy job when it exists only to tick a box on your tech climber CV. Many people do it because they are actually interested in building a product. Same with "founder" / owner. VC I'm not sure about.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#4I don't think that Product Manager is exclusively a trophy job, if at all. It takes quite some skill to manage a product properly, maintain healthy product boundaries, create a sensible roadmap, combat feature creep, etc. A product manager's skill set can make or break a product.
Besides maybe janitor, what skillset in the chain of production doesn't make or break a product?
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#5Huh, in my circles the real trophy jobs are quant roles at top firms. And given the caliber of the people there - and the compensation - they're arguably not trophy roles. Tbh ppl going for the pm/vc path are seen mostly as tools.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#6I don't think that Product Manager is exclusively a trophy job, if at all. It takes quite some skill to manage a product properly, maintain healthy product boundaries, create a sensible roadmap, combat feature creep, etc. A product manager's skill set can make or break a product.
Besides maybe janitor, what skillset in the chain of production doesn't make or break a product?
I like that you say "maybe" about a janitor, because at some point a filthy office will break a product.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#7I know recruiters working half the year making $500k from beaches in the Caribbean.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#8That definition of "trophy job" is one that I can agree with. However, I can't think of any tech job that I'd consider a "trophy job" by that definition. Am I weird?
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#9I don't think that Product Manager is exclusively a trophy job, if at all. It takes quite some skill to manage a product properly, maintain healthy product boundaries, create a sensible roadmap, combat feature creep, etc. A product manager's skill set can make or break a product.
I think PMs get a bad rap mostly because it can be less obvious when someone is bad.
If you're a bad programmer and produce nothing, it'll (usually) quickly be discovered (though not always) even if you're good at talking. It's also easy to spot check in the interview before you hire them.
If you're a bad PM, but good at talking - it's easier to pass the interview and it can be harder to know they're bad and fire them.
Great PMs support their teams and make things better for the engineers they work with (especially by avoiding people working on stuff that doesn't matter). Bad ones make their teams miserable and add negative value. The role can also vary depending on the company (sometimes it includes product design work and sometimes it doesn't).
The best PMs I know are also really good at debugging/troubleshooting and have a technical background (I think necessary to be really great).
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#10I don't think that Product Manager is exclusively a trophy job, if at all. It takes quite some skill to manage a product properly, maintain healthy product boundaries, create a sensible roadmap, combat feature creep, etc. A product manager's skill set can make or break a product.
Besides maybe janitor, what skillset in the chain of production doesn't make or break a product?
Oh, you’d be surprised how much damage a janitor can do (me remembering the time the cleaning guy at my dad’s lab accidentally tipped over a whole shelf of mice)