A product manager may manage one or more products that may or may not be related to each other. When it comes to the most important skills required to be a product line manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 23.5% of product line managers included product development, while 5.8% of resumes included market research, and 4.8% of resumes included customer service. We've determined that 44.4% of product line marketing managers have a bachelor's degree. Some tips for beginning your career in product management are to learn the basics of coding, use data as much as possible in your daily reporting and look into a junior product manager course. Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there. There’s no official certification you need to enter this field. You also need several years of experience in a job with sales or marketing duties. While product line managers would only make an average of $128,378 in Idaho, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. Some companies prefer candidates with an advanced degree in business administration. If you're interested in becoming a product line manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. You'd need an engineering degree, for example, if you worked for a company selling highly technical products -- aerospace products and parts or industrial machinery. These include: The ability to cultivate a deep understanding of a particular market segment or customer grouping. Be a future visionary and product evangelist. The career path will most likely be slightly different for most product managers. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the product line manager job title. When we researched the most common majors for a product line manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. The experience needed to become a product manager varies by employer. There are no barriers to entry – and it’s a role where you can make a real tangible impact at your organization. Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up. Rate how you like work as Product Line Manager. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 21,800 job opportunities across the U.S. That's $120,050 a year! The exciting thing about product management is that there’s no one road to becoming a product manager. Whereas in California and Colorado, they would average $132,112 and $130,178, respectively. Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a product line manager. The truth is, the best product managers are self-taught. A day in the life of a product manager often involves being bombarded from all … That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Product Line Manager. There are certain skills that many product line managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. You don’t necessarily need direct product management experience, but you’ll need to have had some professional experience that clearly demonstrates your communication, collaboration, and prioritization skills. A product line manager oversees the efforts to increase market share and profitability of products in a company. A: The qualifications you need to begin your career as a product line manager include a bachelor’s degree in engineering, marketing, or another related area of study. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 50.0% of product line marketing managers have master's degrees. That's exactly why I think product management is a great training ground for becoming a CEO. Some product managers may start out as product developers and gradually work their way up to a management position. The one trait that distinguishes the top 1% of product … Strategic Thinking. A sign of a leader ready to take on a managerial role is the ability to take … As a lead of a vertical that made $100K+ a month, I prioritized marketing, writing, and product … I was titled a Business Line Manager for a bit, and they had flirted with Product Line Manager instead. Laura, New Balance: Role of a Product Line Manager, Average Salary for a Product Line Manager. Prioritize prioritizing. Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a product line manager. Employers may also prefer hiring som… In our opinion, this is actually a fun one, but one of the more challenging goals … Explore new product line manager job openings and options for career transitions into related roles. Share your experience anonymously. You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a product line manager. 2. When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. While much of your job as a sales manager will … In fact, many product line manager jobs require experience in a role such as product manager. Learn the skills (hint: programming is not one of them). Instead, you need to collaborate with the development team and the other stakeholdersto help you build, market, and sell a new product or new features. Product-centric approaches make it easier to rapidly innovate and iterate because they focus on customer experience, evolving requirements, and the strategic differentiation for a product or service. The national average salary for a Product Line Manager is $72,368 in United States. A user story describes a feature or set of features … At Zippia, we went through countless Product Line Manager resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Digital Product Management Certification by University of Virginia (Coursera) Product Manager … The education level required to apply for many product manager positions is a bachelor's degree in business or a related field. Among the issues that may be discussed at the meetings that require the presence of the product line manager include advertising ideas, effective distribution techniques and product pricing. There are 3 main steps: 1. A product line manager manages multiple products that are related to one another and success is measured against the full product line. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. Strategic thinking begins with posing the right questions, then understanding the … process that focuses on bringing a new product to market or developing an existing one Below are the most common product line manager career transitions, along with typical salaries and skill requirements. It's anonymous and will only take a minute. A product manager is someone who is responsible for the strategy and blueprint for a product or product line. Using our career map, a product line manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. Your skills as a product line manager can prepare you to transition into related roles, such as product marketing manager or product manager, which could open up different career paths for you. The TaylorMade M2 Driver with Global Product Line Manager Tom Kroll, Meet a Google Associate Product Manager Program Alumna, feat. They are the person who defines the ‘why’, ‘what,’ and ‘when’ of a product, and clearly communicates the business value to the product team so they can understand the purpose behind the new product or product … Working as a Product Line Manager? Experience Needed to Become a Product Manager. You might be one of my many wondering how to become a product manager. Skills Required for Success as a Product Manager. If you're interested in becoming a product line marketing manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. Work on side projects and build a product portfolio. To confuse things further, Microsoft also has a role known as the product manager, but that is what most refer to as product marketing. 3. Identifying, recruiting and hiring talented sales reps. The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. While other product managers are operating more on execution level, senior PMs begin to look more at the broader product process and gradually become the voice for the product … We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, creativity and communication skills. Other degrees that we often see on product line manager resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees. Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. Build a digital brand focused on product management and apply to jobs. Meanwhile, many product line managers also have previous career experience in roles such as senior product manager or program manager. Most product line managers actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries. Product managers don’t need to be able to write code. We've determined that 45.2% of product line managers have a bachelor's degree. The product line manager must stay on the same page with other departments since communication is such an integral part of quality products creation. For example, did you know that they make an average of $57.72 an hour? Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. The average annual salary for an entry-level product manager was $62,000, as of 2012, according to the job site Simply Hired. At Microsoft, and at a few other companies, the role of product manager as we use it here is known as a program manager2. Copyright © 2008-2020, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. Are you thinking of becoming a product line manager or already started your career and planning the next step? The most valuable thing you can do to help land a Product … Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there. Get more involved. There isn't a secret formula for automatically becoming a product manager. Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. We also find some companies using the old-school definition of product manager, Product line managers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $134,592. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients. Van Dam says “Making the shift from project to product is comparable to creating a product-centric technology organization, like becoming a software or digital business.”. As Ben Horowitz put it: “Good product managers know the market, the product, the product line, and the competition extremely well and operate from a strong basis of knowledge and confidence.” They’re (at least somewhat) technical. Learn How To Write a Product Line Manager Resume. Other product managers may be hired directly out of university upon graduation, without any relevant work experience. Salary estimates are based on 1,075 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Product Line Manager employees. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities. As the person in charge of the product, you usually don’t have the authority to tell people what to do. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 38.5% of product line managers have master's degrees. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four. To become an entry-level product manager, you need a minimum of a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, engineering or science, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The best states for people in this position are Washington, California, Colorado, and Idaho. The following three techniques help you collaborate: Invite the key stakeholders to joint workshops and revi… But what industry to start with? To get to this point on the product manager career path, you’ll likely need to come in with some experience. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 23.5% of product line managers listed product development on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and creativity are important as well. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job. Filter by location to see Product Line Manager salaries in your area. As a product line manager, you research and study the market to determine fair price points and compare competitor’s products. Learn how to become a product line manager, what skills you need to succeed, how to advance your career and get promoted, and what levels of pay to expect at each step on your career path. They take responsibility. Given the broad scope of the role of product manager, there are many skills essential for success. As an account manager, a lot of my success came from a deep understanding of all of our product’s intricacies and being a fierce advocate for new features my partners needed. Are you thinking of becoming a product line manager or already started your career and planning the next step? We've determined that 45.2% of product line managers have a bachelor's degree. This allows you to benefit from their knowledge and it generates strong buy-in. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a product line manager. As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 38.5% of product line managers have master's degrees. Writing user stories is not as easy as it seems. Learn the basic skills of the profession. How To Become a Product Line Manager If you're interested in becoming a product line manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. This leads to the first pro or con of becoming a product manager, depending on your interests: If you are interested in technology, user behavior, and business, product management … Even though most product line managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED. 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