Total YoE: 12 Past 5 years: Was Co-founder/Head of Product at my ~15 people startup (B2C- built it from 0 to 1) Covid + market crash = end of the road for us. For 9 years before that (~2 year of overlap where I worked FT and on startup): Financial Services and then Big 4 consulting in Product, Ops, Strategy role. My TC when I left for my startup in 2019 was $190K Looking to get into a FAANG/higher paying role to shore up them badly depleted bank balance and catch a breather. But since I haven't gone through the traditional PM route, am not sure what levels I should target and how my resume will be perceived. Can you good folks help me out with some general advise on: a. levels to target at FAANGs- I can speak tech, but never been a dev b. referrals c. resume pointers, if any On a friend's advice, I applied for Principal PM roles at Amazon and never heard back. Then I applied for a Senior Product Manager and got a call from recruiter. I asked the recruiter if my resume was level with the experience they needed and she said yes (and I naively believed her). But reading the posts here, it seems like I will be down-leveling. Already had one interview with a Senior Manager. Any pointer on how to salvage the situation and ask for a L7 (or L8?) role?
I can’t see why you think you would qualify for a pretty senior pm position with your background unless you had tremendous success attributed to the processes and decision making frameworks you put in place at your startup. It’s be better for you to be under leveled and over perform than over leveled and under perform. Your resume won’t really matter as much as your preparation for the interview both of which should demonstrate solid product decision making processes.
DM for PayPal referral
DM for Zuora referral. Zuora is an US based public company, has good work culture & pay, and Subscription Economy Leader.
For most, if not all FAANG, Your level will be based on product management specific experience, not total YOE.. so just know that you will likely be considered for senior IC product roles
IC5 or L5
DM for Twilio
+1: L6/L7 heavily dependent on a bit of luck (ie what target level are they hiring for?) and how well you interview.
Thanks for the reply. Still going through the learning process here. I didn't mention the growth metrics here, but did mention during the 1st round of interview with Amazon and it went well. Two questions for you since you work there, appreciate your help: 1. I am interviewing for a Senior PM role. Assuming that's level 6? When/how will be the best way to ask for a L7 consideration? That will be a Principal or Senior Manager title, I presume? 2. Can you simultaneously interview for 2 roles? I am trying to work some connections to get a referral. But since I am already in the interview process, not sure if it will be useful.