Interested in why Google requires you to have an engineering background to be a Product Manager there (or if that is or was ever true). Some of the best PMs I’ve worked with do not have that specific experience and have taken highly complicated tech projects that translate into market successful products. Also interested in general thoughts on this matter.
Same as above ,
why not
It's not actually a requirement anymore - BUT - it depends on which product you are on. Cloud? You damn well better have a decent tech background.
The products are usually technical. It’s hard to understand client requirements or the trade offs of a developer decision if you can’t speak their language.
IMO PMs with highly technical backgrounds often suffer the same fate as UX designers with engineering backgrounds. They end up creating within the confines of their knowledge instead of focusing on what matters, which for a PM is market success. The key is to have empathy for engineering, design, and the other departments they must interact with. On a related note, let’s not confuse PMs with Product Owners or BAs, which are more technical roles.
Highly agree
Exactly, my more technical PM peers keep wasting their time trying to do the devs job instead of working on the next thing. Hence they end up with 1-2 projects instead of 4-5. Unless it's a highly technical product (e.g. Cloud service, backend AI) not being technical can have advantages.
I liken the unintended consequences of over focusing on the tech in the role to what happened with Google Wave. It was basically Slack before Slack. It was overbuilt and yet underwhelming at the same time. There were other issues there but balancing what to build and how to build is a big deal and it didn’t seem to have a clear set of problems to be solved and for whom.
PM here. Never been an engineer.
Can you describe your preparation process for the more technical parts of the interview?
Curious about the same
Product manager with an English degree here. I’ve been able to work on some pretty complex and impactful projects through caring about the technical details and empathy with the end user. I don’t need to know how to code to understand how technologies interplay, and I’ve spent significant time with awesome devs who helped me understand what was necessary to get the job done. I’ve even helped them solve technical challenges by sharing solutions that exist elsewhere in the company! (It helps to be well versed in available solutions and well connected within the company.)
Because you can ask for that and all the other stuff everyone is saying PMs need to do. That being said Google is not where I would look for actual ‘products’
Because they know it better. That's the way it should be. I feel like I was sometime plagued in my career from PM's with no technical background. Best aircrafts are designed by pilots, best software is designed by someone who knows what is under the hood. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks so much. Totally agree on the design aspect. I have seen those conversations where engineers are talking about how to solve a problem and PMs look like deers in headlights. I’ve also seen those that are over involved in the design decisions and have never done it and frustrate the process. Shouldn’t PMs make sure they are driving a idea to market and success or death tho? Having built before seems tangential to their current responsibilities.