10 years of professional experience with the last 4 in product. All have been in the energy industry. In my 4 years I have moved from product marketing manager to Group PM at the same company. It is a smaller company, $25B, and my product is worth roughly $150M. The GPM title doesn’t have the same weight as one at FAANG but it is still the player-coach role.
Despite my progression at my current company, I struggle to get interest even for IC PM roles at FAANG or some popular start ups.
Any success stories to share from those who managed to pivot industries?
I’ve pivoted 4 times in my 8 years in product; even more if you want to consider the niches within the industries. My advice would be to publish your successes on LinkedIn and your resume. You probably hear it all the time but numbers make for good self promotion and my profile has plenty of it. I also showcase what I worked on at each job and write in such a way that is transferable. Example: using data to uncover hidden user struggles and creating a feature you can monetize from it can be done in any industry.
With FAANG, you might aim for or get recruited for 1 level below where you think you are based on your experience, but you can decide if you think it was worth it. A couple of the times I pivoted, I had this happen, but it was worth it for me.
It’s also easier if you try to pivot by moving sideways to a tangentially related domain/role. For example, Apple, Tesla, Waymo, etc. may value your domain expertise and skill set.