PM for a year now, still not satisfied

I managed to land a PM job post graduating (class of 2020) at a semi tech big co. Now I have about a year of experience, and looking for new opportunities. The PM job openings seem particularly slim for early career roles, with big companies only hiring 3-4yr+ except their rotational programs that is for new grads. Startups are exciting but ideally want to optimize for (short term) compensation - so what are my options here?

Reason I’m looking to switch is that I’m not finding the current role challenging. Been a great performer and got promoted year end too, but looking for meatier roles with better comp. Also the fact that it’s a hot job market is enticing.

11 Likes

@Yuri, You’re probably not doing real PM if it’s not challenging. Ask for more ownership in the product to build skill set and exp. Good Luck! :+1:

11 Likes

@RisaButler, Would you mind defining ‘challenging’ the way you see it? Curious to hear what aspects make the job challenging. I do own a large piece (considerably more so than my peers) but the customer feedback/improvements are straightforward and incremental (small). Which makes it feel less challenging, even though I’m very occupied.

10 Likes

I don’t know your personal financial situation but generally speaking optimize for learning, not compensation. This is especially true coming out of school. Lagging market rates for 1-2 years is no big deal when you’re entry level, much bigger deal 10 years into your career. If you don’t know your shit, you’re eventually gonna have issues advancing your career (although also plenty of imposters out there).

10 Likes

@KaranTrivedi, That’s a fair point, just edited in that my current role also doesn’t feel challenging enough. Was hoping to kill two birds with one stone with more learnings + comp, but I guess it’s likely going to be a tradeoff.

9 Likes

It’s always a trade-off. You don’t get better comp without skills and experience, which takes time. There will be a lower-income period of your life while you become the highly-experienced, highly-skilled 3-5 years candidate that they are advertising for. Money is nice but it isn’t everything; this is a long game.

9 Likes

Yea if you’re really doing a PM job and you don’t find it challenging I think you’re doing it wrong. This is a hard job. You have more stakeholders than anyone in your company. Your days are FILLED.

8 Likes

@MarcoSilva, My days are filled and have tons of stakeholders that I interface with… This is not mutually exclusive to not finding the job challenging. But I feel opportunities for significant value creation is a bit limited

7 Likes

This seems like an opportunity to experiment and learn. If there isn’t that much pressure, read, try new things, get better at your craft, look for ways to help your engineering team. explore new frameworks, technology, learn some stats or psychology, or user research, your market. I’m certain there are things you can do to fill your time as a PM.

7 Likes

@AmyWalker,This is good advice, thank you! My days are busy it’s not an issue of having free time to fill. Due to the nature of the industry segment and org, there’s only limited things I feel I can achieve.

7 Likes

@Yuri, What you can do as a pm is only limited by your imagination. You may need to work on building influence and communication skills. Find your customer problems and keep thinking about how you can solve them.

7 Likes

Figure out why you don’t think it’s challenging enough, speak to your manager and voice your concerns.

Figure out what sector you like, maybe the business your employer is in does not interest you.

My guess to why you don’t feel challenged is you aren’t actually owning anything. Are you responsible for the profit and loss of this product or seeing how you affect it? Are you speaking with your customer and trying to solve a real problem or are you just the PM of a thing that enables other to build fun and exciting things?

6 Likes

Why are you trying to leave your current job after only one year? I wouldn’t be interested in hiring someone who is likely to bail after a year.

I’m not saying you’re in the wrong, but you should have a compelling reason why you want to leave. That will also help inform the feedback you get here.

5 Likes

I’d say wait another year and keep smooth sailing. Build your resume and your network while things are relatively challenging. Having a good professional network will set you up much better in the long run.

Also good work being promoted! Just keep it up.

4 Likes

I would say, if you really are interested mainly in the $$ and then the learning path, try tech consulting. It will be challenging as they tend to squeeze people but you will earn incredible money as a young person who doesn’t have to care about family/kids and can move freely for projects.

3 Likes

I would say, if you really are interested mainly in the $$ and then the learning path, try tech consulting. It will be challenging as they tend to squeeze people but you will earn incredible money as a young person who doesn’t have to care about family/kids and can move freely for projects.

2 Likes

@Natalie, Can you give me some example of this type of job (what title and which companies)?

Will it be good for long term as a PM?

2 Likes

@Yuri, Anything in the realm of project management for tech projects or some sort of ERP consulting would be good for you. Depending on your country you can research companies and industries. In essence, any job that requires balancing priorities and many stakeholders would be a great option.

PM is a mindset and a way of thinking, it’s not as connected to any hard skills as e.g. engineering. As long as you gravitate around the industry, getting the title of “PM” would be easy for you.

2 Likes

@Natalie, Wait what kind of tech consulting gig is this? I have a close friend working at big 4 (which i think is top tier for tech consulting) on ERP implementation but he earns a little less than me.

2 Likes

I think in the beginning consulting does not earn on paper a lot. But surely due to all the traveling, which of course is difficult right now, you get to earn a lot more.

Obviously, you will not suddenly buy a Porsche :wink:

2 Likes