Are you currently applying to PM jobs, but don’t get any response? Are you finding it hard to write your PM resume or craft your Linkedin profile? If yes, then this is the post for you. In this post you’ll learn about creating the perfect PM resume and Linkedin profile.
If you haven’t already, please read my previous post on shortlisting your jobs.
We will cover three things in this post: [1] Resume tips [2] Linkedin tips [3] Templates to reach out to people. Let’s start with Resume.
Resume Tips
These tips are mainly for US jobs, but they may apply in general as well. The reality is resume is a mixed bag, some people take a close look into it, and some don’t even look. But most of them take a quick glance at your resume, hence it is best to keep your resume succinct and full of value.
Let’s take a look at an example of a bad resume of our fictional character John Doe.
Example Resume
John Doe (xxx) yyy-zzzz | johndoe@email.com Summary - 5+ years of product and program management. - 8+ years in building teams and shipping software for web, mobile and devices loved by millions of users. - Core competence in new product introduction and go to market strategy. - Experience in business analysis, data analytics, and business analysis. - Expertise in crafting product requirement documents and UX mockups. Work Experience Product Manager - Foobar Inc - Aug 2015 to Present - Engaged with key stakeholders and shipped software to users. - Develop a roadmap for the product working with a large team. - Design web and mobile UX mockups working with UX designers. - Wrote product requirement documents collaborating with cross functional teams. - Saved cost for customers by introducing new features into the product. - Improved pricing model for the product resulting in increasing profit margin. - Prioritized features, groomed backlog, and ensured the right features were shipped. - Got funding from the executive team to introduce a new product into the market. Skillset - Languages: C/C++, Python, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript/jQuery, SQL, JSON. - Frameworks: Bootstrap, Django - Tools: Sketch, Keynote, Firebase, Google Analytics, Hotjar, Optimizely, Jira, Trello, Scrum. - Cloud technologies: AWS, Azure, GCP - PM skills: Product management, technical project management, metrics, UX, competitor analysis, data analytics, business analysis, entrepreneurship, fund raising, software development, new product introduction and go to market strategy. - Soft skills: Leadership. Energetic, Persuasive Education MSCS - University of John Doe - Jan 2010 - Jan 2012 Certifications - Product management certification - Agile certification Extra curricular - Volleyball and soccer player - Music enthusiast
Now, let’s examine each section of John Doe’s resume, starting with the summary section.
- Summary Section: This section has a lot jargon and industry terms, but does not convey accomplishments. This is a waste of real estate and in fact your resume should be the summary.
- Work Experience Section: Even though it is succinct, the bullets are either responsibilities and not accomplishments or they are accomplishments without any key measurable results. E.g. “Engaged with key stakeholders and shipped software to users” and “Develop a roadmap for the product working with a large team” are baseline responsibilities expected from a PM.
- Skillset Section: This is a skillset all you can eat buffet. Everything from technical and product management skills to soft skills. We could definitely condense and omit most of these skills.
- Certifications and Extra Curricular Sections: These sections could be combined into one. Also mentioning extra curricular activities is good, only if it is relevant to the job description and if it mentioned as an accomplishment.
Now, let’s take a look at the revised John Doe resume below.
Revised Resume
Jon Doe (xxx) yyy-zzzz | jondoe@email.com Experience Product Manager | Foobar Inc. | Aug 2015 - Present - Launched foobar flagship product to ~10MM users, by collaborating with UX, UXR, eng, sales, and legal teams. https://bit.ly/link - Developed strategic product roadmap, collaborating with 56 stakeholders, and shipped key features on time to enterprises. - Improved UX/UI and checkout rate by 150%, redesigning user workflow by leveraging data from analytics and multivariate testing. - Created self service requirements, collaborating with engineers and UX, and improved customer experience by 26%. - Changed pricing model, enabling foobar to be sold by field-sales at higher profit margin, and closed a $xxMM deal. - Pitched to C-level execs and secured $1M funding for an innovative foobaric platform for the teleportation industry. Education MS in Computer Science (GPA: 4.0/4.0) | University of John Doe | Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 BS in Computer Science | University of Doe John | Aug 2005 – Dec 2009 Languages and Tools - C/C++, Python, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript/jQuery, SQL, JSON. - Sketch, Keynote, Firebase, AWS, Twitter Bootstrap, Django, Google Analytics, Hotjar, Optimizely, Jira, Trello, Scrum. Awards and Certifications - State level volleyball tournament award. http://bit.ly/link - Received press coverage for my music album. http://bit.ly/link - Certified product manager.
Now, let’s examine the revised resume, section by section.
- Summary Section: This section has been removed. Summary section could be a good candidate when writing a cover letter or a short blurb, but not in a resume.
- Experience Section: This section clearly states achievements. The first bullet: “Launched foobar flagship product to ~10MM users, by collaborating with UX, UXR, eng, sales, and legal teams.”, shows the scale of user base, and the cross functional teams, that the PM has operated at. The third bullet: “Improved UX/UI and checkout rate by 150%, redesigning user workflow by leveraging data from analytics and multivariate testing.”, shows that PM has applied data and UX skills to deliver amazing results.
- Skills Section: There is just a languages and tools section to highlight some of the technical skills, and nothing more.
- Awards and Certifications Section: This consists of both the extra curricular achievements as well as any certifications.
Top Resume Tips
From the above example, we can learn the following tips.
Product Manager Resume Tips
- One page: Keep your resume to one page or two pages maximum. Have the juiciest achievements first, so that the recruiter/hiring manager/interviewer is interested to learn more about you after a quick glance.
- Contact info: Clear contact info with name, phone number, and email. I kid you not, but I have actually seen resumes that miss a phone number or has typos.
- No summary: Keep the summary for an email intro and omit them from resume. Your entire resume should be your summary.
- Achievements: Highlight your experience with accomplishments and not job duties.
- Task and impact: Write your bullets in the format of task you accomplished and the measurable impact, wherever possible.
- Skills buffet: Refrain from listing all the skills that you have acquired over the years. Only list those that are important for the job or those that have been mentioned as required in the job description.
- Keywords: Have product management keywords sprinkled within your bullets, so that both humans and machines can parse information. E.g. “Introduced new product to the right users, after customer segmentation, thereby increasing market share by 5%”. This bullet has several keywords such as customer segmentation, market share, and new product intro, but still preserving the task and impact style.
- Extra Curricular: List extra curricular whenever it makes sense for the role. E.g. if you have a music band, and applying to Spotify, then listing your music accomplishment will make your resume unique.
Resume Prioritization
Now, let’s say you have created the resume following the above guidelines. How do you keep crafting a resume for every new job opportunity? Creating separate resumes from scratch doesn’t scale. Below is a technique you can follow to prioritize your resume based on the job description.
- Master Resume: Have a master resume that lists all your achievements as bullets. You can extend this resume to 3 or 4 pages.
- Trimmed Resume: Depending upon the job requirements, you can trim or remove bullets that do not apply. E.g. if a job is focused on UX, then keep all the UX bullets, and cut down on backend technology accomplishments.
- PM Keywords: Here are few keywords that are good to have in your resume. Vision, roadmap, PRD, UX, wireframes, go to market, product positioning, feature prioritization, pricing, P&L, stakeholder mgmt, tech architecture, customer segmentation, customer interviews, critical user journeys, funding/resourcing, A/B test, revenue, user growth, customer adoption.
LinkedIn Profile
Now that we have covered resumes. Let’s move on to some tips for updating your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn sets you up, so that people reach out to you, instead of you reaching out to them. Here a few tips below to leverage LinkedIn.
Basic Tips
- Full profile: Have a 100% complete profile
- Headline and Title: Add product manager/owner in your headline or title. This is how recruiters search for product managers on Linkedin.
- Skills: Add skills that are needed for a product manager and have them endorsed by a PM peer.
- Activity: Active profiles are ranked higher. Be active on Linkedin by publishing posts, liking posts, and commenting.
- Data analytics: Use Linkedin data such as “how you were found” and “profile views”. Change your profile, test if profile views have changed, learn patterns, then rinse and repeat.
Advanced Tips
A few advanced tips for those who have read my previous post and have a shortlist of PM roles at companies.
- Look alike PMs: Search for PM profiles within your target companies.
- Stye and keywords: Model keywords and paragraph styles used by the look alike PMs.
- Universities and companies: Compare the universities and companies from where the PMs were hired. Then try and see if there are any similarities with your background.
- Skills, groups, and influencers: Model the skills mentioned in the PM profile. Join the groups that those PMs are at, and follow influencers that they follow.
- Connect: Modeling your profile similar to the target PMs also gives you another advantage: connection. Connect with those PMs, show genuine interest in their articles and groups, and then make a friendly and valuable conversation.
Reaching Out
Now that you have a grasp on resumes and Linkedin profiles, your dream opportunity will just fall in your lap…just kidding. You have to reach out to people to get that dream opportunity, while also keeping tabs on inbound emails via Linkedin.
There are two main channels you can use to reach out. [1] Recruiter / Hiring Manager [2] Friends / connections. I’ll give you a few templates that have worked for me to reach out to those channels.
Channels to reach out for PM jobs
Recruiter / Hiring Manager Template
Hi <recruiter or hiring manager name>! It's great to connect with you. I am excited about the Product Manager role at <Company Name> (<link>). <mention something from the recipient’s profile, e.g. a recent article, common group etc)>. <Connect something from your experience with responsibilities required for the job>. <Brief mention of your skills and experience>. I believe this Product Manager role is a great match for my skills and interests. Please let me know your availability for a phone chat to learn more about the role :) Thanks, <your name> <your phone number>
Recruiter Example
Below is an example email that I has worked for me based on the above template.
Hi Recruiter! It's great to connect with you. I am excited about the Product Manager role at Company Name (<link>). I am a foodie, just like you. With my passion for local food, I ran a venture backed marketplace startup connecting local bakers to consumers. Prior to my startup, I have 4 years of product management and 3 years of software engineering experience building products at scale. I believe this Product Manager role is a great match for my skills and interests. Please let me know your availability for a phone chat to learn more about the role and also share some thoughts on great food :) Thanks, Sri
Friend / Connection Template
Use the below template to ask your connection to make an intro to their contact.
Hello <friend or connection name>, I am very interested in working for <Company Name>. I would love the opportunity to connect with <contact name> to know more about their products, technologies, work culture, and how I can apply my knowledge and experience at <Company Name>. Specifically I’m excited about this product manager role: <link>. Please let me know if you can introduce me to <contact name>. Thank you for your help and patience. Regards, <your name> <phone number>
Conclusion
I hope this post gave you insights into creating a great resume, updating your Linkedin profile, and ways to reach out to people. Now comes the next step after applying, cracking the PM interview.
Starting with my next post, I’ll start how to ace product management interview series, with detailed resources, types of questions, frameworks, and example interviews. Stay tuned and have a great rest of your day!
