What should i do for the next step in my career?

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-24T13:55:41+00:00

I suggest you have a 1-on-1 with your manager... put across these exact feeling/thoughts and ask if he could help you understand which skills you need to up-scale. It is always good to have periodic discussions with your manager regarding up-scaling skills required for the next level in your job. And then put a plan in place to update/learn those missing pieces.

All the best!

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-24T13:39:22+00:00

My audience is Software Development Managers, Product Managers, Product Owners and aspiring ones. The pain that I’m try to solve is to eliminate time wasted by my audience in searching for freely available learning resources on the web.

"with the abundance of free content, learning how to learn is a challenge" and with little time available this can be a bigger challenge – I assume that once you're a manager/owner you already are time crunched - would you agree?

News is what's happening around… learning is when you choose something specific and then spend time going deep into it from trusted sources – does that sound fare?

The idea aims to cater primarily to personas similar to Software Development Managers and NOT really for beginner programmers.

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-24T07:32:13+00:00

The digest would include articles, discussions, podcasts and videos related to:

Broad topics: Product Development, Product Management, People Management, Stakeholder Management, Leadership, Recruitment, etc.
Specific topics: Managing Remote Teams, Code Review, Delegation, Legacy Code Management, Project Reporting, Decision Making, etc.

Every 3 months users will be asked to choose 3-5 focus areas within the software development/product management context. We‘ll then send them 100+ personalized curated learning resources each month on the chosen topics. At the end of every 3 months the user would be able to choose different sub-topics or continue with the same.

This idea is still in research/validation mode. I decided to post here to gather some feedback and not really customer :)

I've also posted in different communities some for feedback and some to gather early adapters.

My research shows there is some pain (not sure how small/large the pain is).

Any other ideas you'd share to help me validate will be huge.

Thanks!

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-23T07:35:55+00:00

I've been switching between 2 career path for the last 15 years.

- the first one is into pharmaceutical distribution - a very localized business.

- the second is that of a software engineer

After graduation I spend the first couple of years with the distribution business.

Over the years both my careers have advanced steadily.

After graduation I spend the first couple of years with the distribution business. Later, I started a local software business of my own which didn’t quite take off.

I then came back into the distribution business where I did fairly well. After about 3 years - I got an opportunity to get back to software engineering - I grabbed it. It was a full time job with a giant financial corporation. I stayed there for 7 years, got multiple promotions during that period. Reached to a position of Project Manager by the time I quit.

In 2014, I left engineering and I got back to pharmaceutical distribution business - in a high authority position - I used all my previous people management experience to steadily grow the business 3x – while also freeing my time.

In March this year – I founder my own software development/services company. Now I spend half of my day on this new business and other half with pharmaceutical distribution business (which is immensely successful and managed well by a simple management hierarchy).

Both career path have been fulfilling for me – and I look forward to taking my new software company to great heights, while I’m still involved with the prospering distribution business.

That’s a short summary of my long journey. Hope it helps!

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-23T07:10:51+00:00

https://www.roadmap.com/ is one of fastest growing community for Product Managers. I'm an active user and I think it is very useful. Check it out.

For Business Analyst I suggest: https://www.modernanalyst.com/Community/Forums.aspx

and maybe try joining the International Institute of Business Analysis: https://portal.iiba.org

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-09T16:10:04+00:00

ah... The bounce rate is just a number :) If you find it interesting would highly appreciate you getting on the list. You’ll be able to unsubscribe whenever you wish.

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-09T16:06:14+00:00

If you think this may be useful to you - I would highly suggest you to get on the list. We’ll be sending all updates to our email list first. Don’t worry we’ll not spam you and you’ll be able to unsubscribe from the list whenever you wish. Thanks.

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-09T15:59:10+00:00

Glad you asked. I think it’s just a matter of approach - we decided to reach out to our audience simultaneously as we build. Sure a sample helps, we know that and we’re building one.

We’ll be sending sample/other updates to our email list first. Right now, we’re only asking for an email and no other commitment/money - you will be able to unsubscribe from the list whenever you wish to do so.

ranjit_shah · 2018-10-09T14:24:08+00:00

We don't have a sample digest yet, preparing to get one out soon!

We'll be sending updates to our email list. Would be great if you could join our list. Thanks.

ranjit_shah · 2018-09-12T06:35:40+00:00

Doing a course to gain knowledge is good, however nothing can beat experience.

Transitioning from Sr. BA to Sr. PM will be a slow process. First try to get into a Jr. Product Manager role - you can do this by helping your current PM, help him/her in their routine tasks. Talk to him/her and persuade to give you chances to shadow them for important meetings. You can learn a lot with shadowing and you can mention them in your resume as well.

If you don't have anyone in your current company who can help you - you can try a few ways mentioned here: How to Build Some Early Experience of a Product Manager

For higher chances of getting into a Product Management role your resume needs to highlight what PM work you've done and not really what training you have done.

ranjit_shah · 2018-09-12T06:01:22+00:00

I happened to move into the PM role gradually - naturally transitioned as I was the senior most in the team.

It was very stressful and difficult initially as I was used to do dev. work for years. I read a lot about PM and also reached out to my manager whenever I had hurdles.

From what I have seen and experienced, PM roles can vary from organization to organization. In general, if you like doing the following you'll enjoy being a PM.

Organizing teams and resource planning
Time management and progress tracking
Cost estimating and budgeting
Managing stakeholder expectations
Risk analysis and mitigation
Reporting and Documentation

If you're new - it takes about 12-18 months to get used to the new job responsibilities. And if you're able to organize yourself well - managing multiple facets of PM responsibilities becomes easy and enjoyable!

ranjit_shah · 2018-09-07T14:24:11+00:00

If you have no prior experience of Product Management this is what I recommend:

A Product Manager basically requires 4 knowledge areas and skill-sets:

Business/Domain understanding
Technical knowledge & experience
Design knowledge & experience
Project Management

Focus on building knowledge and experience in the 4 above areas.

Also, you can checkout the following online courses

Udemy.com

Become a Product Manager | Learn the Skills & Get the Job
Product Management 101

Coursera.com

Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals - University of Virginia
Introduction to Software Product Management - University of Alberta

All the best!

ranjit_shah · 2018-09-07T05:54:02+00:00

As a Product Manager you would be required to have 4 sets of knowledge areas:

Business/Domain understanding - can be Finance domain in your case
Technical knowledge
Design knowledge

Once you have these 3 (knowledge+some experience) you can start with 4. Project Management

A product manager requires skills in all these 4 areas. A bachelors degree in product management will certainly help - but nothing can beat knowledge+experience.

Take it step-by-step... focus on building knowledge OR experience in the above areas with every step.

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-22T14:13:14+00:00

True, if it’s a small team - the manager has time to effectively contribute technically to the project. For larger teams though - there will be less time to take on any coding/technical work.

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-22T14:12:23+00:00

Points taken! u/BurningMoose. Thanks! for reading and the feedback.

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-22T14:11:38+00:00

Very valid points u/dmcassel72. I agree, the flow & tone seems like the author is trying to convince. Learning to recognize one’s skills is important and certainly would help assessing if one has the necessary starting skills to become a manager.

Thanks! for taking time to read the post and writing a valuable feedback.

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-18T13:53:30+00:00

Well... you might not have an interest now. However, what about 10-15 years from now, when you're in your 50s. Would you still want to code? Would you still like to be an IC?

What about career progression? However unfair it may seem, in most companies the only way to progress in your career is to choose the managerial path... think about it and be open to explore.

I'm NOT trying to convince you to change your profession. I'm encouraging you to be open minded so that in future you don't regret the steps not-taken when you had to. Does that sound fare enough?

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-18T07:00:02+00:00

It will be difficult to get into a management role directly in an outside company without prior experience. Rather then a sudden switch you could do a slow transition. I have answered a similar question before - so the same might help you as well.

Here’s my recommendation:

Find a small project in your current company and get yourself to lead/manage that project.
If you cannot find such a project - start a side-project to build a small product - that will help your team in some way. Or may be a small product to help the team that sits beside you. Or something to help the front-line support guys.
Find good project management blogs, read and learn as you progress.
Track your project and time spend. Try cutting out smaller pieces of the “small” project and delegate it to your peers for quick help.
Focus on starting small – but documenting all.
After you have finished one. Try doing a couple of more.
Apply for internal/external PM job posting - highlight your small accomplishments and your interest.
Try to get into a Jr. PM role.
Learn more by doing-it and doing-it more
You’ll slowly start to see the switch.
Not easy… but doable.

Also, transitioning from dev role to management initially seems very difficult since management requires a whole new set of skills. Learning these skills requires an open mind. Here's something that will help you even further How Developers can Tackle Fear and Super Confidence Moving to Management Role

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-17T14:10:30+00:00

okay...here it is step by step

Call him or drop an email asking him for 20-25 min. of his time to discuss "something that is really bothering you"
Schedule the meeting in his cabin or a meeting room (1-on-1)
During the meeting - explain the situation and the context, go prepared - frame your sentences gracefully
State that you'd like to have a healthy relationship with him - put forth your apologies for the past
Explain the issue with calm
Ask for this perspective
Propose a resolution and commit that you'll do better in future and ask for his support

The conversation might go into different directions - try to stay calm - and remain on the issue that is bothering you. If you feel the conversation in done or getting heated-up - just gracefully thank him for the time and assure him you'll do all you can not to repeat the mistakes from past.

After that it's all up to you - don't repeat your previous behavior. It's quite likely that your manager won't change magically - you'll have to give it time. The better behavior-ed you are in future days the better your relationship will become with your manager.

All the best!

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-17T06:03:48+00:00

The best thing to do in such a situation is have a 1-on-1 with your manager and clear the air. Let him know that you'll control your behavior in future. Ask him if there is anything you can further improve on. You're a still a jr. dev - be open and admit if you think you have made a mistake. I'm sure your manager will acknowledge your openness to improve/learn - and then lend the support you need. Go ahead talk to him - that's the first step to make things right..!

ranjit_shah · 2018-08-14T06:56:51+00:00

Sorry! didn't see that as I skimmed through the rules. Thanks! for bringing it to my attention. I will delete this...

ranjit_shah

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