A Piece Of Advice For Fresh Graduates

Q: "I recently graduated from uni & landed a junior product manager job at a startup. What is one advice you'd give me as I begin my PM career?"

A: "That question you ask are as important as the answers you seek."

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See, I was fresh out of university too when I took over the PM reins of Pakwheels.

But it took time to rewire my brain for the role.

Why?

I had to unlearn the mindset I carried over from my education years:

"Identify the problem type. Apply a formula. "It was never to "question" the problem.

e.g."Two trains are travelling at 50 and 60 kph. They are 100 km apart. How long before they cross paths?"

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Boom. Put your heads down & cook up the answer.

We were never expected to inquire if the two trains are even facing each other or are on the same track.

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As a PM, you're not going to be handed problems on a plate.

You need to hunt for problems to solve.

You need to tackle the same with help from analytics tools and user research.

You need to know how to wring out the bias in the data.

Moreover, questions are like keys.

Using the right one can unlock doors to golden opportunities.

Make your keys count. Word them carefully.

Tldr version: Ask thoughtful questions.