r/ProductManagement_IN

So a couple of weeks back I responded on some thread regarding my journey of finding Product Jobs outside of India. I come from a non IIT background, didn’t have an MBA, but built products because I genuinely enjoyed the craft. And that journey led me to find Product roles in India , Singapore and Europe and also in the process had some offers from UAE, Indonesia,etc.

I got a flurry of dms in my inbox, and have been speaking to a few folks from here. And it has been a fun journey talking to some of you.

I’m opening up some slots on my calendar to talk to few more of you folks who are looking to do this transition.

I firmly believe in the concept of pay it forward, and run these sessions on a donation basis where all the donations are donated to animal welfare organisations that I work with, under the belief that we create a positive loop in the world where I could help some people but also the contributions help create a better for the more needy.

So if you’re someone trying to take a stab at finding your next gig outside of India, feel free to hit me up.

Hey everyone! 👋

I’ve recently started actively job hunting for APM/PM roles (2–3 years experience), and honestly—this process can get pretty overwhelming when done alone.

So I’m looking to team up with someone who’s seriously in the same phase.

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About me:
• 26F, based in Bangalore
• ~2 years of experience as an APM in B2B SaaS

Roles I’m targeting:
• APM / PM roles across B2B SaaS or B2C

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What we can do together:
• Practice product interview questions
• Upskill on AI + PM fundamentals
• Share interview experiences & insights
• Do product teardowns for companies we’re targeting
• Hold each other accountable consistently
• Be sounding boards (and stay delusionally optimistic through the chaos 😄)

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How we can structure prep:
• Sync daily or 1–2x a week
• Pick one topic/category at a time (e.g., RCA, product sense, metrics)
• Spend 1–2 days aligning on frameworks
• Solve 20–30 questions per category
• Iterate and improve together

I’ve already created a structured prep roadmap (happy to share a snippet if we connect).

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Looking for someone who:
• Has ~1+ year of PM/APM experience
• Is actively (not passively) job hunting
• Is high-agency, curious, and consistent

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If this sounds like you, drop a comment or DM me with a quick intro (age, experience, current role/company, city).

Let’s make this process a little less lonely—and a lot more effective 🚀

———-

Whatsapp group link -> https://chat.whatsapp.com/DRoCtwVBtLt68Y8tfk3bBK

With the tighter job market and ever growing number of CS Grads, and the evolution of AI tools, what are some roles that will hold their place in the future?

If SDE is dead, Product Management is dead, consultancy is dead, what survives? What do we freshers need to do in this market to even have the leverage to land a role and grow into a senior? Is staying purely technical worth it, or is it time to become techno-functional?

I am a non-engineer with one year of entrepreneurship experience. Is the product management course worth it for me? I want to prepare for an entry-level job. I don't have an MBA and my bachelor's in B-Com was also from a no-name college. I don't have a brand as such and neither do I have corporate experience.

The base case would be to go for an MBA but it would cost 14-15 lakhs and preparation for another year or so. I think maybe going for work experience right away. Taking a course from industry experts, learning about the APM roles, because from what I have seen of the job profile and the responsibilities, I have pretty much done everything from my entrepreneurship time only. I don't think it will be much of a big deal but still I want that backing and that knowledge. Can a product management course provide me with that or is the only long-term way is to go for an MBA?

Hey r/ProductManagement_IN,

Posting from a throwaway because I want honest advice, not performative encouragement.

My background (the unfiltered version):

• B.Tech from a Tier 3 college (not IIT, not even close)
• Spent about a year post-grad in sales and marketing roles at startups — learned a lot about customers, got zero PM titles
• Did the PM bootcamp — got placement support
• worked as Product Intern role at an early-stage AI/SaaS startup in Mumbai
• Startup didn't give a PPO. So here I am.

What I've actually done in product: Funnel analysis, global customer discovery, backlog grooming, PRDs, cross-functional work with eng & design, competitive research, and I've built prototypes ,AI automation tools (not just used them). I know the work. I just don't have the title history.

What I'm looking for: Full-time APM role preferably in AI-first, fintech, or B2C SaaS. Tired of startups and unable to be shortlisted in MNCs . Open to mid size startups. I move fast and I'm comfortable with ambiguity.

The question I genuinely can't figure out: Should I do an MBA?

On one hand Tier 1 MBA would fix the college filter problem and open doors that currently won't open for me. On the other hand I'd be 25-26 by the time I'm done, in debt, and I'm not sure an MBA teaches PM better than just doing PM.

Has anyone here made this call? Especially people who came from non-Tier 1 backgrounds did the MBA actually move the needle for PM roles, or did you find another way through?

If you're hiring or know someone who is — DMs open. Happy to share portfolio and resume privately.

I'm serious about the search. Thanks in advance. 🙏

Hello mentors, need help !

I am an AI Engineer at a fintech company (mumbai), at start my job was like any other AI Engineer out there - working around AI systems, building AI systems, deciding best approache for feature developments, improving token consummption, even build an Agent from scratch to MVP (alone).

After sometime I got a new task - to migrate all the third party tools / softwares used by stakeholders(sales team, operations team, ops managers, sales managers) and create in-house replacements for them, Initial migration lead by my manager (Sr. director of Engineering) then I took over this task, taking complete ownership, talking to sales team, ops team, admins - taking their feedbacks, understanding their day to day work, what features / functions they used regularly, what they need to make their life (and job) easy.

During this process I started to love this task - initially I got frustrated, being an AI Engineer I had to understand what an customer success / bussiness relationship guy do on daily basis, so I can make this product even more easy to use and efficient then before. after so many days of continously taking feebacks - implementing them, giving demos, again taking feedbacks, five rounds of testing, again feedbacks, again fixing - making changes according to the feedback, migratation completed. Sales team, ops team, admins - got their new product, all the third part tools (3 tools / softwares actually) shutdown.

After few days I realised this was product manager's job (not exactly but some of) - what I did as an AI Engineer, also I have a keen interest in starting my own business, I always wanted to learn about business, be in a leadership roles - moving up to the ladder in high profile roles (VP, director, CEO). from start of my career I decided to first work few years as an Engineer then I am gonna learn about business then transition into management roles - but never thought that the moment of transition would come this early (really exicted)

====================== THE MAIN PART =============================

I want to transition into product management, I have gathered few resources to start with (FREE mostly) here is the list:

1. Product Management Course - King Siddhart (Youtube playlist)

2. HelloPM: 50-awesome-product-management-resources

3. The Stare: case-studies of real products

4. The product folks: product teardowns

Is this enough to develop product sense ? OR do I have to purchase any course on product management ? is this enought to clear product management interviews ? to actuall get into product management roles ? - really confused here, also a friend of mine told me to participate in real product teardown events, don't just watch them, participate in them, but I have no idea how to get into an real product teardown event - I really want to participate

Mentors need your help guide me I don't even have right questions to ask right now

Thanks in advance 🙏 ❤️

I'm not sure if my background and experience are really suitable for a PM role, so I'm here for some advice & guidance.

I have ~ 6 YoE in service based companies only (IT & Consulting) with experience as a BA & PO. I haven't really worked on a product directly, just working in the background silently - managing requirements, backlog, Jira, resources & client expectations. I've been associated with the retail industry for most years & have more functional knowledge & very limited technical.

Should I really focus on project management instead of Product? Or roles like senior/lead BA, PO, etc. I feel like my experience is more of a generalist rather than highly specific. Looking forward to some helpful words to get into the right direction & invest my time accordingly.

Hi Folks

I have recently converted an offer at a global B2B SaaS company. They have invited me to their office for a customary HR interview. I think they'll negotiate the salary there too and close the offer.

I have close to 5 year of experience and targeting around 50L fixed.

Although they don't look like they are a type of company that would anchor on my current CTC(I'm literally asking for a 45-50% hike), how do I negotiate this strongly and close it?

I want to talk to the salary negotiation beasts on how to approach this.

Please help, it's urgent.

Hey fam,
I'm Dishant. 11+ years in product, head of product at a few companies.
And honestly? I'm a little frustrated.
AI was supposed to help us build better products. Instead it's turned most of us into feature-churning machines. Company wants more output, faster cycles, more dashboards. And somewhere in all of that - the actual thinking part of the job just... disappears.
I genuinely believe product is a craft. You have to put a piece of yourself into it. That's what separates good products from forgettable ones.
But right now, I'm drowning. Meetings, stakeholder updates, board prep, follow-ups. Every single day. By the time I get a moment to actually think about the product — I'm out of energy.
So I started building ThinkBridge.
Not because I had a grand vision. Because I was tired of my best hours going to the most repetitive parts of the job.
It's an agentic AI with perfect memory that handles the daily grind — meeting prep, stakeholder recaps, the stuff that's important but doesn't need you specifically. The goal is simple: get back 1-2 hours a day to actually do the work you became a PM for.
Got 12 PMs using it actively right now. Early days, but the feedback has been real. Opening up 25 more invites before this gets more structured.
Here's what you get:
🎙️ Unlimited meeting recording & MoM
🤖 Unlimited access to GPT-5.5 & Claude models (please don't bankrupt me 🙏*)*
🧠 An infinite second brain, natively AI
⚙️ Agents customised for PM work & automation
Drop a comment saying "Interested" or DM me — I'll reach out personally.
Or request access directly 👉 https://thinkbridge.pro
What's the most soul-draining part of your day right now?

All,

So, I am looking to move back to India after quite a few years abroad and am not quite well versed with interview processes in India, especially for PM roles.

I have an interview (On Demand interview) invitation for the role of a senior PO with a major bank. I guess it is one of those record your videos types interviews.

1. What kind of questions do they ask in such interviews?

2. What aspects should I focus on in my answers? How polished should the answers be? Where I am based rn, in corporates, you are generally and simply expected to answer based on your actual experience, without fluff, and that is also what interviewers stress on.

3. What kind of salary range is possible for this role? Internally, it is a associate director level.

4. any other tips?

Quick context on my background,

I'm coming out of 1 year break and want to brush off my interview skills. I have about 8 years of experience in product and 10 years overall. I have worked in consumer and saas both but my profile is consumer - fintech heavy. Applying for senior product roles.

Problem: I tried to do the mock interview session with some of my friends but I sense some hesitation in giving honest feedback. I feel you should mock interview with someone who has cracked the art of conducting and cracking the interviews.

I want to find some communities/people where I can find people who I can mock interview with and people who can help me improve. How have you folks found the interview partners?

Seeing a lot of posts lately from PMs trying to switch jobs. Some are getting ghosted, some are struggling to even get interview calls, while a few are successfully landing offers.

Thought it would be helpful to do a quick reality check and understand what the market actually looks like for PMs in this sub right now.

Please participate in the poll honestly so everyone gets a clearer picture of the current hiring situation.

If you are still trying to switch, feel free to ask questions or share your struggles in the comments.

If you recently converted an offer, please share what worked for you and help fellow PMs out.

Would be interesting to know:

• How long people have been searching

• What channels are actually working

• Whether the market is genuinely slow or just extremely competitive right now

Let’s make this thread useful for everyone navigating the PM job market.

View Poll

Hi everyone,

I’ve been following the discussions here and see a lot of folks looking for practical career guidance. I am currently a Director of Product at a Fintech company, and I'm considering offering 1:1 mentoring to help answer some of these questions.

To give you some context on my background: I have 14 years of experience spanning service companies, GCCs, and core product organizations. I am also an alumnus of IIT Guwahati and IIFT. Because I’ve navigated these different environments myself, I understand the distinct challenges of transitioning between them.

To be direct: my time is limited, so I plan to run this as a paid service (likely via Topmate). Before setting up any slots, I want to get an honest pulse check from this community to see if this is something you'd actually value.

I am looking to offer four specific areas of focus:

1. Career Progression & Transitions (3–7 YOE): Strategies for moving from PM to SPM/Leadership, navigating organizational structures, or transitioning from service/GCCs into product companies.

2. Resume Reviews: Direct feedback from a hiring manager's perspective on what works and what gets filtered out.

3. Mock Interviews: Practice interviews (product sense, execution, leadership) followed by actionable feedback.

4. Campus to Corporate Transition: Guidance for new APMs and recent grads on navigating their first 90 days and building credibility.

My questions for the group:

1. Is there an appetite for paid 1:1 sessions with an active practitioner, or do people prefer standard cohort courses?

2. What do you consider a fair price for a 30-minute or 60-minute session?

3. Which of the four areas above do you need the most help with right now?

I appreciate your honest feedback. Let me know what you think in the comments or in direct chat.

Hey folks,

Putting this out here since this community has come through for people before.

Who I am:

7+ years across fintech, enterprise SaaS, and banking. My work sits at the intersection of product, pre-sales solutioning, and enterprise GTM — think owning the full arc from discovery to deal to delivery.

What I've worked on:

AI-enabled workflows for BFSI clients

Enterprise integrations, Requirement Gathering and Client solutioning for large-ticket deals

GTM positioning, pricing strategy, and stakeholder alignment across complex orgs

What I'm looking for:

A Senior/Lead PM role focused on Growth or GTM — ideally at a B2B SaaS, fintech, or enterprise AI company. Based in Bengaluru, open to relocation for the right opportunity.

Sweet spot: Companies where product and revenue teams are tightly coupled — where a PM who can talk to engineering and a bank's CTO in the same day actually matters.

Not looking for: Early-stage chaos with no GTM motion yet, or pure execution PM roles with no strategic surface area.

Happy to connect over DM. If you're hiring or know someone who is, would love a conversation.

Quick background: 8 years of total experience across Product and engineering (5 yrs in semiconductors, and 3 as Sr. PM in SaaS). Tier-1 BTech+MBA. Currently at 47 LPA (no equity).

I'm expecting an offer from Microsoft Bangalore for a PM2 role, which I believe maps to L62. The recruiter has said that the level for this role is L62 only, not L63.

Few things I'm uncertain about and would love real inputs on:

1. Is L62 the right level for me with 8 YOE and good role fit? Everything I've read says 8 years sits right at the L62/L63 boundary. Should I be pushing for L63 before the offer is even generated, or is that a stretch? I have even interviewed for L63 in past but didn't get through.

2. How badly does current CTC hurt me? I know Microsoft has fixed bands, but I've heard recruiters still anchor to current salary in practice. My 47 LPA feels low compared to what L62 apparently pays (I've seen 50–70L TC thrown around on Blind/Glassdoor, but with base under 40, which is below my current base pay). How do I handle the lowballing due to low CTC?

3. No competing offer right now. I know this weakens my position significantly. Is there any realistic way to negotiate meaningfully without one, or should I just slow down this process and try to get one? I am planning to say that I am interviewing in other companies in parallel.

4. What TC should I quote when asked expectations, once a 50-60 LPA offers is rolled out? Thinking of saying ₹85–90L total comp. Too aggressive for L62, or reasonable given 8 YOE, and good role fit?

Any inputs from people who've been through the Microsoft India hiring process recently would really help. Especially around the level conversation - feels like that's where the real money is, not the negotiation after the offer.

Currently am a SPM at a Series A startup. I'm a self taught PM and learnt by doing.

So my CPO basically roasted me last week for a half-baked answer to a genuine user problem. The criticism was fair: didn't dig deep enough during user research, and missed some edge cases, basically didn't think through the full picture.

I now want to take a more structured approach. Right now my process is: Open Claude throw a prompt at it, ask Opus to critique the output, do some user calls, validate my gut with whatever data I can gather, move on.

So I want to learn: How do you approach research when you're evaluating a new feature or product idea? Walk me through your process. What tools do you use? How do you store & recall insights when you need them? How do you decide what gets cut? How do you communicate your idea to the relevant stakeholders, so that they are onboard?

Trying to figure out if I;m missing something obvious.