{"id":99777,"date":"2024-09-21T17:32:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T21:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/?page_id=99777"},"modified":"2026-08-10T18:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T22:49:17","slug":"product-management","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/professional-development\/career-exploration-transition\/product-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Management"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Introductory Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@bfgmartin\/what-is-a-product-manager-ce0efdcf114c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What is Product Manager?<\/a>, 4-min-read Medium article.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@grace.gohys\/product-management-the-career-for-phds-youve-never-heard-of-ee7b7c241a97\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moving from a PhD in Cell Biology to Product Management<\/a>, Medium article (career story).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4m66uajU_Jg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Understanding the consumer good vs pharmaceutical product management life cycle<\/a> &#8211; 11 min-video.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tbZWNhvW_EQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Examples of job titles as product managers progress in their career<\/a> &#8211; 7-min video.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/phdcareerstories.com\/search?q=product+development\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore stories of PhDs who transitioned into product management\/development roles<\/a> with PhD Career Stories.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mNv68qiUWbc&amp;pp=ygUeZnJvbSBwaGQgdG8gcHJvZHVjdCBtYW5hZ2VtZW50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">From a PhD in Cell Biology to Product Manager at Sartorius<\/a> (40 min-video).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Venturing further in this career area<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn more about specific jobs, from the title to the job description to salary, and how to get there:\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bu.vault.com\/professions\/product-managers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product Manager<\/a> &#8211; general info, description, skills (BU Vault).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bu.vault.com\/professions\/product-management-directors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product Management Director<\/a> &#8211; general info, description, skills (BU Vault).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bu.vault.com\/professions\/product-development-directors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product Development Director<\/a> &#8211; general info, description, skills (BU Vault).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OiJQJEsQ3j4&amp;t=586s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An overview of biotechnology product development<\/a>, Dr Zahra Shahrokh (NIHNINDS, 1-hour YouTube video).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zz358OaQkeI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CMC Considerations for Biotechnology Product Development: A Regulatory Perspective<\/a>, Wendy Weinberg, PhD (FDA, 1-hour YouTube video).<\/li>\n<li>Try and learn more about Product Management by auditing courses, like this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coursera.org\/courses?query=product%20management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Coursera Product Management online course<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qualitychampions.org\/curriculum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quality Science Education<\/a> &#8211; free courses offered throughout the year to students by industry professionals, on Global Regulatory and Legal Requirements of Quality, Product Development and Validation, and Risk and Failure Analysis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Learning by doing job-related tasks<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Job Simulations are job-related tasks that can be completed in a few hours, to help you assess how enjoyable and how much of a good fit a specific job could be for you. To make the most of job simulations, please set up <a href=\"https:\/\/intersectjobsims.com\/smart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SMART Goals<\/a> to perform each simulation in a reasonable timeline. When you have completed the task, fill out the <a href=\"https:\/\/intersectjobsims.com\/reflection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Self-Reflection Sheet<\/a>, which will help you reflect on what you enjoyed (or did not enjoy) about the simulation, and how it can help inform your career exploration efforts.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theforage.com\/simulations\/electronic-arts\/product-management-5c7c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product Management virtual simulation<\/a> with Electronic Arts.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hackingthecaseinterview.com\/pages\/product-manager-case-study-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product Management Case Studies<\/a> (helpful both to learn more about the role and prepare for job interviews).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Preparing your transition into this career area<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-019-01332-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Focus on your skills<\/a>, Nature article, and learn about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skills-first.org\/role\/product-manager\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most in-demand skills for product managers with the Burning Glass Institute<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Explore and connect with members of professional organizations like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonproducts.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Product Management Association<\/a> (BPMA).\n<ul>\n<li>You can also join upcoming events or watch their past events and learn about key areas of product management (product positioning, marketing, collaborations with sales, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Follow trends in Product Management in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonproducts.org\/valuable-insights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PM Valuable Insights<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Growing your network and <a href=\"https:\/\/intersectjobsims.com\/infointerviewguide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">having informational interviews<\/a> with PhDs who have transitioned into careers of interest to you will enable you to learn more about the job&#8217;s daily responsibilities, hiring process, career progression, etc., and the sector as a whole.\n<ul>\n<li>Look for and join relevant thematic groups on LinkedIn, online communities, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Look for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/students\/professional-development\/connect-mentors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BU Mentors and Alumni<\/a> who have transitioned into this career area.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocialscientist.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Social Scientist<\/a> enables early-career researchers to connect with folks who have transitioned in various career areas, including in communication and outreach.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mymedia.bu.edu\/playlist\/dedicated\/207936103\/1_9emp2sqk\/1_2lldbf4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Analyze job descriptions<\/a> to learn more about what institutions and organizations are currently looking for.<\/li>\n<li>Study company websites, follow them on social media and YouTube.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introductory Resources What is Product Manager?, 4-min-read Medium article. Moving from a PhD in Cell Biology to Product Management, Medium article (career story). Understanding the consumer good vs pharmaceutical product management life cycle &#8211; 11 min-video. Examples of job titles as product managers progress in their career &#8211; 7-min video. Explore stories of PhDs who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20577,"featured_media":0,"parent":99331,"menu_order":15,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99777"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99777"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109115,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99777\/revisions\/109115"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}