Why You Shouldn't Be a Product Manager

Ever wonder if you're cut out for a career in product management? Product manager Kevin Wei breaks down 4 reasons why you shouldn't be a product manager.

From product management career growth to unpredictable day-to-day tasks, a PM career isn't for everyone.

Chapters -
00:00 - Introduction
01:01 - Strategic decision is not yours to own
01:43 - Day-to-day role is not predictable
02:20 - You're responsible for a lot
03:16 - Slower career growth

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[dindin]

Thank you! What you are describing here is more or less exactly what I am going through. Im the only PM in the team and wearing many hats, including ux design and QA. (Havent worked with other PMs)
I have been feeling very confused about where I am so thank you for letting me know I am not alone.

[dm]

I will never recommend any fresher to work as a PM. Without product and tech understanding it is a waste of time to work as a PM. Also you should have genuine interest to work as a PM.

[tommyigoe]

Thank you Mr. Wei, I tuned in today because I got a call from an optical sourcing company today about being their Sr. PM. I know nothing about this, nor ever thought about being one, until today.

[roya]

Loved this video. Thank you for uploading.

[davidadeyemo]

Ironically, the reasons you pointed out are actually why I want to become a PM!

Great video, btw👏🏼

[gbemisolaseyi]

Thank you, just now listening to it fully
All this reasons are why I still would like to be a Pm

But it sure was helpful

[dm]

If you are trying to switch from software engineering to PM role, please be careful sometimes it is very boring to work as a PM.

[williamfurt]

Interesting take! As a PM in a non-tech industry my responsibilities are similar, but different, but still same! For me the term product owner makes more sense since at the end of the day I am responsible for all P&L with respect to my product categories. The day to day unpredictability is my favorite part of the job! I do agree that we are responsible for a lot and that can be tough at times. As for slower career growth, I haven't experienced that yet, but I've only been at this a short time!

[Suficenter]

I think is more about Define and Undefine scope of work, As.a Software developer, or UI/UX or any technical job you have to report only for your assigned domain as of PM you dont have a proper define scope and most of the time you have to deal with lots of issues which are not even related to the PM domain

[rayhu_dev]

This is a really good video to tell people who wanna or not wanna be a PM. 难得有这样的好的视频告诉人们如何取舍，值得分享。

[yugen]

Slow career growth doesn't necessarily equate to slow salary growth, right? Cz then a lot of the incentive goes down the ditch.
However, it's still a priority role for me as it's a good mix of tech & business, either of which I don't want to sacrifice for the other.

[Lucy-Luc-Lu-L]

This video is spot on. As a senior developer technically leading products I grew into this role and it was hell. So many uncertainties, so much stress, since you don't know what to do.

Good comparison to programming: as a programmer, you learn the technology and then there are a few good practices and patterns (SOLID, ...) that you pick up relatively quickly and off you go.

As a PM you're always faced with an abstract prolem that has many solutions and you don't know how to measure, which solution is the best, since there are many metrics you can pick.

As a developer I occassionally obsessed over the problem and wrote a solution at 3am. As a PM my head was always full and occassionally was I able to get a good sleep.

[archmad]

your task is to plan, but then again, it's always changing.

[lobz]

This was perfect - I’m defo not being a PM 🙃

[mharper]

As a 15 year veteran of Product and have served as the Head of Product in many companies, respectfully I think your take is WAY off. That might be your experience, but not all people in the Product world.

[Thatcaffeinatedgirl]

Why only eng or data, are deisgners not moving to PM?

[mustanggt]

Just as how each of us sees life differently, it seems to be true in terms of job roles too. To me, product management is still extremely appealing than project management or software engineering.

[scoutee]

cool video! the echo is pretty significant tho. try using adobe audition or even better: make sure to setup your hardware and recording room beforehand. keep it up guys!

[biubiumama]

Thanks for sharing! I also recently chatted with my friend in finance about my job as a PM and posted our convo in my channel❤️ interesting observations from people outside of the tech industry

[atifimtiyaznazeer]

what is average working hour per week for a PM? Is it more hectic than marketing managers or general managers, or consulting, IB