Becoming an associate product manager helps you in working your way up from the ground level to make an impactful career in the product management department.
An associate product manager is well versed in various facets of the product department and that information plays a crucial role from the standpoint of one’s objective to have a profound role as a senior product manager or any other specific category henceforth. The roles of an associate product manager pivot around the object of creating improved features of the business ‘product’ (it could also be a service deliverable). This entails collecting and drawing meaningful inferences from data and customer feedback, studying the product details to look for any anomalies, and therefore suggest corrective actions.
There are special associate product management programs that are undertaken by some leading tech companies to enhance their repertoire of quality product management talent.
These APM programs play a vital role in training freshers about the intricacies of product management and other aspects of product philosophies.
Let us guide you through some of the best APM programs that are out there
Google Associate Product Manager Program
This particular Associate Product Manager program by Google is anchored to the idea of creating product leaders who can successfully launch products in the most optimum way. In addition to that, the mentorship and guidance that will be provided under the ambit of this program will help you learn various implicit and explicit factors related to effective product management. This program has been around for a decade and it is among the top APM programs.
Facebook Rotational Product Management program
In this particular program, Facebook accepts candidates who are fresh graduates and people who do not have a lot of work experience. Subsequently, the students are made to have six-month shifts in various product departments and under the able CNN of their respective product managers. This APM program focuses on holistic product development learning in order to train the people who have enrolled in the Facebook Rotational Product Management Program in the best possible way. This also enables the trainee to get a global perspective to deal with various business-related issues.
The Twitter Associate Product Management program
This program is apt for those who are fresh out of college and are looking for ways to boost their knowledge in various aspects of product management. The Twitter (APM) program is for two years and the APMs get to experience year-long stints in two of the product departments. In addition to that, there is valuable mentorship given to enhance the overall skills of the APMs.
The Kleiner Perkins Fellow program
KP is a well-known venture capitalist firm and once Ethel candidate is enrolled in the program, he/she is able to get a year-long stint in any of the participating companies like Airbnb, Doordash, etc. This Kleiner Perkins Fellow program is different from the others because it is run by a venture capitalist firm instead of an exclusive company that promotes the warning of its own product development ethics.
Uber Associate Product Manager (APM) program
Uber’s APM program also accepts candidates who do not have a lot of work experience and in turn, gives them an opportunity to work in different product departments for six-month-long stints. The program lasts for a year and a half which results in the over-grooming of the APMs, who get to travel globally in order to learn the dynamics of the business and get world-class mentorship.
Let us take a look at some of the advantages of the Associate Product Management program
Top-notch mentorship
By enrolling in an APM program, you enable yourself to learn from some of the most successful and distinguished product managers. You can leverage their knowledge and expertise to augment your own skills when it comes to your professional growth and development.
Rotational training
Since APM programs make use of rotational on-the-job learning, therefore the APMs are able to get specific training in various departments that help in polishing their holistic skills. This can translate very nicely when it comes to lucrative future prospects.
Meaningful networking
Being an APM enables you to interact with people who have been working in the respective field for quite a while and they can rub off their knowledge and experience on you. This will help you in getting practical knowledge in the business world and give you a more crisp perspective to deal with things.
If you are wondering about how to become an associate product manager in 2022, then we are here to guide you through the way.
Since APMs work closely with product managers and their respective teams, it will be highly advantageous if the APM has a keen eye for product developmental details so that he/she is able to make significant contributions to product-related strategies and plans.
The prerequisite for this role are as follows
- A Bachelor’s degree in business management or any other respective field.
- A minimum of 2-3 years of work experience would be a good addition to your resume. Having said that, some companies allow freshers to enroll in the program too.
- Knowledge about gathering relevant product data and drawing inferences from the same.
- An ability to foster meaningful customer relationships and harness the same for business advantage.
- Good communication and team-building skills are very important.
- You should have the drive to learn new skills while giving valuable input to the existing plans.
Seekho is an online learning platform that is focused on augmenting your skill set through quality learning and consequent professional evolution. If you are looking for a career in product management, then Seekho has an expansive range of courses for you to choose from.
There is a lot of scope for growth and development in the product management field and since there is no formal training in terms of a bachelor’s degree for the same, APM (associate product manager) programs can bridge the gap between specific knowledge and appropriate skill set in this particular field.
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