Land that Product Manager Job: How to Get a Great Referral
The job market is tough. Here's the most sure-fire way to land that high-paying product manager job you want.
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Story time!
I just started a new job this April. It took me 30 days to go from looking for a job in this pretty awful job market to signing an offer and receiving a 10% pay bump. And it all happened as a result of having one thing: a great referral.
Am I going to make the outrageous claim that you can do this too? HELL NAW. Maybe you can, but I’ve been at this whole product management thing for 14 years. Unless you’ve got a similar level of experience or more, chances are good it will take longer than 30 days.
But I know one thing for sure: I’ve never gotten a product manager job without a referral. Not one.
Why do referrals work?
I think it all comes down to human nature. Back when we were all cave-people, we survived and thrived by building trust amongst one another. This way, when the saber-toothed tiger came to eat everyone, we knew that we had each other’s backs.
We’re not too different from cave-people 10,000 years ago. We prefer to work with people we know and trust. And if we can’t do that, we prefer the next best thing…working with other people that the people we trust, trust also.
You might admonish me for being old-school. I don’t blame you. If you work in tech, at least at some point in your career you probably believed that tech is a true meritocracy, and only the most qualified will make it into the best jobs. In many cases that is very true, it happens.
And I’m not telling you that a referral will guarantee that you’ll get that job either. There is still much preparation, knowledge and skills that need to be demonstrated beyond the referral, no doubt.
But I want you to put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager for a minute. I’ll help, I have been a hiring manager for product manager for 7 years. Let’s say you had two candidates:
Candidate A Did really well in his case study but had some less than perfect answers in the behavioral questions. He has no referral.
Candidate B: Did really well in her case study but had some less than perfect answers in the behavioral questions. She had a great referral from someone who has worked with her directly on a number of projects.
Who do you think I’m going to hire? I’m not sure if it’s obvious yet but DEFINITELY CANDIDATE B!! My butt is on the line, Candidate B I trust to help me bring home the bacon.
So a referral is not the only thing you need. But it can give you a significant edge throughout the hiring process.
What kinds of referrals work?
So here’s an important point. When I say referral, I’m NOT referring to an intro from someone you reached out to cold. I’m also NOT referring to someone you cold messaged on Linkedin.
Contrary to what many influencers say on TikTok, those referrals don’t work well in my experience. With referrals, you want them from people that, in this order:
You’ve worked directly with in the past
A connection to someone that you’ve worked directly with in the past
I’m using the term “worked” loosely here. It doesn’t have to be people that you’ve “worked” with in a corporate setting.
Some of my all-time great referrals have been from college connections that I’ve “worked” with on club events or in classes. My first job as a product manager was through a referral I “worked” with in a club. My second job as a PM came from an engineering classmate I had.
The reason you want people that you’ve “worked” with referring you is that those people can answer questions about what you’re like to work with that the hiring manager or recruiter will definitely have. The last thing you want a referral to give when they’re asked what you’re like to work with is a shrug. 🤷♂️
Okay so we’ve covered why referrals work and the quality of referral being important. Now let’s talk about sure-fire techniques I’ve battle-tested for how to land these referrals, with some resources at the end you can download and use…
How do you get a good referral? A step-by-step guide
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