What we learned from Career Pivots — Consulting, to Product Marketing, to Product Management

"If you know how to do 80% of your next job, then it's too junior for you." As we progress in our careers, it is rarely linear. Rather, it's a series of micro and macro decisions you make — some of which is within your control, and others as a response to what's happening around or to you. In this episode, we are joined by Michael Chen, product manager at Asana. We discuss the importance of running towards an opportunity versus running away from something. They are not the same, and that mindset makes all the difference between getting stuck in the revolving door that is greener pastures, and finding something with intent and purpose. And you can bet that changes how you approach your job interviews. We also talk about the various pivot and decision points that we made in our careers and the process of affirming our true passions. Michael started his career as a consultant, went to business school, pivoted to product marketing at LinkedIn and Slack, and made another major pivot to product management, ultimately landing at Asana. Both of our career paths were windy and we share insights about lessons we learned along the way. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:16 Benefits of starting your career as a consultant 05:45 Why business school and how it helps 11:16 Product marketing at LinkedIn 17:11 Michael's thought process behind pivoting away from LinkedIn 19:38 Tim's thought process behind pivoting away from LinkedIn 22:37 Running towards an opportunity versus running away from something 26:32 How to know if you're too senior for a role 29:21 How to identify talent when hiring 31:25 Mentoring and developing your direct reports 34:20 Product marketing at Slack and the importance of go-to-market strategies 38:37 The importance of empathy in building credibility 40:34 Making the pivot to product management 47:49 Product management: What's top of mind? Music Credits: Song - SersalStudio: Background Music | https://elements.envato.com/backgroun... Intro - Enrize: Glitch Opener Logo | https://elements.envato.com/glitch-op... Outro - dimadjdocent: Dreamy Minimal | https://elements.envato.com/dreamy-mi...