[product1087]

Senior PM at [Open Source Enterprise Software Company]

Degree in EE --> Internship as Program Manager at Microsoft --> Moved into enterprise products --> Moved to smaller company for larger scope.

Unlike development, it's quite difficult to create small assignments for product managers that is not trivial except at large companies. A key skill in PM is being able to see the complete picture (i.e. Market, Industry, Company, Organization, Team, Person and the interactions between all these different groups) in order to make the right trade-offs for a product.

The best advice I got was from a panel done by Scott Wiltamuth (then PM director of VS) who mentioned that PM is an apprentice discipline. The only way to learn is by sitting and watching someone else who is very good at it and learn from them.