So you want to go from making slides to building products? It’s a leap, but you’re not alone.

Some years ago, I was a consultant desperate to make this leap. Fortunately, I ended up getting a product manager (PM) job at a tiny startup called Faire. It’s since reached a multibillion-dollar valuation at a record pace.

Along the way, I’ve shipped hundreds of features, and managed other PMs. Dreams do come true. But to get here, it took meandering and a LOT of work. I wanted to share my learnings so you can make the transition faster with fewer sleepless nights. We’ll cover: matching your consulting skills to product teams, what hiring managers think of ex-consultants, types of experiences to highlight, and how to seal the deal.

But first, what are your strengths?

Many people jump straight into interview prep mode, but evaluating your strengths upfront is a high-leverage activity that will guide how you position yourself as a PM candidate. Given your consulting experience, it may be a combination of business acumen, analytical rigour, attention to detail, and storytelling. What’s often overlooked is that a lot of the consulting toolbox maps to the PM toolbox.

Read More: https://yourstory.com/2021/03/techie-tuesdays-consultant-product-manager-linda-zhang