How to Become a Product Manager: Career Guide, Courses, After 12th, Top Colleges, Eligibility, Qualifications, Jobs, Salary, Scope

How to Become a Product Manager in India

In order to become a Product Manager in India, candidates must first decide their direction of studies. Candidates must complete 10+2 from a recognized board in any discipline such as arts, commerce, economics etc. Post 10+2, candidates can pursue undergraduate degrees in management or product management courses which help the candidates to understand the basics of product management. There are various certification and diploma courses which will help the candidates to gain relevant skills. It would be also preferable that the candidates must have 2-3 years of work experience in product management or a related field.

School level preparation: Some of the important steps that must be taken by the candidate in order to become a Product Manager are:

• Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized board with a minimum aggregate of 50% - 60% (differs from college to college) in any discipline such as arts, commerce, economics etc.
• Candidates must also prepare for the entrance exam in order to get admission to top management or product management college.
• Candidates can choose a coach to understand the exam pattern.

How to Become a Product Manager After 12th

Undergraduate Level: Some of the most crucial steps that must be taken at the undergraduate level to become a Product Manager are:

• Candidates need to clear the entrance exam to get into college in India for pursuing undergraduate courses in product management. Some colleges take admission on the basis of merit as well. 
• Candidates must choose to pursue undergraduate degrees in product management such as BBA, BBM, etc. These courses offer specialization in product management. 
• Candidates can also pursue various other short-term courses such as certification or diploma courses to develop relevant skills such as Product Management, Business Development, Analytics, Product development, Market Research, etc. 
• Candidates must also start preparing for entrance exams such as CAT, XAT, MAT etc. and can also take coaching to understand the exam pattern.
• Candidates must also go through some past year question papers to understand the exam pattern.

Postgraduate Preparation: Some of the important steps are listed below for your reference,

• Candidates have two options after undergraduate, firstly, pursue a postgraduate degree or start with an entry-level job. 
• It would be very beneficial for the candidates to pursue a higher degree such as MBA in Marketing, MBA in Business management etc.
• To get into a top postgraduate college, candidates need to clear the entrance exam such as CAT, XAT, MAT, GMAT etc.
•  Candidates must also take part in workshops or internships to develop skills and gain some practical knowledge about the market.

Product Management Courses

There are several courses related to Product Management such as undergraduate, postgraduate courses, diploma courses, and postgraduate diploma courses. Apart from this, there are various certification courses available online and offline that the candidates can pursue on platforms such as Linkedin, UpGrad, edX, Udemy etc. 

Some of the certification courses are listed below for your reference,

• Product Management Certification Program
• Becoming a Product Manager
• Results-based Project Management
• Product Management: Building a Product strategy.

Some of the other undergraduate, postgraduate or diploma programs are listed below for your reference.

Pros and Cons of Becoming a Product Manager

Being a Product Manager is considered to be a reputed and safe career choice since almost all companies employ Product Managers and the salaries of a Product Manager depend on various factors like skills, qualifications, companies, etc. But there are certain challenges in becoming a Product Manager as well. Some of the pros and cons have been listed below:

Pros of Becoming a Product Manager

1. Creativity- This profession requires the managers to be creative to design products that are unique and gives their company an edge over other competitors. 
2. Collaboration with other teams- The job of a Product Manager requires the involvement and input of various departments which gives the manager a chance to interact with different teams and people of different professional backgrounds. 
3. Robust product knowledge- This profession also gives an opportunity to explore different products and gain knowledge about them on the way. It also helps develop some skills and experience in how a product should be designed in innovative ways. 
4. Salary- The salary of a Product Manager is pretty decent. The average salary of a Product Manager is around INR 5.00 LPA and it keeps increasing with time and experience. 

Cons of Becoming a Product Manager

1. Self-management- Being a Product Manager can be very stressful at times since the manager is expected to manage a lot of tasks together with strict deadlines. 
2. Accountability- A Product Manager also has to take responsibility in situations of crisis and failure though it may not be their fault. So they have to be accountable for things irrespective of their actions. 
3. Monotony- The job of a Product Manager can turn monotonous sometimes since they keep working on the same thing for a long time and there is an increased risk of losing interest in their job. 
4. Ambiguity- There is a degree of ambiguity in the job description of a Product Manager since there are many tasks they perform. They design new products, strategize marketing, plan sales, etc. which is an overlapping set of tasks with other teams.