Question time.
And be honest.
If you're a product manager and you have a CV, how many times have you actually included in your CV metrics that show the value that you've created in your roles?
Be honest now :-)
If it's anything like the hundreds of product manager CVs that I've seen as a recruiter for these roles or in my position as someone who helps people refine their CV, the answer is likely to be either none or very few.
Should that really be the case?
We're product managers. We're all about the metrics.
How have we increased conversions, reduced churn, or grown customers?
We check these values daily, or more than daily.
We hypothesise about how we can move each of the needles in the right direction.
We A/B test, learn, and adjust.
We know our results.
The question then is why don't we put these results in our CVs?
I can tell you now when I'm recruiting for a product manager if I see something like the following then I'm keen to have a conversation:
I increased sales conversions on product line X by 11% over a 12-month period
In 2023 I increased customer lifetime value by 5%
In Q4 2023 I reduced the average time between sales and dispatch by 0.5 days
What it tells me as a recruiter is that:
You know what your key metrics are
You take responsibility for them
You're confident to sit in a room and talk about how you made those numbers happen
As a recruiter that's something you can work with.
CVs that say "I manage the backlog" or "I work with the engineering team to deliver our sprint goals" are pointless. If you're a product manager they are a given.
Tell me the exciting things you've actually achieved and we can have a conversation all about how you got there.
Your task (if you choose to accept it) is to review your CV and see what metrics you have included within it.
If the answer is none or very few, then your follow-up task is to look back at the different roles that you've held and find at least two metrics that you can add.
What metrics were important to your organization? How did you affect them?
What metrics were you responsible for? How did you achieve against them?
Once you've added them, then your CV starts to come to life to a recruiter.
They can see what type of a product manager you really are and how you stand out from the hundreds of other backlog-processing product managers.
Don't be shy.
The numbers don't need to be earth-shattering.
Products are team activities and recruiters know that the success or failure of a product does not reside with one person.
You don't need to have changed the course of retail history or created a unicorn product on your own.
That's not what recruiters are looking for.
They're looking for people who know what their role is, know how to measure their contribution, and can show something positive they've been involved in.
Once you've given a glimpse into this then the recruiter has something they can get their teeth into in a conversation with you at an interview.
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