What is Product Management?
Product management is a strategic discipline that oversees a product’s journey through it’s entire lifecycle – from planning, development, launch, and support to ongoing enhancement. It involves defining the product’s vision, strategy, roadmap, and features, ensuring they align with business goals and customer needs.
Product managers own product vision and strategy as well as planning for the development of their product. Product managers must have deep understanding of business principles, market trends, and competitive landscapes to make informed product decisions. They must be effective cross-functional collaborators, as they often bridge work between different teams, like engineering and design. They must have exceptional communication skills to gather feedback from customers, convey strategy to stakeholders, and lead teams toward success.
Recommended Resource:
RocketBlocks PM Guide
Advice from Sloan Product Managers
PM Blog Series
with Javier Bello Medina, MBA ’24
“Breaking into product management is challenging, but I believed MIT Sloan could be the catalyst I needed to transition effectively and secure a PM role in tech. And it was!”
Javier Bello Medina, MBA ’24
Product Management Recruiting
Product Management is a popular career path for Sloanies, supported by a community of alumni and MIT Sloan’s newly launched Product Management Certificate. Companies prefer candidates with product management experience, or closely related experience, and a strong quantitative and technical skill set. They may also seek out those who have launched their own businesses as they have often developed the capabilities of a product manager. At MIT Sloan, the top industries where graduates have accepted Product Management roles are: Technology, Finance, Manufacturing, and Healthcare/Biotech/Pharma. Almost all successful candidates have 3+ years of experience, and the majority have 5+ years of experience.
Click the links below to go to company job pages filtered for product-related roles.
Through the MBA/LGO Employment Surveys, we gather robust data on career outcomes that we share with the community. Below is targeted information for Consulting from that survey. Follow this link to view the complete PM Hiring Trends.
Top Industries for Accepted PM Offers
| Technology | Finance | Manufacturing | Health/Pharma/Bio |
| 60.9% | 13.0% | 8.7% | 6.5% |
Percent of Class Accepting Offers in Product Management
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| 16.7% | 13.2% | 17.8% | 16.5% | 13.6% |
Top Destinations & Salary Summary
Boston Metro
New York City Metro
San Francisco Bay Area
Seattle Metro
Los Angeles Metro
| Mean Base Salary | Median Base Salary | 25th-75th Percentile | |
| Class of 2024 | $166,208 | $163,875 | $160,000 – $174,000 |
| Class of 2023 | $166,940 | $169,000 | $155,000 – $172,000 |
| Class of 2022 | $152,366 | $155,000 | $67,000 – $215,000 (low-high)* |
| 3-Year Average | $160,314 | $160,000 | $146,750-$173,000 |
*Starting with Class of 2023, we shifted to reporting 25th-75th percentiles, instead of low-high range.
Product Management Clubs, Certificates, + Courses
MIT Sloan Product Management Club
Learn about the product management discipline and access PM events, career workshops, and peer/mentor networks.
Product Management Certificate
MIT Sloan’s newest certificate develops qualified product managers prepared to lead every step of a product’s lifecycle.
Product Management Lab (PM-Lab) 15.785
Hands-on introduction to product management with an emphasis on technology-driven enterprises across industries.
Resources for Your Job Search
MIT Sloan and Partner Job Sites
Interview Preparation
- RocketBlocks: Interview Prep for PM
- Exponent: Tech Interview Prep Course
- The Product Manager Interview
(Copies available: CDO E52-331)
MIT Sloan Industry Advisors
View the 8 MIT Sloan Industry Advisors with a specialty in Product Management
Contacts + Directories
- Student Employment Directories
- Career Central (Company contacts)
- MIT Alumni Advisors Hub
- Alumni Directories
CDO Support
Questions?
Click your program to see your team of career advisors/coaches:
MBA/LGO/MSMS | MFin | MBAn | SFMBA| EMBA
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