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The Ultimate Associate Product Manager Guide

One of the best ways to break into the field of product management is to start as an associate product manager (APM).

After all, the associate product manager role is set up as an apprenticeship that leads into a future product manager role.

When I first started in product management, I had no idea what associate product managers were, and how they fit into the broader career trajectory for PMs. Therefore, I’ve put together this guide to dive deep into the associate product manager role.

I’ll cover the following:

Let’s dive in!

What is an associate product manager?

An associate product manager works with one or more product managers and enables them to do their work more effectively.

Associate product managers hold many of the same responsibilities that product managers do: collecting quantitative product data and metrics, synthesizing customer research, gathering requirements, and coordinating with stakeholders.

In some organizations, associate product managers do not directly work with any engineers. In others, associate product managers join sprint rituals with the product manager that they are associated with. In yet other organizations, associate product managers will even have a dedicated team that they work with directly.

In terms of product responsibility, associate product managers generally work on features for a mature product, instead of working on the product itself.

As a more concrete example — when I was an associate product manager, I worked with an experienced product manager to drive our CRM product forward. I focused on a specific set of use cases for our CRM product, whereas my product manager focused on a different set of use cases. We shared a development team and coordinated our product roadmap jointly.

Here are a handful of other resources that dive into what associate product managers do:

Why does the associate product manager position exist?

When an organization is mature enough, they’ll start focusing on how to capture talent early on. Especially since qualified product managers can be difficult to acquire, organizations use the associate product manager role to bring junior talent into the company, then train them into the product manager that they need.

In other cases, organizations may find that their existing PMs don’t have enough bandwidth, but that hiring another experienced PM is overkill. In these cases, hiring in an associate product manager makes sense from an output and a budgetary perspective.

Let’s be clear — not all organizations have associate product manager roles. Some companies have a career track where product analysts become PMs instead. Other companies simply don’t need an associate product manager in their current stage of growth.

How does the associate product manager role fit into my career?

Associate product managers work closely with other PMs. As you learn from a PM directly, you’ll quickly pick up their skills and their frameworks. In product management, experience is the fastest way to learn.

Because the associate product manager role is more junior, it is shielded from some of the pressure and stresses that come with being a product manager. Your product manager will be mentoring you, guiding you, and absorbing some of the pressures and demands that you might otherwise face as a full-fledged PM.

Generally speaking, associate product managers have the clearest track into becoming product managers. That’s not to say other tracks don’t exist! I’ve seen product analysts, engineers, designers, product marketers, and customer support managers all become product managers. Even then, these other paths generally take a longer time to become a product manager when compared against the associate product manager position.

How much does an associate product manager make?

Unfortunately, the answer is “it depends,” similar to how product managers themselves are compensated. Compensation can vary dramatically based on physical location, industry, and maturity of company.

Speaking at a high level, associate product managers tend to make more if they are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, though the high costs of living there may not be worth it. Also, generally speaking, mature companies tend to offer higher salaries and lower equity, whereas newer companies tend to offer lower salaries and higher equity.

The only hard-and-fast rule is that associate product managers are compensated less than product managers are, since their responsibilities and required experience levels are lesser compared against product managers.

How can I get into this role?

You’ll need to demonstrate that you know how to ship a product and how to prioritize conflicting needs and requests. You’ll want to showcase previous experiences where you learned quickly from past failures, and you’ll want to highlight your ability to empathize with customers, engineers, and other stakeholders.

Generally speaking, the associate product manager role is targeted at candidates coming right out of college, since associate product managers are compensated less than product managers. It’s easier for an organization to hire an associate product manager who has no previous work experience, and thus is a blank slate that can be easily “reprogrammed” exactly as the organization would like.

The most well-known associate product manager programs are the following:

You may wind up learning a lot more and positioning yourself better by heading to a startup and demonstrating impact there. Remember that the more structured a program is, the less likely you will be able to drive outsized impact that exceeds expectations.

How long should I expect before I get promoted?

Again, this is another “it depends” type of question. It depends greatly on how the product organization is structured.

Some companies promote their associate product managers based on tenure, e.g. after 2 years or after 3 years.

Other companies promote based on outcomes — for example, I’ve seen some associate product managers be promoted once they successfully shipped their first full product and demonstrated long-term viability in the marketplace.

At other companies, associate product managers are promoted when new product opportunities appear — that is, associate product managers might “sit on the bench” until the organization determines that there is a new need for a dedicated product manager.

Let’s use my own experience as an example.

I mentioned previously that I worked with an experienced product manager on our CRM product. He wound up being promoted into the executive team, which meant that we were now missing a product manager for the use cases that he was previously covering.

To fill the gap, my CEO promoted me into the role, since I already had deep knowledge of the product, strong relationships with my stakeholders, and a clear understanding of my customers — all by being the associate product manager for that product.

At the end of the day, remember that you should keep two goals as your highest priorities as an associate product manager: 1) to learn, and 2) to deliver impact. As long as you achieve both goals, you will naturally be given new opportunities!

Summary

The associate product manager position is a coveted yet rare role. If you are able to secure the position, your chances at becoming a full-fledged product manager increase dramatically.

Still, roles are just roles. Just because you have a particular title doesn’t mean you have the skill sets needed to succeed.

If you are able to convincingly show employers that you have what it takes to be an amazing product manager, no matter what role you’re currently in, they’ll be more than happy to recruit you!

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