How I Broke Into Product Management Without Quitting My Job
I started my career as a Technical Solutions Engineer right after earning my CS degree. My job was to support third-party developers building apps on Clover’s App Market using our APIs and SDKs. I’d help them debug code and unblock integrations — but slowly, something deeper started to click.
Every time a developer described why they were building something — the real customer pain they were solving — it made me pause. These weren’t just API calls. These were real people, real businesses. When something broke, developers would say, “My customer can’t process payments. We need this fixed now.” That urgency stuck with me. I was learning empathy — not just for developers, but for their end users.
When I First Heard “PM”
I didn’t even know what Product Management was. Until one day, a client made a feature request, and I thought it would be a simple yes/no. Instead, a PM joined the call.
But rather than just rejecting the request, he zoomed out. He asked questions. He tied the feature to a bigger initiative his team was working on — and showed how the client’s needs would actually be addressed with a more thoughtful solution.
That’s when I realized: this role was about understanding problems, not just shipping features. I was hooked.
Learning, the Harder (and Better) Way
I bought The Lean Product Playbook, signed up for a few PM courses, and tried to find “the best path.” Spoiler: There isn’t one.
I told my manager I wanted to explore PM, and they connected me with one of our Group PMs — someone I still consider a mentor. He allowed me to shadow him. I sat in on meetings, made notes, observed how decisions were made. I was a fly on the wall — until I chose not to be.
I started asking: How would I respond here?
What would I prioritize if I were in his shoes?
Bit by bit, I started to help: pulling VOC data from support tickets, listening to calls, writing summaries, even partnering with Data Science to do sentiment analysis for network issues.
No one asked me to. I was still working full-time as a TSE. But I wanted to do it — because it was like getting a hands-on internship, right inside my company.
From Shadowing to Shipping
I asked to write user stories. I remembered vaguely doing it back in college, but now it mattered. I got better at writing acceptance criteria, reducing engineering confusion, and adapting my writing to the audience. I attended grooming sessions. One day I saw a ticket tagged “Created by Sauptik Saha.” I smiled. That was my first tiny win.
Soon I started speaking up in design meetings, joining Slack threads, and contributing more actively. But I still didn’t have the title.
Then, my mentor went on paternity leave.
He was leading 6+ projects — including a major migration and quarterly release planning. I was offered the opportunity to step in. For 12 weeks, I owned standups, grooming, cross-functional alignment, reporting to leadership, and preparing for exec planning.
Was I scared? Hell yes.
Was I ready? Also yes.
The "Interview" That Wasn’t
Quarterly planning came around. The big stage. All eyes. I presented what I had owned and led — confidently. Because I knew the work. I felt the customer pain. I understood the trade-offs.
That was my real PM interview.
No whiteboards. No take-homes. Just earned trust, deep context, and delivered outcomes.
Shortly after my mentor returned, I was offered an official PM position through an internal transfer.
What Helped Me Break In
End-user empathy: Learned on the frontlines from support calls, dev chats, and real-world breakdowns.
Doing the job before the title: Don’t wait for permission.
Building trust: With PMs, engineers, support, data, design — it’s a team sport.
Persistence: Working two jobs (TSE and PM-in-training) wasn’t easy. But it was worth it.
Curiosity > credentials: Courses are great. But context is king.
For Anyone Trying to Break Into PM
You don’t need to quit your job. You don’t need an MBA.
You need initiative, empathy, and a genuine desire to solve real problems for real people.
Start from where you are. Look for ways to help. PM is not just a title — it’s a mindset.
And once you get there?
Move fast, break (some) things — and build better.
