I Broke Into Product Management Post-MBA and You Can Too.

The no-code required guide to securing a lucrative Product Management career after business school.

Austin Carroll
14 min readJan 29, 2021

It’s a tale as old as time. Thousands of MBAs enter top MBA programs every year dreaming of Google’s snack buffets, a cubicle in the Salesforce Tower, and a six-figure career in Product Management.

Unfortunately, an MBA degree is far from a surefire way to break into Product Management. As the notoriety of Product Management has grown, so has the competition. Northwestern Kellogg and UCLA Anderson both sent 9.7% and 10.9% respectively of their classes into Product Management careers in 2020 — representing less than 1/3 of the full-time positions secured in Tech. Consulting? 37%.

To put it simply, an MBA ins’t a magic bullet to a lucrative career in Product Management.

What do these numbers tell us? An MBA isn’t a magic bullet to a lucrative career in product management in the way it is for other traditional MBA careers like Consulting, Banking, and Brand Management. However, if you are willing to put in the work, securing a coveted Product Management role is definitely possible. It won’t be quick or painless, but this article will take you to step

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Austin Carroll
Austin Carroll

Written by Austin Carroll

Hello! My name is Austin & I am a product manager, career coach, and podcast host.

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