Product Managers are skilled professionals who are often referred to as the brain behind the success of the product and in long term the success of the company. Product Managers act as a catalyst between the consumer and the company. They conduct market analysis and incorporate all the consumer needs into the product to create demand for it.
There are certain prerequisites which must be fulfilled in order to become a Product Manager. Aspiring candidates must complete 10+2 board exams from a recognized board with a minimum aggregate score of 50% or above in commerce or business-related discipline.
After this, they are required to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate Product Management Courses or Management Courses such as BBA Business Management, MBA Business Management, MBA Marketing etc. Apart from this, there are several other relevant certification or diploma courses in product management for the development of skills and expertise. Read: Eligibility to Become a Banker
Apart from the above-mentioned educational qualifications, candidates must also possess certain technical as well as soft skills which would eventually help them in the long run such as Analytics, Product development, Market Research, Project management, etc.
The average Management Course fees range between INR 1,00,000- 20,00,000. Some of the top colleges which offer product management or management courses are IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore, Indian School of Business Hyderabad, Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi etc. Admissions to these colleges are done on the basis of Management Entrance Exams such as CAT, XAT, MAT, NMAT etc.
According to Ambitionbox, the average salary of a Product Manager is INR 16 LPA. According to Economics Times, it was observed that the salary of a Product Manager is 246% higher than the national average salary in India. Some of the highest-paying recruiters include ICICI Bank, oracle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Publicis Sapient etc offering salaries between INR 10.2 LPA - 23.2 LPA. Check: Salary of a Bank Manager
Table of Content
- How to Become a Product Manager: Quick Facts
- What does a Product Manager do
- Qualification of Product Manager
- Eligibility to Become a Product Manager
- Types of Product Managers
- How to Become a Product Manager in India
6.1 How to Become a Product Manager After 12th
How to Become a Product Manager: Quick Facts
| Eligibility Criteria | Candidates must have completed an undergraduate degree with a minimum aggregate of 50% or above from a recognized institute in business or related field. |
| Skills Required | Business Expertise, Project Management Knowledge, Product Strategy, Product Marketing, Market Research, Product Design |
| Top Recruiters | ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Amazon, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Reliance Jio, Paytm |
| Starting Salary | INR 5.10 LPA |
| Average Salary | INR 16.0 LPA |
| Highest Salary | INR 35.00 LPA |
What does a Product Manager do
The job in product management is one of the most challenging and data-driven jobs. It is one of the highly coveted roles in the present job market and plays an instrumental role in forming a core business strategy. A Product Manager needs to perform various other functions apart from managing the product and creating market demand. Some of the duties of Product Managers are listed below for your reference,
- A Product Manager is responsible for understanding and representing user needs.
- They are also responsible for keeping an eye on the market and developing proper mechanisms for market analysis.
- They must outline the vision of a product and take inputs from the other team members as well.
- They should look for investors who are willing to invest in the product.
- Product Managers must use presentations to outline and highlight the features and abilities of a product.
Qualifications of a Product Manager
There are certain qualifications which the candidates need to have in order to become a Product Manager. In order to become a Product Manager, certain major qualifications are discussed below for your reference,
- Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized board in any stream but most preferably in commerce or economics.
- Candidates must also have completed a bachelor's degree in business or any other business, marketing, business management etc.
- A bachelor's degree in economics, advertising, marketing, communication and statistics will also be preferred.
- Candidates with 2-3 years of work experience in product management will be given preference.
- Candidates must possess requisite skills related to product management such as business expertise, strategic thinking, negotiating skills etc.
Eligibility to become a Product Manager
There are certain eligibility criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to become a Product Manager. Some of the major eligibility criteria are as follows:
- Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized board with a minimum aggregate of 50% or above in any discipline such as arts, commerce, science etc.
- Candidates must clear the entrance exams in order to take admission in top product management or management colleges such as CAT, XAT, SET, SNAP, NMIMS PAT etc
- Candidates must also choose to pursue undergraduate courses in Product Management or Business Administration, Business Management, etc.
- The minimum age criteria to become a product management course is 17 years and the maximum is 23 years. There are no age criteria for diploma or certification courses.
- There are a number of other courses such as Diploma or Post Graduate Diploma courses which the candidates can pursue. The candidates must have completed graduation from a recognized university with a minimum aggregate of 50% or above.
- It would be beneficial for the candidates to pursue a master’s degree such as MBA in Business Management, MBA in Marketing etc.
- Candidates also need to pursue internships in order to gain the necessary field experience.
Types of Product Managers
There are many different types of Product Managers depending on their roles and responsibilities. Some of them have been discussed below:
Sales Manager
| Description | A sales manager is responsible for supervising the sales team of a company that designs sales and business plans that talks about sales, revenues, expenses, etc. |
| Average Salary | INR 5.00 LPA |
Project Manager
| Description | A project manager is responsible for planning, designing, developing and managing a project to ensure it delivers expected results. |
| Average Salary | INR 14.00 LPA |
Marketing Manager
| Description | A marketing manager is responsible for doing market research and understanding customer preferences. They must also create strategies for marketing and budgets and oversee the creation and implementation of marketing strategies. |
| Average Salary | INR 6.60 LPA |
Business Development Manager
| Description | A business development manager is responsible for developing and implementing business development and growth strategies within a company that promote the growth of a business. They must use the methods of networking, sales, marketing, forecasting, etc. to further business pursuits. |
| Average Salary | INR 5.20 LPA |
Brand Manager
| Description | Brand managers are responsible for overseeing the marketing aspects of a particular brand ensuring that all strategies result in better sales. |
| Average Salary | INR 11.30 LPA |
How to Become a Product Manager in India
In order to become a Product Manager in India, candidates must first decide their direction of studies. Candidates must complete 10+2 from a recognized board in any discipline such as arts, commerce, economics etc. Post 10+2, candidates can pursue undergraduate degrees in management or product management courses which help the candidates to understand the basics of product management. There are various certification and diploma courses which will help the candidates to gain relevant skills. It would be also preferable that the candidates must have 2-3 years of work experience in product management or a related field.
School level preparation: Some of the important steps that must be taken by the candidate in order to become a Product Manager are:
- Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized board with a minimum aggregate of 50% - 60% (differs from college to college) in any discipline such as arts, commerce, economics etc.
- Candidates must also prepare for the entrance exam in order to get admission to top management or product management college.
- Candidates can choose a coach to understand the exam pattern.
How to Become a Product Manager After 12th
Undergraduate Level: Some of the most crucial steps that must be taken at the undergraduate level to become a Product Manager are:
- Candidates need to clear the entrance exam to get into college in India for pursuing undergraduate courses in product management. Some colleges take admission on the basis of merit as well.
- Candidates must choose to pursue undergraduate degrees in product management such as BBA, BBM, etc. These courses offer specialization in product management.
- Candidates can also pursue various other short-term courses such as certification or diploma courses to develop relevant skills such as Product Management, Business Development, Analytics, Product development, Market Research, etc.
- Candidates must also start preparing for entrance exams such as CAT, XAT, MAT etc. and can also take coaching to understand the exam pattern.
- Candidates must also go through some past year question papers to understand the exam pattern.
Postgraduate Preparation: Some of the important steps are listed below for your reference,
- Candidates have two options after undergraduate, firstly, pursue a postgraduate degree or start with an entry-level job.
- It would be very beneficial for the candidates to pursue a higher degree such as MBA in Marketing, MBA in Business management etc.
- To get into a top postgraduate college, candidates need to clear the entrance exam such as CAT, XAT, MAT, GMAT etc.
- Candidates must also take part in workshops or internships to develop skills and gain some practical knowledge about the market.
Product Management Courses
There are several courses related to Product Management such as undergraduate, postgraduate courses, diploma courses, and postgraduate diploma courses. Apart from this, there are various certification courses available online and offline that the candidates can pursue on platforms such as Linkedin, UpGrad, edX, Udemy etc.
Some of the certification courses are listed below for your reference,
- Product Management Certification Program
- Becoming a Product Manager
- Results-based Project Management
- Product Management: Building a Product strategy.
Some of the other undergraduate, postgraduate or diploma programs are listed below for your reference.
| Parameters | BBA in Product Management | MBA in Marketing | Diploma in Product Management |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 3 years | 2 years | 6 month- 1 year |
| Eligibility | Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized institute with a minimum aggregate of 60% or above Candidate must have completed 10+2 in any discipline preferably in the commerce stream |
Candidate must have completed an undergraduate degree with a minimum 50% or above from a recognized institute | Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized institute with a minimum aggregate of 60% or above Candidate must have completed 10+2 in any discipline preferably in commerce stream |
| Top Colleges | Narsee Monjee Institute of Management studies Christ university Lovely Professional University |
IIM Calcutta IIT Kharagpur XLRI Jamshedpur IIT Delhi |
Institute of Good Manufacturing Practices in India Institute of Marketing and Communications |
| Entrance Exams | DU JAT IPU CET NPAT |
CAT XAT MAT GMAT |
Merit basis |
| Average course fees | INR 45,000 - 8,00,000 | INR 2,00,000 - 25,00,000 | INR 5000 - 2,00,000 |
| Average Salary | INR 3,00,000 - 8,00,000 per annum | INR 4,00,000 - 12,00,000 per annum | INR 3,00,000 - 6,00,000 per annum |
Pros and Cons of Becoming a Product Manager
Being a Product Manager is considered to be a reputed and safe career choice since almost all companies employ Product Managers and the salaries of a Product Manager depend on various factors like skills, qualifications, companies, etc. But there are certain challenges in becoming a Product Manager as well. Some of the pros and cons have been listed below:
Pros of Becoming a Product Manager
- Creativity- This profession requires the managers to be creative to design products that are unique and gives their company an edge over other competitors.
- Collaboration with other teams- The job of a Product Manager requires the involvement and input of various departments which gives the manager a chance to interact with different teams and people of different professional backgrounds.
- Robust product knowledge- This profession also gives an opportunity to explore different products and gain knowledge about them on the way. It also helps develop some skills and experience in how a product should be designed in innovative ways.
- Salary- The salary of a Product Manager is pretty decent. The average salary of a Product Manager is around INR 5.00 LPA and it keeps increasing with time and experience.
Cons of Becoming a Product Manager
- Self-management- Being a Product Manager can be very stressful at times since the manager is expected to manage a lot of tasks together with strict deadlines.
- Accountability- A Product Manager also has to take responsibility in situations of crisis and failure though it may not be their fault. So they have to be accountable for things irrespective of their actions.
- Monotony- The job of a Product Manager can turn monotonous sometimes since they keep working on the same thing for a long time and there is an increased risk of losing interest in their job.
- Ambiguity- There is a degree of ambiguity in the job description of a Product Manager since there are many tasks they perform. They design new products, strategize marketing, plan sales, etc. which is an overlapping set of tasks with other teams.
Skills Required to Become a Product Manager
To be a Product Manager, one must have a certain set of skills that help them make decisions regarding a product. Some of the most important skills have been listed below:
| Business savvy | Critical thinking | Creative |
| Problem-solving | Technology savvy | Research skills |
| Strategic thinking | Communication skills | Analyze data |
Product Manager Jobs
There are various job profiles within product management from entry level to higher level which the candidates can apply for according to their experience and knowledge. These job profiles have different roles to perform. Some of the top job profiles of Product Managers are listed below for your reference.
| Job Profiles | Job Description |
|---|---|
| Associate Product Manager | An Associate Product Manager is an entry level Product Manager who is responsible for prioritizing tasks. They take decisions around the tasks or projects they are assigned with |
| Senior Product Manager | A senior Product Manager is one who works along with product leaders to contribute and execute product strategy. A senior Product Manager is responsible for leading the product team. |
| Product Manager | A Product Manager is one who develops innovative , industry- leading features. Through this they can identify the opportunities and scope to build the demand of the product. |
| Director of Product | The Director of the product is responsible for developing and driving the identity product and critical capabilities from concept to customer. |
Product Manager Scope
The current market scenario is dominated by many startups setting up every year offering different and innovative products and services both digital and physical across industries. As per Economic Times, the seed stage deals dominated with nearly 396 deals aggregating to $705.86 million and about 166 investments at series amounted to about $ 1.67 billion.
With this increase in the growth of start-ups, Product Management has emerged as one of the necessary elements of business strategy in today’s world. Even due to the pandemic, the situation in India did not alter, but they got amplified. Product Managers are in huge demand in India across all sectors from agriculture to automobiles. Some of the most important sectors where the demand of Product Managers has shown growth in ed-tech, fintech services, healthcare and digital marketing firms .
The future of Product management seems quite promising across the globe and in India as well. There are various initiatives taken by the government such as Make in India initiative that have led to sudden accelerations in the start-ups. As per the report of Google, the number of product management jobs has doubled and the experts believe many of the top Product Managers come from tech or dot.com companies.
Top Recruiters for Product Managers
There are many of the top recruiters in the market looking for hiring Product Managers. Some of the top recruiters are listed below for your for your reference,
| ICICI Bank | HDFC Bank | Axis Bank |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | Amazon | Paytm |
| Publicis Sapient | IDFC First Bank | Cisco |
Salary of a Product Manager
The average salary of a Product Manager in India is INR 16 LPA. The average monthly salary ranges between INR 1,09,386 - 1,12,411. The average starting salary of a Product Manager is INR 5.20 LPA while candidates with 5- 9 years of experience earns INR 12 LPA. The highest salary of a Product Manager is INR 35 LPA.
Tabulated below is the salary of a Product Manager based on their designation for your reference,
| Designation | Average Annual Salary (INR) |
|---|---|
| Sales Manager | 5.00 L |
| Project Manager | 14.00 L |
| Marketing Manager | 6.60 L |
| Business Development Manager | 5.20 L |
| Brand Manager | 11.30 L |
How to Become a Product Manager: FAQs
Ques. Are Product Managers in demand in India?
Ans. Due to high salary and growth in the market the demand of Product Managers is very high as compared to other professions in India.
Ques. How can I become a Product Manager in India?
Ans. candidates must have a complete undergraduate or postgraduate degree in product management or business management. Apart from that, candidates must acquire certain skills which will help the candidates to create market and demand for the product.
Ques. What are the skills required to become a Product Manager?
Ans. Some of the important skills required to become a Product Manager is product management, project management, Analytics, etc
Ques. Who are the top recruiters for Product Managers?
Ans. Some of the top recruiters for Product Managers include ICICI Bank, oracle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Publicis Sapient etc.
Ques. Do I need to pursue an internship in order to be a Product Manager?
Ans. Yes, it will be very beneficial for the candidates to pursue internships as they will understand the work environment
Ques. I am from an arts background. Can I become a Product Manager?
Ans. Yes, candidates who have completed class 12th in arts can also pursue BBA courses but it will be preferable that the candidates must be from commerce background.
Ques. What is the average salary of a Product Manager?
Ans. The average salary of a Product Manager is INR 16.00 LPA according to ambitionbox.
Ques. What is the highest salary of a Product Manager?
Ans. The highest salary of a Product Manager is INR 35 LPA..
Ques. Is it hard to become a Product Manager?
Ans. No profession is easy to become but a Product Manager along with educational requirements needs to pursue certification or diploma courses which helps in the development of new skills.
Ques. Is Product Manager a stressful job?
Ans. Yes, sometimes the job of a Product Manager can be very stressful and sometimes may be very unpleasant.
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