Vijoy Dhawan was somewhere in the middle of his transition into Product when he found PMDojo. His background is in consulting and marketing, with past experience involving project management and thinking about ways to improve efficiencies and deliver more value to stakeholders. He then started working in automation and his curiosity towards the tech world started to blossom.
When asked about how he changed his mindset from a framework-driven project management mindset to a Product mindset, he shared a story about his time during a business design competition. Here was the moment he realized that operating outside of frameworks was much more efficient.
Things started changing when talks of Design Thinking emerged, and he was hooked.
After graduating from PMDojo, he was in pursuit of finding a role that best suited him but needed support. Through coaching and mentorship from PMDojo mentors who are Senior Product Leaders, Vijoy was better able to navigate his career trajectory.
At PMDojo, we are deeply invested in our Fellows and are advocates for their success.
He emphasizes that his journey was not an easy one. On his path to his current role, he had to do a lot of prep, case interviews, coffee chats, 1:1s with PMDojo mentors, and discussions with guest speakers.
He faced roadblocks in being rigid in his aim towards a Product Management title. After a few conversations with peers and mentors, he realized that he needed to tweak his approach to face fewer obstacles. Therefore he opened up his search towards Product Management by looking at adjacent roles in product teams that would fasttrack him towards his path.
Now in his current role as a Customer Success Manager at Botco.ai, he sees that he made a wise decision and smiles as he explains why it’s such a great fit. He now has the opportunity to understand the technical requirements and terminologies of a product, has a chance to get to know the product and tech teams, and can better understand the subtle differences in day-to-day activities. In being able to continually position himself for a product management role in this strategic pivot, he has opened up a new road towards his goal.
Everyone’s path to Product Management is very different. Having a growth mindset is what differentiates those that can see and/or create those different paths towards a goal from those that remain static.
Vijoy explains that it’s important to move past the glamour surrounding Product Management and instead realize whether the role is something that will motivate you in your day-to-day. To understand this, he needed to test this out, and PMDojo was what helped him understand this difference. “If you’re not able to keep up with it, or you get de-motivated after realizing how much work needs to be put in, you will quickly realize that Product Management is probably not for you.”
Important takeaway: If you have a clear sight of what you want to do, go for it. But be open to the different paths towards that goal.
Interested to pivot or growing in a product role? Check out PMDojo’s Accelerator Program! Applications for the next cohort is closing soon🔥
