Product Managers and Software Engineers work together within the tech industry, drawing upon their different skill sets and expertise to develop and deploy solutions to their customers. If you are torn between whether or not PM or SWE is for you, here are some perspectives from Harvard students that might help you identify your interests.
If you enjoy building and coding...
“I think software engineers can come from a lot of different backgrounds, but most people interested in SWE really share a love for building, and also enjoy coding -- although not necessarily 24/7. A love for building can be shown in many ways -- from logic to math to constructing things from the ground up, and one software engineer might not have absolutely all of these passions.”
- Software Engineering Intern at Dropbox, Harvard Class of 2021
If you like solving at a higher level, rather than implementing its development…
“For anyone torn between PM vs SWE, I would say that the PM role might be the better choice if you are more invested in thinking of a solution at a higher level than just its technical development. Do you find it more satisfying to think of a product in every scope such as its impact in the market, development timeline, design features, and costs and tradeoffs? Or would you rather hone in on a specific part of a solution and find greater enjoyment in writing code and working more directly toward a product's development?”
- PM at Microsoft, Harvard Class of 2021
“Every company has different needs for PMs, and even teams within companies have different PM/SWE dynamics. But in general, I'd say 3 qualities generally are important for PM success -- 1) stakeholder empathy (can you really put the client's internal team's/customer's needs first, and understand them well?), 2) cross-functional communication skills (talking to biz, SWEs, UI/UX, hardware, etc. well, even if what you're discussing is not in their field) and 3) proactivity. I chose the PM route personally because from a personal perspective, I find cross-functional communication and the ambiguity of navigating product-related questions really fulfilling. I think this is a pretty common reason for choosing PM over SWE."
- APM at Lyft, Harvard Class of 2020
If you can, try both!
“The best way to figure this out is to try both out. Honestly, I think it's a great use of summers to do varying things if possible (i.e. SWE one summer, pm another, do a startup, join a big company).”
- Intern at multiple startups, Harvard Class of 2021
“If you start as early as freshman summer or even sophomore summer, it can't hurt to try out both. It's basically the only time that you can experiment without affecting your future career path. If that's not an option, or you don't want to "waste" a summer figuring things out, the common tactic is to just go with SWE first. Most CS concentrators end up there, and there are a lot more job opportunities available for that role. If you can see yourself doing that for at least five years after graduation, that's a good sign that you're made for SWE. If you find the work monotonous, or you feel like you want to work on slightly less technical work/want to interact with people more, then PM is more made for you.”
- PM at Microsoft, Harvard Class of 2021