Career Planning with your Manager
Managers of all skill levels often ask: What are your 5-year goals? This is typically a good sign, although occasionally your manager might just be on autopilot. Either way, it is up to you to take the lead in the discussion.
Decide What you Want
Is it Title? Scope? Skills? Money? Vertical? Product? Tech Stack Experience? All of the above?
I have taken roles to get titles or increased scope. Other times I have taken a role to switch from enterprise to consumer, for example. Or maybe I wanted to learn AI/ML. Everyone has different goals. Nothing is wrong. My goal here is to get you to think about it so you can express it appropriately to your manager.
For some folks, it is easy: I want X title or Y scope by Z date. Some people are more driven by pay than title or scope. If you know that, you can tell your manager and that can help them navigate promotions or performance review cycles. While you don’t want to always be blunt about money, there are times your manager might know a title bump will be harder to get than a pay increase. I often ask my directs, if I have to pick between money and title, does one matter more than the other to you? as there are rare instances where they will not prompt in a given cycle but a manager can negotiate a pay increase at the same level to retain someone. But I digressed a bti.
Even when we know what we want, we might be worried to say what is really on our mind. Or we might know what we want but worry it is too ambitious. Before having an conversation that could confuse or worry your manager, think about your desires. Map them out in the Working Backwards Template below.
Work Backwards
Before speaking with your manager, work backwards. Then think through the title and the scope you want to achieve in 5 years. If you get back to year 1 of 5 and it requires you to have more experience, then you know where you need to adjust.
For example, if you are an L4 PM who dreams of being an GPM or Director in 5 years, imagine what needs to happen each yeat to get you there, both in terms of title and scope. (You will probably find outside a start up miracle, you are overly ambitious. But going through the exercise before you meet with your boss will help you article what you need and give you a constructive map to work from.
For IC PMs
If you are in product and know exactly what you want, try working backward so that you can tell your manager. If you want to be a manager in 5 years, but you know it seems stretchy, the best way to decide how stretchy is to map your progress.
Rules of Thumb to Remember
Before you set your expectations too high and scare your manager, think through your progress with the following in mind:
Fast movers typically stay in each level for 1.5 to 2 years
The average person stays at a particular level from 2 to 3 years
Sometimes progression is hindered or sped up by company growth
There is a reason the average person in tech moves companies every two years
There has been a recent shift from hiring to grow talent to more of hiring and firing for roles and skill sets
Even if you think you might move, plan with your manager assuming you can stay and grow in your current company.
For Career Changers/Ladder Transfers
When you want to move within a company, you need to pay your dues first. Therefore, you can’t/shouldn’t tell your new manager that you want to be a product manager until you have proven your skills in your current role. You can start looking for quiet side projects but don’t make your manage regret hiring you. But once you have proven yourself, you can start to ask about ladder transfers (think from program to product or engineering to product or customer success to product, etc.)
Template
I built this basic template to help you work backward from today. Work through it before you talk to your boss about your plan. Maybe think through it before your interview, as this is also a common question in interviews.
There are three key elements: Title, Skills, and Scope. You can modify it as you go, but think about the titles you want, what they each require skill-wise, and the scope you believe you would have at each role.
Photo by CALIN STAN on Unsplash
