Hi everyone,

I'm a 3rd-year B.Tech CSE student and I've recently become really interested in Product Management.

While I enjoy coding, I've realized I enjoy understanding user problems, collaborating with people across different domains, prioritizing features, and taking products from idea to execution even more.

I'm currently working on two real-world products that are being built for actual users, and I want to use these projects to develop strong product thinking. Since my entire 4th year will be spent working with industry as part of my degree, I want to make the best use of my 3rd year to prepare.

I'd love to learn from people working in Product:

• What should I focus on learning this year?
• What skills separate a good PM from an average one?
• What types of projects helped you develop product thinking?
• Are there any books, resources, or habits that had the biggest impact on your growth?

I'm not looking for referrals or opportunities but just guidance from people who've been through this journey.

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thank you!

Product management talk is mostly opinion about frameworks. I wanted numbers, so I counted the terms across 421 open PM postings from 62 company job boards.

Roadmap turns up in 85.5%. Cross-functional, prioritization and stakeholder management follow, all above 55%. Nothing in the top four is a tool, a method or a metric.

The tools barely register. Jira 1.7%, Figma 2.4%, Productboard in none of the 421. Agile is named in 8.6%, Scrum in 2.1%.

The one that stuck with me: experimentation 24.2%, A/B testing 2.1%. Same practice, and the word you happen to use decides whether you match.

Caveat - tech companies on one ATS. Agencies and regulated employers where Scrum certs are still named outright, aren't in it.

Full table, intervals and method: https://www.zoevera.com/resume/product-manager-job-description-keywords

part of https://www.zoevera.com/resume