Recruiting product managers: methods, job description, and selection criteria

Human Resource Recruiting for a Product Manager

Human Resource Recruiting Process: Product Management Position

The role of the product management in many organization is very comparable to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as both share profit and loss, product direction and services responsibility and are required to make decisions routinely that impact the future direction of the company (Reid, 1988). Hiring a product management is therefore much like looking for a CEO, as both must have a series of unique, highly differentiated skills, traits and experiences to excel in their roles. The intent of this analysis is to define the best possible recruiting methods for product managers, provide a job description and an overview of responsibilities, determine anticipated selection ratios and identify potential selection techniques as well. Evaluating each of the selection criterion for validity is also provided in this analysis.

Assessing Recruiting Methods for Product Management Professionals

Of the many strategies organizations use to recruit professionals, the most prevalent are internal recruitment including intranet sites, job boards, and referrals from other managers and department leaders. Recruiting internally can save an organization thousands of dollars in advertising and avert thousands of dollars in lost opportunities due to work not getting done (Lin, Kleiner, 2004). Internal recruitment also is highly effective in getting a person who understands the company's culture and how the specific systems, processes and procedures work in delivering value. From the employee's standpoint this is also beneficial as many perceive the change as job enrichment (Wickramasinghe, Gamage, 2011). Companies who hire from within first, especially during time of economic uncertainly, also send a clear message to employees that their welfare and career growth is a concern of management even during challenging economic times (Wickramasinghe, Gamage, 2011).

Additional recruiting methods include using social media including Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, blogs and YouTube videos to communicate specifics regarding open positions and also promote the company in the process (Bernoff, Li, 2008). Social media has shown greater potential as a recruitment strategy than traditional printed media including the help wanted ads in a newspaper or the use of printed materials that quickly become out of date. Recruiting sites including Dice.com and Monster.com are capable of generating many applicants for a given potion, yet the screening process on these sites needs more work. Given the fact that the position being hired is a product manager in an enterprise software company, the best possible recruitment platform and strategy is social media.

Product Manager Job Description and Responsibilities

The role of the Product Manager in any organization is to provide leadership on new business initiatives, seeking out opportunities to expand the company's core strengths in product and technology areas into new markets. Product Managers are expected to have a strong set of skills in both technology and business thought leadership, have the ability and passion for analyzing markets quickly and defining potential new product roadmaps, and creating market development plans that capitalize on the core technology strengths of the company. The Product Manager is also expected to be the leading evangelist for the organization, leading independent partner support initiatives and new product development programs. Due to all these requirements, the Product Manager role is considered strategic in scope. Additional responsibilities include the following: managing the entire lifecycle of new and existing products from the strategic planning to the tactical; support for the sales force and partner organizations in selling the product and its services; define market requirements and integrate these into market requirement documents (MRDs); successfully lead cross-functional teams and deliver projects on-schedule and budget including critical new product introductions; and deliver updates to senior management including C-level executives on the financial and competitive performance of the products responsible for. This position requires a minimum of five years progressive product management experience, with expert-level knowledge in the core technology areas of our industry and company. A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is preferable with a technical undergraduate degree in computer science or engineering as the products being managed are based on advanced technologies.

Anticipated Selection Ratio

Using social media combined with a multichannel-based Web marketing of the position including posting on Dice, Monster, local high technology forums and on the corporate website, it is anticipated there will be at least 500 responses within 30 days. This is due primarily to the fact that product management jobs in high technology are considered pivotal to the future growth of a career in engineering, marketing, sales and general management. It is the lowest-level position in an organization that offers profit-and-loss responsibility and therefore is highly sought after for his career potential.

Selection and Classification of New Employees

The use of these selection techniques will quickly lead to a scoring of their relative fit for the organization based on the results of 360-degree interviews and evaluation of Human Resources and the hiring manager (Lin, Kleiner, 2004). This approach to selecting a Product Manager will also ensure that there is a high probability of their success with the organization as well.

Evaluating Selection Technique for Validity

Validating the selection technique through the use of sampling and verification of skills through the use of a writing test, and the use of 360-degree feedback brings the element of empirical evaluation into the process (Lin, Kleiner, 2004). By relying in feedback from the work teams the new hire will work with, the hiring manager and evaluating their writing skills, the probability of selecting the best possible candidate increases significantly.