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Product Owner

Last post 03:56 pm January 25, 2021 by Daniel Wilhite
3 replies
01:16 pm January 23, 2021

Hi All

Like many, I need to re-tool my skill set to be appropriate to the current market. 

Scrum has been on the periphery of what I have done for some time and I have often flirted with the idea of becoming a Product Owner. My background is on the business end in senior management/executive roles for a global mobile phone manufacturer (Where I was responsible for the business management side of a software product. This included regular interaction with the product development team.) and a global software company. I have the qualifications one would expect of someone in such a role (MBA, Project Management dip. Marketing under grad etc.).

I have started studying for the CSPO exams and aim to complete them shortly. 

It would be great to get people's input on whether it is realistic for someone with no coding or first hand software development experience to expect to land a Product Owner role. 

Advice on routes into the market and methods by which I might gain experience are also welcome. 

I am in Australia.

Thanks in advance.

 


06:13 pm January 23, 2021

You only need coding knowledge if you want to gain the scrum for developers certification, as the name says it all. 

I am not a developer, and come from a PM background; however, I have already passed the PSM1 & PSK1 exams, and am looking at SPS as CSPO in the near future. 

Will having coding knowledge be benificial for a PO that will be in charge of a software development project?  Of course it will; however, it is not mandatory.  Also, there is nothing stopping you to start gaining a basic understanding of what ever programming languages the dveelopers wil be using once you are placed into such a PO role. 

I believe that your MBA will have given you a good set of skills that will help you become a great PO over time.


09:48 pm January 23, 2021

There is no easy answer to this. All of the good Product Managers I've worked with over the years came up through the ranks of developer (including QA), Business Analyst or something else in a technical environment (hardware engineer, IT support / configuration, network engineer, etc.). That was my experience. So each company is going to be looking for something different.

However, with an MBA, and no technical background, you could still get picked up as a Manager, Product, which is a people manager role. In many large companies, a Product Owner is essentially an upgraded BA who reports to a Product Manager. Another route would be to pursue a company whose software you are familiar with and have used as a power user.


03:56 pm January 25, 2021

Some of the best Product Managers that I have worked with had no technical background at all.  Many of them actually came from Sales and Marketing.  The Developers are responsible for having the technical knowledge.  The Product Owner is responsible for having knowledge of the marketplace and user needs.  The two roles will respect each other to be making the right decisions.  

I will also say that none of these Product Managers had MBAs or PO certifications. In fact one of them had a Bachelors in Mathematics. The real skills a Product Owner needs is not always realized by reading books and getting degrees or certifications.  They are learned by understanding the market in which the product exists and how the product will be used by the people. 

I live and work in the United States and I will say that certifications are not widely used as hiring criteria.  They are sometimes listed as nice to haves but I've never seen one as a requirement.  And I have never gotten a job because of my certifications. I obtained my certifications for my own satisfaction because they make me feel like I could actually know this stuff.  But I wouldn't expect them to get me a job. 

Before you go fully down road of the CSPO, I encourage you to look at the PSPO certification from scrum.org.  You can take their free assessments to discover how much you already know and then the exam will test you on your actual knowledge of the domain and not just on what you have learned from the classes you took. 


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