Skip getting lost in a sea of 500 applicants and help the jobs find you
This week I spoke with Kevin, a jobseeker with over 6 years experience as a Director of Product Operations who has been looking for new work since May 2023. While applying for IC roles, he’s been getting told he’s “overqualified” for jobs. In reality, he is excited about returning to IC work, rolling up his sleeves, and making a positive impact on teams.
Unfortunately, 22 months of job searching isn’t that unusual right now.
Here’s the hard news: the jobs market is frozen up. 224 people signed up for the product ops job board in the past 18 months and 59 of them are still actively looking.
These haven’t been short searches – some active seekers put their names down back in January of 2024. They’ve been trying to land a new role for 15 months.
Despite these grim statistics, there are some success stories. I get an inside look into what successful job applicants are doing via the Product Ops Job Board.
Throughout this article, I’ll share what I’ve learned from tracking hundreds of job seekers, talking with hiring managers, and identifying the patterns that separate those who land roles from those still searching
While I’m unable to make more product ops jobs materialize, or get everyone on my jobs board hired, I have been asked by a number of folks for advice on how to navigate the market. I’ve been recommending a few key actions for jobseekers that are specific to product operations.
Here’s how product ops jobseekers can best navigate these challenging times.
Highlight your product ops superpower
M listed a product ops job not too long ago. Over the course of one week, she got 500 applications, mostly from LinkedIn.
I asked her about the quality of the applications. She told me, “lots of product managers are generically applying with their product manager resume and cover letter. ‘Here’s how I can improve your product strategy.’ Not what I’m looking for.”
Your first step to stand out: make sure you have a product-ops specific resume and cover letter. Then go deeper and highlight your product ops superpowers.
As Erika Klics, a job search strategist, explained to me:
Product Ops is its own unique role. Job seekers need to differentiate their positioning for that role, rather than just sharing what your most recent title/responsibilities were.
Articulating your involvement and impact in roadmap planning and execution (not just project management and delivery), driving key Product-wide operations initiatives (not just PMing the product), and improving key metrics that directly impact Product and Engineering productivity will stand out.
Hiring managers aren’t looking for product ops generalists. They’re looking to solve a particular challenge, whether coordinating product launches, running planning and OKR alignment, or setting up analytics programs.
To make your application stand out, highlight not only that you’re knowledgeable about product ops, but that you have experience in the area of focus that they’re searching for.
Finding your superpower
To find your superpower, start by figuring out which pillars of product ops align best with the work you’ve done in the past. Map your experience to those categories and hone in on where your biggest wins have been.
Alana Godfrey does a great job of this in her profile summary on LinkedIn. She even calls it a superpower:
Over my five-year journey in SaaS, I’ve discovered my superpower: bringing clarity to complexity. I thrive when orchestrating cross-functional teams toward common goals, translating data into actionable insights, and guiding organizations through meaningful change.
My background spans EdTech and HealthTech, where I’ve had the privilege of working on products that make education more accessible and healthcare more human. I thrive by creating operational systems that empower teams to do their best work while keeping the end-user at the center of every decision.
Given this profile, if she were actively looking, I would especially recommend her for any roles where the hiring manager wants help with annual planning or is in EdTech and healthcare.
Read the job description and find ways to connect your own experience to the specific type of product ops hire they’re looking for. Even when the company is looking for its first product ops hire, they still are looking to solve a particular challenge, not fix all of product ops.
No product background makes it harder – not impossible
Every few weeks I get a message from someone asking about how to break into product ops. I would split them into two categories – those who come from product management, and those who come from other disciplines, like design, business ops, or program management.
If you’re still employed, try to transfer into product ops internally. Use those relationships and that trust you’ve already built up to move to the new role.
Show off the transferable skills
For those who aren’t currently employed, you have to convince the hiring manager that you have the experience, even if you don’t have the title.
Emphasize your shadow product ops work, where you did product ops work without an official title. Emphasize your analytical, product mindset, and communication skills.
Show your systems thinking though process improvements you led; share tales of when you convinced your peers to approach their work differently; talk about lessons learned from a successful product launch.
You need to tell an amazing story in your LinkedIn, resume, job applications, and in conversation. Provide the hiring manager the confidence that you have the transferable skills required to thrive in this new role.
Your story of how you’ve got transferable skills should connect directly back to your product ops superpowers. Your story needs to be unified across all surfaces.
Network within the community
I’m about to post a product management (not ops) role. I don’t plan on posting it on LinkedIn because I don’t need 500 resumes.
My plan is to post it to a few communities and job boards where I know great product managers hang out. I’m going to email a few people in my network to see if they have any referrals.
I’ve seen the stats from too many excellent job applicants – hundreds of resumes submitted to open posts, with the lucky ones seeing 1% response rates. I don’t think there’s a lot of hope in applying via LinkedIn anymore.
Instead, my advice is to invest your time in networking instead of filling in applications. Network not for the open roles, but for the future ones.
In product ops, this means investing in our communities. Join the Product Ops HQ Slack and post your thoughts, respond to others’ questions (Product-Led Alliance has one as well). Make your name and voice well-known at the meetups and events. Hop on LinkedIn and comment on someone’s post with your own relevant experience.
Once you’ve answered a question publicly, invite them to have a deeper conversation with you about it.
The product ops community is tight-knit and many of us know who is hiring. Your goal is to be on our minds before the role gets posted, so we can refer you when someone asks for recommendations.
How to network successfully
I asked David Speigel, a networking coach, about what his top advice is for people looking to network their way to their next job. Here’s what he told me:
1. Mindset: Shift your mindset. You have ways to help the person you’re reaching out to. It’s easier to reach out (and get a yes) with an offer to help them.
2. Consistency: It’s a numbers game, you need multiple outreach tactics that you do daily.
3. Follow-up: You need to follow up and close the loops. Don’t be a leaky bucket.
Sourcehttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/dspeigel_in-the-past-7-days-i-have-written-9-posts-activity-7307193181933027329-0TAB
I can’t emphasize the mindset shift enough – even if you’re unemployed, you have things to offer our community. Perhaps it’s an offer to talk about a challenge someone else is having, or to share tips on what is happening in the job market with another jobseeker. Maybe it’s a good article that you think they’ll enjoy, or an offer to connect someone else in your network. (for a great book on this mindset shift, check out Give to Grow*)
Network with the people who have nothing to give you, because one day they might. Build relationships and keep following up. It’s your best shot at getting a referral into the one role you need to close.
Don’t just find a job, help the job find you
I have seen people land product ops roles in this market. They do it through strategic job-hunting, not spray-and-pray resume drops. (I’ve also heard great things about the Never Search Alone* process)
In this market, individual applications disappear into the pile of 500. But our product ops community remembers faces, voices, and contributions. The people who have closed roles quickly have done so because someone knows their name, not just their resume.
Before you close this article, get going. Message another jobseeker and set up time for a resume review where you can make sure you’re highlighting your product ops superpower. Spend time talking through your story to highlight the relevant work you’ve done making product teams stronger, whether or not you’ve had a product ops title.
Once you’ve sent that message out, log in to one of the product ops communities and find one post where you have something to add in the comments. Hop onto LinkedIn and run a keyword search for “product ops”. Add a comment to someone’s post.
Kevin got the networking meeting with me because he had something to give – he’s been one of the crew that gives me feedback on many of these articles I’ve written. I’ve always been appreciative of his comments, so when he asked for a meeting and a referral to a role where I had a connection, it was an easy yes.
Managers are still searching for great product ops hires – and are discovering that it’s hard to hire via a jobs board. By investing in the community and telling your story, you’re setting yourself up not just to find a job, but to help the job find you.
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