An Associate Product Manager is a newly graduated candidate that learns to work with product management under an experienced product manager. A Product Manager looks after the product management that includes the strategic planning, development, functional requirements, and product launch. Let us see about Linkedin APM.
This article represents the life of an Associate Product Manager (APM) in a well-known company named LinkedIn. They must survive in a comfortable yet challenging work environment. The article also elaborates on the APM program, hiring process, internship, salary, benefits, advantages, and challenges related to the LinkedIn APMs.
Introduction To LinkedIn
LinkedIn Corporation is one of the largest American businesses and a worldwide network that hires millions of employees and offers different products, global identity, job postings, and employment opportunities to millions of individuals. It got launched in 2003, while its headquarters are in Sunnyvale, California. It is the child company of Microsoft and has 33 offices across the globe.
The company generates revenues from various sources and gets guided by CEO Ryan Roslansky. Its revenue was more than $10 billion by 2021. LinkedIn gets used by numerous users with ease because it is free of cost.
LinkedIn APM Program
LinkedIn allows newly graduated candidates to join the company as Associate Product Managers (APMs) through an APM Program. They get guided by various experts to work on real-life projects and step into the shoes of the Product Managers. Such training offered by a famous company like LinkedIn has a much higher standard than the education and training provided by the colleges.
The APMs must work across different teams after every nine months. This rotation occurs only twice during the program. Every class contains only up to 12 selected candidates consisting of external and internal candidates. They will get evaluated after every six months. The company offers the best possible resources in these cases.
LinkedIn APM Hiring Process
Most candidates apply for the position of LinkedIn APM online. Similarly, the number of candidates having positive interview experience is the same as the number of candidates having a negative experience.
Application
The candidates can apply for a full-time position or an internship for the role of an APM. They might also apply online or through an employee referral or campus placements. LinkedIn hires the employees according to the need. However, it mostly accepts the applications for the role of APM from September to the initial week of October.
Interview
The interview process lasts between 1 to 5 weeks. The interviewers make the hiring process comfortable for the candidates. The interview questions revolve around leadership, product design, entrepreneurship, user experience, analytics, background, experience, technical and product expertise, and more. The company conducts both telephonic and in-person interviews. It can get felt that the interview process is easy, but the company gets too choosy while selecting the candidates.
Educational Requirements
The candidate must be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Arts or Science with related majors. The candidates pursuing an MBA must have a technical or product-related background.
Required Skills
Along with the educational background, the candidates must possess the following skills:
- The candidates must possess leadership, entrepreneurship, and organizational skills.
- Creation of a product or a company, leading a group, or earning a scholarship is essential.
- They must have been a part of a well-known organization as interns or fellow employees.
- The employees must communicate the product features to the related stakeholders and teams. The employees must also work with different team members in the company.
- They must work across different phases of a product life cycle.
LinkedIn APM Internship
LinkedIn APMs go through the same application and interview process and must possess the same skills as the full-time APMs. Only their educational requirements change.
The following are the educational requirements for the position of LinkedIn APM internship:
- The company looks for active students that will be graduating within a year.
- These candidates must also possess leadership and entrepreneurship skills. Developing a software application, product, company, or club is a must. They must also work with a related company before applying to LinkedIn.
LinkedIn APM Salary
The salary of an Associate Product Manager (APM) in LinkedIn ranges between $114,000 and $175,000 per annum. Most employees get paid $143,000 per annum.
LinkedIn APM Benefits
Some of the employee benefits offered by LinkedIn are as follows:
Education Reimbursement
The company will pay for the higher education, tuition, and books for the employees who want to study further according to specific criteria.
Health Insurance
LinkedIn provides financial support for its employees and their families if they face some health issues. It prevents the employees from having an additional burden on their pockets.
Paid Parental Leave
The employees can enjoy parental leaves to make arrangements for their kids or dependent family members. In such a case, the company will pay for them.
Life Insurance
The beneficiaries will get a lump sum after the death of an eligible employee. Thus, the company protects the future of the beloved ones of its employees.
Paid Time Off
In this paid time off, the employees can utilize several continuous days as a vacation, sick, or personal leave.
Fertility and Adoption Assistance
The company supports the employees with their fertility-related treatments and adoption processes. So, the companies must understand these types and requirements of the employees.
Paid Shutdown
LinkedIn employees get paid during a week of a shutdown to enjoy the end of the year.
Advantages Of Being A LinkedIn APM
LinkedIn APMs have earned the potential to shape the future by developing advanced products accordingly.
The following are the advantages of being a LinkedIn APM:
Mentorship
The employees get to learn on the job by the better product experts. APMs often get guided by the Business Strategist, CEO, Co-Founder, and Senior Product Managers. Every APM gets a mentor assigned
Comfort
Employees have personal coffee chats with their mentors. The mentors guide them, make them realize their strengths and weaknesses, and improve them. The employees do not get expected to get right for the first time. However, they must get quite fast with the grasping. Thus, the employees feel comfortable in the environment.
Contacts
The LinkedIn employees get to know each other as a part of the work. They can maintain long-lasting relationships and develop themselves at the professional and personal levels. They get tied together with the bond of friendship. They also enjoy the trips and parties together. They are more than only co-workers.
Learning
The LinkedIn APMs learn to create and optimize small and large products. Similarly, they can work on existing and new strategies. They can see another side of a marketplace. They learn to build impactful solutions and create a fresh piece of content.
Leadership
The APMs learn to lead the smaller teams at first and then the larger ones. They can present new product features over different countries and contribute to the strategic and overall growth of the company.
Challenges In Being A LinkedIn APM
The following are some challenges in being an Associate Product Manager (APM) at LinkedIn:
Selectiveness
LinkedIn is too selective in the hiring process of the APMs. It receives numerous applications for the positions, but only a handful of them get selected.
Difficult Interviews
The candidates must go through around five interviews consisting of three telephonic interview rounds and remaining in-person interviews. The interviewers make the environment comfortable, but the questions are too tricky. Also, some candidates might find the interview process organized, while some might not.
Adjustment
Though LinkedIn APMs experience professional growth, it is limited. The APMs might find it hard to get adjusted to the work environment of another company in the future after working for LinkedIn.
The Same Mould
The employees might find that the company is trying to fit them in the same mold. They might not get more opportunities outside the United States.
Conclusion
The APM program acts as an alternative for individuals with no degree in product management. Big multinational companies get expected to conduct this program. LinkedIn APMs deal with the product lifecycle right from making a product design to launching a product. For that, they get guided by the product experts. Newly graduated candidates get an opportunity to develop leadership and management skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What Other Companies Offer The APM Position?
Answer:
Some companies (other than LinkedIn) that offer the APM position are Uber, Google, Meta (Facebook), Yahoo, Apple, Twitter, and Lyft. Microsoft is said to have the most APM positions.
- When Do Associate Product Managers (APMs) Fail?
Answer:
APMs fail if they do not spend enough time to understand what the customers need. They will not understand the impacts of their strategies in such a case. They might get attracted to the trends instead of understanding what customers want. Their job is rewarding and more demanding.
- What Is The Career Path Of An Associate Product Manager?
Answer:
An Associate Product Manager can get promoted to a Product Manager, Senior Product Manager, Product Leader, Director, Vice President, Chief Product Officer, and more.
- How Is Life After Product Management?
Answer:
The Product Managers can go for product sales, business strategy, or even build their startups.
