How can I get a job as a program manager? One former Microsoft PM reports reaching a salary over $250,000 after nine years at the company. However, promotions can give you a significant boost. Glassdoor estimates that Microsoft PMs make a total salary of $134,000 on average, compared to a Microsoft SDE making $130,000. She also discovered that she’d sent an average of six emails a day, many PMs’ go-to line of communication to stay connected with the program’s various stakeholders and end-users.įortunately, the level of organization and attention to detail required by the PM role is amply rewarded. With the vast breadth of their domain, they need to communicate with a variety of departments in the company, including marketing, legal, design, and development, as it pertains to their program.Īn outgoing Microsoft PM wrote an article reflecting on her time in the position, where she found that she had spent 2,136 hours in meetings over her 34 months at the company. With all of their responsibilities, it would be nearly impossible for most program managers to find the time to code anyway. “You need to have enough knowledge to read the documentation and understand it at a high level, but you don’t need to know how to implement it,” Caryl says. However, writing code isn’t a requirement for most Microsoft PMs. The dev team said if he wants to be a developer, he could just flip the switch and they’d take him.” “It’s very dependent on your particular job,” she says. She said she’s noticed lots of diversity in the program managers she’s met so far. Caryl Henry is a program management intern who was supposed to be in Seattle this summer, but is adjusting to remote work instead in the midst of the pandemic. Many others have made similar observations. Recruitment for Microsoft program managers can be competitive, even compared to software engineering positions, as the ratio of PMs to developers is estimated around 1:6 or 1:8. One former Microsoft PM wrote a blog post about her time in the position, saying that she switched teams multiple times before finding one where she fit in. Likewise, while product managers guide the development of a single application or feature by communicating with engineers and user experience designers, program managers have a larger crowd of stakeholders that they speak with to oversee the program through every step of the process.Īs mentioned earlier, the PM role can vary greatly in different parts of the company. Some describe the distinction between project management and program management by defining the difference between a project and a program: while a project is driven by a single overarching goal, a program is made up of interrelated projects with a wider array of objectives. Instead of taking responsibility for a single product or project, a program manager is in charge of the larger vision of how a team runs. However, the general expectations for the role are distinct from its more common counterparts. Just like in product, where the size and industry of your firm can make a significant difference in your responsibilities, program management roles can vary by company, and even from team to team within Microsoft. At Microsoft, this role is similar to a product manager role at FANG The position isn’t unique to Microsoft other tech companies like Amazon and Google have their own program manager roles, and Facebook has technical program managers, who fulfill a similar need. The program manager role can be hard to describe, particularly because there’s no single definition. We’re going to break down why the program manager job title exists at Microsoft, what it’s like, and how you can become one. With product and project managers already a staple in the industry, Microsoft’s program manager role can seem redundant.Īt the same time, it’s a highly sought-after position that plays a key part in the company’s success.
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