Carve

Problem Statement  

Early-stage aspiring product managers need a streamlined approach to navigate their journey because the path to becoming a product manager is not well-defined.

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Problem Background  

The rising popularity of product management has created a high demand for professionals in this field. However, the lack of a clear and established path to becoming a product manager makes it hard for aspiring PMs to know where to start. Many face challenges in identifying the gaps in their knowledge, accessing helpful resources and finding relevant opportunities.

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Research Insights

User Pain Points

Our research, conducted through LinkedIn, Co.Lab SPRINT17 participants, and personal contacts, involved interviewing eight prospective users without technical software backgrounds in software. The interviews uncovered major themes and pain points, including:

• Low confidence in knowing what they need to do as their next step
• Want the ability to lean on their network for learning and opportunities, but not feeling like their network is able to provide tangible support in their career switch.

Supporting Data

• 0% of users had a technical software background
• 100% expressed some level of difficulty navigating the transition due to a lack of clarity
• 38% felt confident in their next step, despite the abundance of resources available online
• 88% feel their network is inadequate in providing them with tangible support for their journey

Feedback

Preliminary user research has revealed that aspiring product managers from non-tech/software backgrounds face a significant challenge in navigating the transition to the role. This is due to a high degree of confusion and a lack of specific guidance from career advice sources. Our research highlights the need for more targeted and actionable advice for these career switchers.

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Landing on the Solution

Based on the uncovered pain points, we want to build a solution which encompasses the following:

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Explanation of Solution

A Chrome extension with the purpose of identifying LinkedIn profiles of anyone who has transitioned from a user’s current career (point A) to their desired career (point B). This can include the following steps:

1. A user inputs keywords and/or job titles to describe their current job function or job title (point A), and in a separate box, their desired career (point B). E.g. describe sales with job title and keywords (point A), then describe product management with job title and keywords (point B). 

2. Carve identifies LinkedIn profiles of individuals who have already carved the path from the user’s specified current career (point A) to their desired career (point B).
3. User leaves Carve open or exports the list of matches, then opens LinkedIn, and reaches out to profiles of interest.

To ensure simplicity, this will remain a 1-sided application. i.e. Carve does not have an additional interface for the individuals in the identified profiles.

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Future Steps

1. Before investing any further resources into this solution, how Carve will obtain the LinkedIn profile data must be determined. While LinkedIn does offer an API, it is not free, and so Carve’s current proposed solution may not be feasible as a Co.Lab bootcamp product. 

Potential solution to be explored: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://evaboot.com/blog/search-linkedin-profiles-google&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1675803265902096&usg=AOvVaw0XnJvcsj3ZX2F0J0i3Taeb 

2. Define a narrow user segment to focus on for MVP. While the original problem space was specific to aspiring product managers, Carve can be used by all aspiring career switchers. Need to determine if this is too broad a segment for the MVP, and if so, how to narrow it down.