Sunday Rewind: Domain expert or practice expert: Your product management career

In this week’s Sunday Rewind former MTP Managing Director Emily Tate looks at career paths and what sort of product expert you might want to be. Do you get expert in a specific domain or try to work for lots of different types of companies?

Emily sees two general types of career paths: the domain expert, and the practice expert. She says neither path is inherently better than the other – they are just different ways of navigating your career. 

Domain experts focus on the industry first - your constant is the industry, not necessarily the practice. This could be really attractive if you enjoy trying different functions. The downside is that you get pigeonholed, and if the industry takes a downturn it might be tough to find a job. You might also find you’re solving the same problems over and over again.

A practice expert has deep knowledge of product practices, and knows how to apply them to solve problems in any domain. They can have a really varied career path, but might find it harder to get a foot in the door in some industries. 

Emily concludes: “Regardless of whether you decide you’re more a domain expert or a practice expert, the most important thing I’d like to encourage if you have the ability to do so, is to think intentionally about your career as you look at your next steps.”

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