How I Got My First Job as a Product Owner
Opportunities often come from unexpected places.
Opportunities often come from unexpected places.
I love being a Product Owner. Wearing this hat motivates and drives me to break through my limits. Yet, I had never dreamed of working in this role. How I ended up in this position is a matter of coincidences and risk-taking. I learned that the journey is what matters the most. A long time ago, a close friend told me:
“Whatever you pursue, it will always run from you. Whatever belongs to you, it will always come to you.”
Somehow I still believe in it. The most exciting things in my life happened when I neither expected nor pursued them.
What I am about to share is how I started a career I love without ever thinking about it. I will guide you through my learnings on the way, and hopefully, you can benefit from it.
How I Found My Initial Career Dream
Since I was a kid, I’ve always enjoyed everything related to math and logic. Believe it or not, I get a lot of pleasure from solving math problems, quizzes, and crosswords. At the age of fourteen, my dad enrolled me in a Microsoft Office course. I found my place with Excel and had a lot of fun with macros. That’s the moment I realized what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a Software Developer. Yet, I had no idea what the job entailed.
I wanted to be the best developer I could become. I sought to understand the career path, and then I stumbled upon the Software Architect job. I felt excited about it, and I imagined, “That’s what I want to be someday. I want to be a Software Architect!”
Years later, I got my first job as a Software Developer. I noticed the job was not as fun as I thought it could be. I realized that writing code was not as easy as solving math problems or creating macros on Excel. I imagined I would create software to help people with some of their problems, but unfortunately, I delivered some crap nobody needed.
I was frustrated because building useless software was not my dream. I had to do something about it. That’s when I became a super annoying person. I started challenging everything. I wanted to know the why behind the what. Project Managers were furious with me because I decided not to code until I understood the why behind each requirement. Then, something magical happened; I got the chance to talk to those who would use the software I developed. Since I understood the real users, I could build something useful for them. I was once again excited about being a Software Developer.
Opportunities Don’t Have a Label
After I started challenging assumptions, the job was never boring. Still, I doubted my skills as a developer; I was unsure if that was for me. What I enjoyed the most was understanding problems and finding solutions for them, but coding didn’t motivate me. I treated that as part of the job, so I decided to keep going.
Since my childhood, my dad told me, “The best investment you can make is in yourself. Educate yourself, and nobody can take that from you.” Back then, I was 22 and couldn’t speak English well, but I wanted to improve it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough resources to study abroad as I wanted. That’s why I took an immersion that sent me to a small town (Piranguinho) unknown to most Brazilians.
We could only talk in English during the immersion course, and we would have to pay a fee for every word pronounced in Portuguese. I don’t like losing money, so I did my best to talk only in English. The group had people from all over Brazil, which surprised me. The experience was unique, but the best part was on the last day. We had to make a presentation to show how we evolved our English skills.
Back then, I was working on a system to automate how production orders were calculated based on demand, inventory, and capacity. I didn’t know what to present, and I wasn’t prepared for that. So I decided it would be easier to show something related to my work. Even though this topic might be boring for the class, the assignment was more about speaking English instead of the content. I gave my best to present the why behind it and ensure the other students wouldn’t die of boredom.
After the presentation, one of the students came to me and said, “I want to talk to you about something,” then he ran to give his presentation. At the end of his speech, I realized that he was the CEO of a massive company in São Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil.
Becoming a Product Owner
I was really curious why the CEO wanted to talk to me. For the next two hours, we couldn’t speak as the other students made their presentations. After that, we had a barbecue to celebrate our development. Then, Leandro, the CEO, approached me and said, “I want to have you on my team.” I was speechless, and I didn’t know what to say.
Leandro shared with me his challenges. He said that coming from the financial world; understanding software development was tough for him. However, my presentation was clear to him, and he could understand the software’s purpose. He longed for clear communication like this with less technical jargon. We talked for half an hour or so, and he encouraged me several times to take on a new challenge with him.
The immersion course ended the next day, but I kept in close contact with Leandro. Some months later, he invited me for lunch in São Paulo. I lived around two hundred kilometers from there, but I couldn’t miss the chance. During lunch, I got an offer to work with him as a Business Analyst, and honestly, I had no idea what this position was about. He trusted I could become a great Business Analyst, and without hesitation, I took the offer without knowing what awaited me.
A month later, I moved from a small town of twenty thousand people to a massive city of twenty million. The change was insane to me, yet I was excited about focusing on the business side instead of writing code. I took many risks to do that, as I had no idea what exactly to do on my job.
A couple of months after my start, the company decided to go on an “Agile Transformation,” most of the business analysts had to leave, and the ones left had to take the Product Owner role. There I was, out of the blue, becoming a Product Owner without knowing what that meant.
I love challenges. Therefore, I embraced what happened as an opportunity. Once again, I found my place. I realized I loved being a Product Owner, though I didn’t know how to do my job well. Every day I would wake up excited to go to work, and since that day, I don’t recall a single day I didn’t learn anything new.
Final Thoughts
Opportunities are everywhere, but they don’t come to us shouting and asking us to take them. The best way to find a great opportunity is to focus on ourselves and continuously improve. Then, when we are ready, opportunities will present themselves to us.
I know many people who want to join the product world, and unfortunately, they don’t get the chance for that. The secret is never to give up; keep working on your skills and expand your network. As it happened to me, at some point in time, someone will give you a chance. I got my chance after taking an English course; I could never have imagined this beforehand.
The following picture was taken more than a decade ago. And there I was talking to the person who would open me a door to the product world. For that, I am eternally grateful.
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett
