Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 9:05 AM MT – Idaho

I’m sitting in a Starbucks wondering how this will all come out. I’ll be stopping and starting where I want. I have a long road ahead, an essential part of this process.

Below is where this will begin

Thursday, March 16, 2023, 2:32 PM ET – Vermont

When I looked to see who was calling on my watch, I noticed that the phone number was from Bend, Oregon. Usually, I just let it go to voicemail if I don’t recognize the number, but for some strange reason, I took the call.

I was cleaning out my tool bag, trying to get Nicole to notice that I was ironically vacuuming it, much like in one of our favorite movies, Amelie. The tool bag was a small basket with a handle that was open on top and was not really for actual tools but rather something where we kept our scarce collection of tools that we brought with us a few months ago when we relocated to Vermont.

I accepted the call and listened while attaching a vice grip to the outside believing that I would need to access it in a rush. Vice grips are once a year tools, if that.

“Jeff, I’m afraid I have to share some bad news,” or at least in my memory, that’s what Brad’s brother, Scott said.

My attention shifted away from my tools and reality.

At first, I thought Brad was in the emergency room again after one of his many adventure sports stunts. However, as Scott continued, I quickly felt this was the worst news.

“…he fell and suffered a brain bleed…” and “…is in the ICU…” and “we’re waiting for Brad’s girlfriend to drive to the hospital before…”

While Scott did his best to convey the news objectively, I knew exactly what it meant.

The call ended with Scott telling me a decision would be made later that afternoon.

I’ve picked my path.

I was laid off on November 30, 2022.

Honestly, it didn’t come as a huge shock because I have been following the industry closely and the trajectory has been slightly sloping downward for a while now.

I’ve spent the last two months analyzing economic trends and decided to pursue something different.

Stay tuned for updates as I investigate this avenue.

When I began the journey in April, I was convinced I would write every day. I hadn’t considered how little free time I would have working my full-time job AND working on this career shift.

Until I officially enter the product management world, my main priority is to do my current job better than ever. I am now challenged to prove to coworkers and supervisors that pursuing this new career path does not affect daily business. Also, because I have shared this goal with the team, I am aware that there is likely heightened scrutiny of the job I do now. Despite this, the pressure has helped me thrive in both.

So what have I been doing since the last entry? Aside from the above, I’ve had nine interviews with product managers, product owners and business analysts to learn about their career paths and to seek out any “tips” they may want to share to help me along the way.

After introductions, I first ask, “which certifications do they feel like employers value the most?” The answer to this question has already saved me thousands of dollars on potential online courses. Nearly all of them have emphasized not to look at certifications as a way into a company, but more as maybe the tie-breaker when two people with the same experience are competing for the same role.

The biggest surprise from the interviews is how much people love sharing their stories and passion for their job. Every person I spoke with (usually over Zoom or similar) had so much to offer about my approach, the hiring process and what they felt was the most critical skill to hone.

Every call left me buzzing, feeling like I was part of their team, if only for a moment.

Aside from the calls, I have taken six introductory-level courses covering Roadmaps, Agile and Scrum, JIRA and other “product management 101” classes. My excitement about the topics has led to pages of notes and some giant mind maps of how everything connects in the product management world.

Though I’m about a month behind schedule, I finally have regular contact with the product team at my company. I am now sitting in on some meetings and listening to product roadmap presentations. I hope to shadow someone on the team for a few hours a week before the fall. My primary job comes first, so carving out that time is a work in progress and might have to happen after/before my primary job.

My next step will be to obtain a Scrum Product Owner certificate. Many whom I spoke with had this certification, and I believe, from an external perspective, it sends a message to potential employers that I have put some skin in the game.

While it’s likely the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon (frequency illusion), I feel like product management roles are increasing across companies. I’ve just recently noticed the concept of treating my industry (journalism) like a product is gaining momentum at forward-thinking media companies. While that will be a massive cultural shift with plenty of change management, I can see this happening in the next five to ten years.

I had hoped that when I began these updates, each would be full of wisdom that could be utilized down the road who may want to try to do what I’m doing. Very quickly, I’ve learned through learning about product management that it’s essential to evaluate ROI and not waste time on things that may not yield results. With this in mind, I will update this when I can but not before prioritizing activities that will bring me closer to this career path.

A quick post to share that I’m organizing everything in a series of tabs in one spreadsheet.

It’s too soon to know if this is the wrong approach, but to me it feels right. I’ll adjust as I go. “Drafts” is my other go to tool…raw text.

So far I have made the following tabs (and managed to fill out many rows with information.)

• Contacts (people that can help me on this journey)
• Disciplines (what are they)
• Certification courses I have found
• Glossary (A VERY long list of product management specific industry terms that I need to learn.)
• Media on Product Management (Books, movies or other sources to contextualize product management.)
• Halfaslong.com Headlines (I have a process)
• Screengrabs/scrap area (Dump links here when they are too dense to unpack in the moment.)

The main focus should be on people. I have at least 20 people on the list so far with almost a third that I have made some sort of contact with. My main goal will be to ask them some or all of these questions:

1. What does a product management certificate (or other certificate) really mean for employer?
2. Why would I pursue it?
3. Does it really make a difference?
4. What’s the ROI on these certifications?
5. Are more jobs going to come my way if I am certified in certain areas?
6. (Conversation) Looking for input
7. Is one better than the other?

I have a few meetings lined up next week and will be using the results to hone my choice in certification/training pursuits.

We want to maintain our commitment to social distancing. For that reason, we are reluctant to spend time inside homes, restaurants and other indoor venues. This is guiding much of our decision making.

Additionally, we are going to be fluid while traveling. We won’t (shouldn’t) be making plans much further out than two weeks. With that, we’re not going to be to commit to activities unless it falls inside that window. With that commitment will also be the possibility that we may cancel plans on very short notice. Reservation cancelation policies will not affect our decision making. We may lose a few dollars here and there to fees, but we prefer to be agile in our travels as it’s a very strange time

9:05 PM PDT: We are in the house.

8:22 AM PDT: Day 11 happened, just didn’t post.

1:39 PM PDT: Sitting in the passenger seat of the 4Runner again because my back hurts from sitting inside the trailer.

It’s pouring down rain outside and the GFI on the power has already tripped once. Easy enough fix, hope it doesn’t happen again.

Someone is welding a tractor part in the field in front of me in this downpour. Just when I think I have it bad, I look out and see that poor guy.

8:22 PM PDT: Long day, but we got out of the camper (after an epic dance party.)

We did some scouting of a future place for our camper (we like to have backup plans.)

We finished our day with a game of “Password” via Zoom with our friends in Boise. Here’s to new experiences.

It rained at twilight and made it apparent that mud is our new enemy in the camper.

Short entry, maybe a longer one later.