How to Become a Product Manager: Kenneth Shih's Path from Data Analytics to LinkedIn
A Career Playbook Case Study
The Role
Kenneth Shih is a Senior Product Manager at LinkedIn, where he focuses on LinkedIn Learning—the platform's e-learning business that helps professionals build career skills.
So what does a product manager actually do? In Kenneth's words: "When you hear the role product manager, it usually refers to launching a software-based product—like an app or website. And the product manager's role is usually everything that's not hands-on coding the product. So, deciding what to build and why, when it should be built. While you're not involved in the actual hands-on coding, you're really responsible for the outcome and success of the product."
Product managers are essentially the "jack of all trades" of the tech world—doing data analysis, working with designers, coordinating with engineers, and collaborating with marketing. Recently, Kenneth launched an AI-powered personalized learning plan feature that tells users exactly what skills and courses they need to achieve their career goals.
The Path
Kenneth's journey to product management wasn't linear—and that's actually common in this field.
Education: USC, Business major
Career progression:
- Advertising internship
- Investment banking internship
- Utilities company internship
- Data analytics (first full-time role, several years)
- Product Manager → Senior PM at LinkedIn
Kenneth didn't even know product management existed when he was in college. He started in data analytics and spent years there before realizing something was missing: "I felt very removed from the actual building of the main product or service that my company was offering."
Growing up with an entrepreneur father, Kenneth always had an itch to be closer to the heart of building a business. When he discovered product management, the parallels to entrepreneurship clicked: "You're really just trying to understand what does your customer need, what is their pain point, and then you're building a product or solution to solve that."
To break in without PM experience, Kenneth leaned on his existing strengths: "I really narrowed my search for product manager roles that I knew were heavy on the data skill requirement." That data background became his entry point.
Compensation
Product management is one of the highest-paying non-engineering roles in tech.
| Level | Title | Years | Base Salary | Total Comp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Associate PM | 0-2 | $90K-$140K | $100K-$180K |
| Mid | Product Manager | 3-5 | $130K-$190K | $160K-$280K |
| Senior | Senior PM | 5-8 | $170K-$240K | $220K-$400K |
| Director | Director/Group PM | 8+ | $220K-$350K | $350K-$700K |
Ranges are for US-based roles. Big Tech companies (FAANG) typically pay 20-40% higher.
What Makes Someone Good at This
Kenneth identified three core traits for product management success:
1. Curiosity "You need to be someone who's constantly thinking about, 'How can I make this better?' and 'Why does whatever product or service we have now suck in its current state?'"
2. Proactivity "In product management, you're often given a lot of autonomy. You're given the target—'Hey, you need to fix this'—but you're often not told how to do it. You need to be the person that drives the conversation forward because you have a lot of people looking to you for answers."
3. Leadership "Product management is a natural leadership position no matter what age or stage of your career. Even as a new grad, you might be 22 years old working with people who are 20 years into their career in software engineering, essentially giving them a list of things to do because you decide what the product should look like."
The Fast Track (If Kenneth Could Do It Again)
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Go to a strong university and study software engineering. "I think that's probably the best major you can do to become a product manager because it really teaches you how to build software products and understand all the nuances."
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Get a software engineering internship. Show you've actually built something—not just theoretical knowledge.
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Transition your narrative toward product. Shift your mindset from how things are built to what and why things should be built. Launch side projects or small businesses to show you understand customer pain points.
Alternative paths: Product design or business majors can also work, but engineering gives you the strongest foundation.
Advice for Students
"You don't always need to know what you want to do next, but you do need to know what you don't want to do next."
Kenneth tried advertising, investment banking, utilities, and data before finding product management. Each experience helped him calibrate what he liked and didn't like.
"Just don't be afraid to try new things. Move fast, and slowly you'll figure yourself out and learn what your preferences are."
The validation moment came in college when Kenneth joined a competitive case competition team. Analyzing companies, understanding their problems, and making recommendations—that problem-solving skill set is exactly what product managers do every day.
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