How Neriyah Oren got into Product Management

Neriyah Oren

Product Manager

First product job

🐣 Joined a company as a PM in 2016

Before becoming a PM

💼 Project Manager

💻 1 year of exp. in tech companies

🎓 Law

The Story

How did you land your first job as a product manager?

Back in Brazil I studied Law and worked mainly in the business law field. Once I moved to Israel, I thought that learning Accounting and Information System would be a nice continuation of my studies and would give me a broadened view of managing businesses and understanding the market.

After my B.A here in Israel, I joined the Air Force as a Project Manager, organizing huge joint efforts with other countries air forces.

After that, it was only natural for me to continue doing project management. But, eventually, I got bored: at the end of the day, in project management, you have a budget, you have resources, you have a deadline, and you have to make everything happen. Don’t get me wrong, it was cool because I had to be on top of everything, managing everything in one hand and, you know, wearing a lot of hats. But I didn’t have space to be creative and use my strategic thinking.

My drive to be always learning new skills and be part of a dynamic atmosphere made me think of getting into the hi-tech world. More specifically to be a Product Manager, as I realized back then that this would be the role that I could use all my capabilities and be able to be creative, define strategies and be a big player in any company. But of course, it’s not so simple, especially in Israel, where product managers tend to have a technical background.

At that time I thought that my next logical step would be learning how to code. And I did so, only to realize that it wasn’t the way to becoming a real product manager. I understood that the only way to bridge myself and compensate for the technology gap as a product manager was to go into fintech, where I could be an added value for the company. Here it is important to stop and say that this is a great tip to those wanting to break in product management - use your background to give you an advantage in order to land your first job. Remember that we always need to bring an added value to the company that you work for.

In my head, It was the most natural choice because of my accounting and project management background. In a fintech company, I would be able to add value, and I knew how to speak in “financial” terms.

Of course, it wasn’t easy, though. Just using your background as a bridge to Product Management is not enough. I read all the books I could, went to dozens of meetups, met a lot of people, got a mentor and even still, it took time!

Here it is worth mentioning that a mentor is very important for your career development. Not just to learn from someone with experience but also to shorten your learning curve. There are a lot of information about Product Management. You need someone to tell you what to invest your time.

Finally, all the hard work paid off: I landed a job in Modelity Technology, a B2B classic fintech company, creating software for banks in the field of Structured investment products.

Did you ever build or lead any side-projects outside of work before becoming a PM?

My main side project that was prior to becoming a Product Manager was always to help new Israeli citizens to adapt and thrive here in Israel. Nowadays I manage a community called Olim Success Stories but this started back then when I personally understood that one of the main pain points for a new citizen is the lack of network in the new place.

The challenge

What was the biggest challenge in your first year as a PM?

The ability to understand what is the real problem and not to jump to the solution. We should fall in love with the problem and not the solution. Once you understand what is the real problem there are many ways to solve it. The difficult part is to know what to ask and reach the root of everything.

Did you have an MBA before getting your PM job? How did it help?

I don’t think it changes a lot

Connect with Neriyah Oren on Linkedin

How Neriyah Oren Got Into Product Management

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