u/Safe-While4516

been sitting with this for a while and figured i'd just say it.

i'm 25f in mumbai, trying to break into product marketing, and i keep running into the same wall. i don't have 2 to 3 years of formal corporate experience, and that seems to be the one thing i can't get past.

i've been applying to roles consistently, easily in the hundreds at this point. most of the time it just disappears. no response, no rejection, nothing. that part has honestly been more draining than actual rejection.

when i do hear back, it's usually one of two things. agencies say i'm overqualified or "too strategic." product and pm roles say i don't have enough experience. so i end up in this middle zone where i don't quite fit anywhere.

instead of waiting, i built my own. over the past year i designed and shipped two ai products around gtm strategy and behavioural decision-making. i worked across problem framing, positioning, user flows, messaging, and diagnosing where things break in the funnel. they're live, being used, and i've iterated based on real user behaviour.

i've also done freelance work for a medical practitioner in the uk on repositioning and messaging, and research-heavy projects involving segmentation, conjoint pricing, and marketing mix modelling.

but none of this seems to translate into what hiring systems recognise as real experience.

i recently applied to a freelance network and got waitlisted for the same reason. lack of formal experience. which pretty much summed up the situation.

right now i'm trying to figure out the most practical way forward.

do i take an execution-heavy role just to build that experience layer first? do i double down on freelance and try to build a track record that way? is there a smarter way to bridge this gap into pmm roles?

and practically, how do people get their first real break into pmm without already having pmm experience?

if anyone has navigated this, i'd genuinely value guidance or mentorship. even a short conversation with someone who's been through it would help more than most things i've tried so far.

and if you're building something and open to collaborating on positioning or gtm thinking, i'm interested. i know what i'm doing with this stuff.

Been sitting with this for a while and figured I’d just say it.

I’m 25F in Mumbai. I moved back to India after a Master’s in Marketing from Leeds University Business School, and I’ve been trying to break into product marketing since.

I keep running into the same wall. I don’t have 2 to 3 years of formal corporate experience, and that seems to be the one thing I can’t get past.

I’ve been applying to roles consistently, easily in the hundreds at this point. Most of the time it just disappears. No response, no rejection, nothing. That part has honestly been more draining than actual rejection.

When I do hear back, it’s usually one of two things. Agencies say I’m overqualified or “too strategic.” Product and PM roles say I don’t have enough experience. So I end up in this middle zone where I don’t quite fit anywhere.

Instead of waiting, I built my own. Over the past year I designed and shipped two AI products. One helps early-stage founders think through go-to-market strategy and prioritisation. The other applies behavioural science to real-world decision-making. I worked across problem framing, positioning, user flows, messaging, and figuring out where things break in the funnel. They’re live, being used, and I’ve iterated based on real user behaviour.

I’ve also done freelance work for a medical practitioner in the UK on repositioning and messaging, and research-heavy projects involving segmentation, conjoint pricing, and marketing mix modelling.

But none of this seems to translate into what hiring systems recognise as real experience.

I recently applied to a freelance network and got waitlisted for the same reason. Lack of formal experience. Which pretty much summed up the situation.

Right now I’m trying to figure out the most practical way forward.

Do I take an execution-heavy role just to build that experience layer first?
Do I double down on freelance and try to build a track record that way?
Is there a smarter way to bridge this gap into product marketing roles?

And practically, how do people get their first real break into PM or PMM without already having PM or PMM experience?

If anyone has navigated this, I would genuinely appreciate guidance or mentorship. Even a short conversation with someone who has been through this would help.

And if someone here is building something and is open to collaborating on product or GTM thinking, I’m interested. I know what I’m doing with this.

been sitting with this for a while and figured i'd just say it.

i'm 25f in mumbai. i moved back to india after a master's in marketing from leeds university business school, and i've been trying to break into product marketing since.

i keep running into the same wall. i don't have 2 to 3 years of formal corporate experience, and that seems to be the one thing i can't get past.

i've been applying to roles consistently, easily in the hundreds at this point. most of the time it just disappears. no response, no rejection, nothing. that part has honestly been more draining than actual rejection.

when i do hear back, it's usually one of two things. agencies say i'm overqualified or "too strategic." product and pm roles say i don't have enough experience. so i end up in this middle zone where i don't quite fit anywhere.

instead of waiting, i built my own. over the past year i designed and shipped two ai products. one helps early-stage founders think through go-to-market strategy and prioritisation. the other applies behavioural science to real-world decision-making. i worked across problem framing, positioning, user flows, messaging, and figuring out where things break in the funnel. they're live, being used, and i've iterated based on real user behaviour.

i've also done freelance work for a medical practitioner in the uk on repositioning and messaging, and research-heavy projects involving segmentation, conjoint pricing, and marketing mix modelling.

but none of this seems to translate into what hiring systems recognise as real experience.

i recently applied to a freelance network and got waitlisted for the same reason. lack of formal experience. which pretty much summed up the situation.

right now i'm trying to figure out the most practical way forward.

do i take an execution-heavy role just to build that experience layer first?
do i double down on freelance and try to build a track record that way?
is there a smarter way to bridge this gap into product marketing roles?

and practically, how do people get their first real break into pm or pmm without already having pm or pmm experience?

if anyone has navigated this, i'd genuinely value guidance or mentorship. even a short conversation with someone who's been through it would help more than most things i've tried.

and if you're building something and are open to collaborating on product or gtm thinking, i'm interested. i know what i'm doing with this stuff.

I’m asking this half jokingly, but also not really.

I’ve been applying for Product and PMM roles for months now, and it genuinely feels like there’s an invisible layer to hiring that I’m not part of.

I recently moved back to India after my Master’s in the UK. My background is in marketing and behavioural science, and over the past year I ended up doing what everyone says you should do when you don’t get opportunities. I built my own.

I’ve shipped two AI products end to end. Figured out positioning, built the flows, worked on GTM, tracked user behaviour, iterated based on drop-offs. The whole thing. Not just courses or case studies, actual products with users.

And somehow, none of that seems to translate in the hiring process.

Applications go into a void. Cold emails mostly get ignored. Even roles where I know I’m a strong fit don’t convert into conversations.

At this point it’s hard not to feel like applying online is not how people are actually getting PM jobs here.

So I’m trying to understand what I’m missing.

Is everything driven by referrals? If yes, how are people realistically building those connections without already being inside the system? Are there specific communities or groups where these opportunities circulate before they ever show up on job boards? What actually worked for you beyond just applying and waiting?

I’m not looking for polished advice. I just want the ground reality.

Because right now it feels like there’s a closed loop, and I’m standing outside it.