r/MindfullyDriven

Engineer trying to move into product. Learning the business side myself since no one will teach me.

Been a software engineer for six years. Good at the technical stuff. But lately I'm more interested in the why than the how. Why are we building this. Who is it for. What problem does it solve.

Want to transition into product management. Problem is every PM job wants PM experience. Classic catch-22.

Talked to my manager about it. Got the usual "we'll find opportunities for you to get exposure." That was eight months ago. Nothing happened.

Realized no one is going to hand me this transition. Have to build the skills myself and prove I already think like a PM before anyone will give me the title.

Started learning everything product managers need to know. On my own time. Treating it like a second job.

Started using BeFreed for most of it. It's a personalized audio learning app. Can learn during commute instead of adding more screen time after work.

What I've been learning:

Product strategy. How to think about roadmaps, prioritization, trade-offs.

User research basics. How to understand what customers actually need vs what they say they want.

Business metrics. What matters. CAC, LTV, retention, activation. Finally understand what leadership talks about.

Stakeholder management. How to influence without authority. Critical for PMs.

Frameworks. RICE, Jobs to be Done, opportunity scoring. The mental models PMs use.

The flashcards helped me retain all this. Now I can actually contribute in product discussions using real terminology.

The AI coach answered PM-specific questions. Asked how to write a good PRD. Got a framework I used for a side project.

What I'm doing with the knowledge:

Volunteering for cross-functional projects at work.

Asking better questions in sprint planning.

Writing product specs for features before engineers ask for them.

Building a side project as a PM not an engineer. Making all the product decisions.

What's working:

Product team notices me now. Getting included in more conversations.

Had an informal chat with a PM director. She said I think like a PM already.

Interview lined up for an internal PM role next month.

What's hard:

Still have my engineering job to do. Learning on top of that is exhausting.

Imposter syndrome. Do I actually know this or just read about it.

No guarantee this works. Might still get rejected.

Anyone else made a career pivot through self-learning? How did you prove yourself?

Job hunting is soul crushing. Learning while unemployed kept me from spiraling.

Got laid off three months ago. First time in my career. Wasn't expecting it. One meeting and suddenly I'm packing a box.

The first few weeks I applied to everything. Dozens of applications a day. Tweaking resumes. Writing cover letters. Refreshing email constantly.

Then the rejections started. Or worse, silence. Applied to 100+ jobs. Heard back from maybe ten. Got ghosted after interviews I thought went well.

Started feeling worthless. Spending hours on applications that disappeared into the void. Rest of the day just doom scrolling and feeling sorry for myself.

Needed something productive to do with the hours between applications. Something that felt like forward motion when everything else felt stuck.

Decided to use the time to learn skills that might actually help me land something better.

Started using BeFreed. It's a personalized audio learning app. Gave me something to do during the long empty afternoons.

What I focused on:

Interview skills. How to tell better stories. STAR method. How to answer the questions I kept fumbling.

Salary negotiation. For when I actually get an offer. Wasn't going to lowball myself again.

Industry knowledge. Trends in my field I'd fallen behind on while employed.

Networking psychology. How to reach out to people without feeling like a desperate beggar.

Personal branding. How to position myself better. Redid my LinkedIn based on what I learned.

The flashcards kept me sharp. Reviewed concepts daily so they'd be fresh for interviews.

The AI coach helped me practice. Asked it to throw common interview questions at me. Talked through my answers out loud.

What changed:

Feel less useless. At least I'm improving while waiting.

Last few interviews went better. Using frameworks I learned.

Networking is working. Had actual conversations instead of awkward asks.

Got a second round interview yesterday. Cautiously optimistic.

What's still hard:

Rejection still hurts. Learning doesn't fix that.

Some days motivation is gone. Hard to study when you feel hopeless.

Financial stress. Knowledge doesn't pay rent.

Not a solution to unemployment. Just a way to stay sane and maybe come out stronger.

Anyone else job hunting right now? How are you staying productive?

Someone asked me what my hobbies were and I blanked. Literally couldn't think of anything. My whole identity was my job.

Work was all I talked about. All I thought about. All I did. Weekends were just recovery time before more work.

Went on a date and had nothing to say. She asked what I was into. Best I could come up with was "I like to relax." She didn't text back.

Started noticing how boring I'd become. Conversations with friends were just me complaining about work or listening to them talk about their actual lives.

Had no opinions on anything. No interesting takes. No random knowledge. Just work stuff nobody wanted to hear about.

Decided to intentionally become a more interesting person. Not for dating. For myself. Wanted to have actual thoughts about the world.

Started learning random things. Not career related. Just stuff that seemed interesting.

Started using BeFreed. It's a personalized audio learning app. Could explore topics without committing to books I'd never finish.

What I've explored:

Philosophy. Can actually discuss ideas now. Have opinions on free will and ethics.

History. Random periods that fascinated me. Can tell stories about the past.

Psychology. Understand people better. Including myself.

Science concepts. Basics I should have learned in school but forgot.

Art and culture. Started having takes on things.

The flashcards helped me actually remember stuff. Can bring up random facts in conversations naturally.

The AI coach let me go down rabbit holes. Asked weird questions and got interesting answers.

What changed:

Have things to talk about now. Not just work.

Dates go better. Can actually hold a conversation about ideas.

Friendships improved. More interesting to be around.

Started having actual opinions. Not just nodding along.

Feel like a fuller person. Not just my job title.

What I noticed:

Being interesting is a skill. You can build it.

Curiosity compounds. One topic leads to another.

People want to talk about ideas. Not just surface stuff.

Work life balance isn't just about time. It's about identity.

What's still hard:

Still default to work talk sometimes.

Some topics I know surface level but not deep.

Imposter syndrome about being "interesting."

Better than being the guy who can only talk about spreadsheets.

Anyone else realize they'd become boring? What did you do about it?