Generally speaking, it may take you 4 to 6 years to become a product manager after completing your high school education. You must at least complete a bachelor's degree to work at entry-level. Many students also pursue a master's degree in a related field such as advertising, finance, marketing, accounting and statistics.

Technology, market, and business are top 3 major skills required. Technology expertise is about how the product works. From their daily interactions, technology experts pick up a deep understanding of product and technical capabilities; they achieve this by playing with the product, by discussing it with customers and developers, by reading and reading and reading. Market expertise is a focus on geographic or vertical markets, either by country or by industry. They know how business is done in that market. They know the major players, and the jargon or colloquialisms of the market. Business expertise is where your traditional business leader or MBA graduate brings strength. These experts know the mechanics of business and can apply that knowledge to your product. A business-oriented expert knows how to use research to determine product feasibility, can determine how the product generates profit with lots of financial analysis to back it up.