I am currently a PO and browsing job postings. I see a lot of PM roles that seem to be similar to my role as a PO. In my current org, PM is over seeing multiple teams and POs. Are some companies using PO/PM interchangeably?

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IMO (this may be wrong so take it with a grain of salt)

My understanding of the main difference between PO and PM is that PO leads the execution/delivery while PM develops the product via marketing research, collaboration with stakeholders, and with CX always at the forefront of their considerations. So PM decides what to build while PO leads the day to day activities of the team building it. To me, PM communicates with a lot more ppl because they have to get requirements from stakeholders while PO mostly communicates with PM to get those requirements.

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I have a year of experience and have been bypassing the PM positions, thinking I likely won’t have the experience qualifications. Sounds like I should not bypass them due to the title. Thanks everyone!

likeupliftinghelpful

100%

Stress what you’ve done if it falls under the PM umbrella as well, best way to make the switch is to show them “I’ve basically been doing PM work during this time, I’m a low risk hire”

likehelpful

Likely. Many folks aren’t clued in to the nuances between the roles, especially at startups, I find.

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PwC I’ve never seen that model used, and respectfully disagree. However, I’m the last person that would say it’s “wrong”: if it works for the team then that’s what matters at the end of the day.

My experience matches PD1 and especially FNBN1.

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In big tech, there’s no PO, they usually just use PM. I think POs should and apply to PM roles.

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PO is typically dev team facing while the PM is customer facing.

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PO is technically a role from the scrum framework. As mentioned above many companies are clueless to what it is but in general POs are closer to delivery (when) and PMs to customer (why)
It depends what’s your cup of tea, working on sprints, estimations etc to deliver something someone else in the company brings to the table (eg. commercial stakeholders) or going outside to talk to customers, bring context to the team and prioritise on what needs to be solved first.

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I have found people definitely use the terms interchangeably. I have done 2 PM roles and 1 PO roles and most duties overlapped.

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Yes. Currently I’m in a small product team where I do everything bar the coding.

In my previous organisation I did strategy and research alone. PO in charge of execution.

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A PO and a PM are not only different roles but different specialties. If your company are even putting them in the same hierarchy they've misunderstood the concepts of the roles.

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This comment feels somewhat one-sided. Every company is different, but if you look at the FAANG companies, the PO/PM is the same role. And I would argue those companies are the ones who have figured out how to do product well.

People often get this so confused. A PO is not a PM in the true since that at PO is just a role you play on a scrum team. A PM CAN be a PO, but in it’s essence a PO is not a PM. Some big organizations do just that and get so confused.

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There is a difference. Most companies don’t understand the difference. We use PO improperly at my current company so I change the title to PM on my LinkedIn and resume. Real question is do you have a preference?

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Should i even pre-empt myself by mentioning this role naming issues to the hiring manager at some points during the interviews?

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