What I do as Technical Program Manager at Microsoft

[@GalacticBacon]

MIQL in 2 years: How I became the manager of the MS Paint division

[@ByteOfMichael]

The actual dream

[@chrism4664]

Love the content you are really giving out gems. I've got a interview as a EPM at Apple so glad to get a inside look at the day to day role of a PM even though it varies widely . Keep up the great content!

[@ByteOfMichael]

Thanks man and that's awesome! I don't want this to sound like a plug, but I uploaded an interview with a current EPM at Apple a couple months ago if you are interested. Good luck with the interview!

[@chrism4664]

@@ByteOfMichael Lol no plug that’s how I found your channel first video I watched lol the content was good started watching all the rest of your content its all really good.

[@gabrieltrezza545]

Again, such a great video! I dont know how u havent gotten at least 100k subscribers yet

[@ByteOfMichael]

Aye really appreciate it dude!

[@nvasudeva]

Awesome video ! Since you mentioned about you did Machine Learning as TPM, so i have 2 questions a) How strong are you in math and stats and other skills that are needed for ML? b) What was your contribution within ML space being TPM ?

[@ByteOfMichael]

My undergrad degree was in Mathematics-Computer Science so I took about half math and half computer science classes. So I'm pretty comfortable with mathematics but I'm not doing any machine learning academic research, so I don't really use any super complex math. In terms of contribution, for my team I've planned, architected and engineered our entire machine learning pipeline/suite. So I've basically been responsible for the entire process!

[@pennymerelle]

Would love to hear more stories about projects that went off track / didn’t go to plan and how you fixed it? Would also be interested in how you plan or… really any other TPM content 🙂👍

[@Aidan_Au]

More planning and roadmap and less coding. Sounds like a TPM ;) Thank you for helping the machine learning stuff

[@morethan3]

Your channel is really helpful! I wish all the fellow cs students at my school knew it. Thank you for the quality videos 👍

[@ByteOfMichael]

Aw thanks! Glad you found it useful!

[@kateseattle]

Thank you for sharing your experience!! it's very helpful

[@ByteOfMichael]

Glad it was helpful!

[@juniorazeez702]

How do the PM and TPM roles vary at Microsoft? Great video as always. Cheers!

[@ByteOfMichael]

TPMs generally have deeper technical knowledge are able to work with both technical and non-technical people. PMs usually handle planning broader customer needs and don't get too deep into technical specifics.

[@jaydelrodriguez4910]

Would u recommend learning how to code first before trying to become a project manager?

[@ByteOfMichael]

To work in tech, I think it helps but definitely not mandatory by any means!

[@mikepariseau5157]

I'm looking at making a career move into Tech as a PM/TPM. I have a masters degree in engineering but not related to coding. I currently do the roles of a TPM of buildings and leading a team of engineers to meet program deliverables etc. Any suggestions to get into the tech TPM field? Is this reasonable with my experience without coding etc?

[@prerna3404]

Hi , i have over 8 years of experience as a mobile application developer and looking to foray into technical program manager ... I am told that cam certification would help with that ...or will the knowledge of agile scrum be enough ...do create a roadmap on how to switch to this position

[@myppkspice]

If TPM is managing the roadmap, user stories etc, what does the product manager do?

[@ByteOfMichael]

It really depends on the team, some teams might only have TPMs and no product managers. On my team the TPMs handle a lot of the developer workflow and integration. Where as the regular PMs handle more customer oriented requirements and communications!

[@lmfao7224]

How could you become a PM/TPM once you graduate from university? What route would you take, cause i’m pretty sure it’s not an entry level role

[@ByteOfMichael]

So its important to note that PM/TPM roles aren't people managers, so you won't have any direct reports (until you get to about the Senior PM or Principal PM position). But I know a bunch of new grads who became PMs directly out of college. For TPMs, the usual route is to major in a technical field like computer science. For general PMs, you can almost major in anything. Similar to software engineering, there are program manager internships that can give a PM resume a solid booster. Then you just a apply for entry PM positions!

[@xugao7708]

m:chael a

[@guugu90]

Hi Mik, what sort of tools that you using during while developing your roadmap and user story. More than that, what are the tools that you mostly use as a TPM? Regards

[@ByteOfMichael]

I mostly use Azure Dev Ops for sprint planning, Microsoft Project for broader goals, PowerPoint/Word for presentations and then Visio for diagrams!

[@26maaz]

So the scrum master leads all the scrum ceremonies. I didn't know PM at Microsoft do that??

[@ByteOfMichael]

Ya PMs are usually responsible for Scrum at Microsoft. There are no set "Scrum Master" positions

[@franciscojavier8968]

What resources would you recommend to follow the program manager path?

[@ByteOfMichael]

I didn't look into any specific resources, but potentially look into books/courses about effective program/product/project management. As well as become familiar with different styles of software development (agile scrum, waterfall etc.).

[@pepitoxd2544]

Nice shirt 😂 also I liked your video

[@ByteOfMichael]

Man of good taste

[@snehabhat4876]

I'm currently a software engineer planning to transition Into a role of TPM. Do you recommend getting certifications like CSPO? Should I also have a good git hub profile to land the role ?

[@ByteOfMichael]

I think it really depends on the company! I’d look at the job qualifications/responsibilities sections on the job posting, then tailor your resume to those. And if you see that a certain certification is mentioned a lot, then it might be worth it!

[@krislove5330]

Wooow❤🎉

[@christophersheckler4950]

They made you program as a program manager. That's really not the role of a program manager.

[@ByteOfMichael]

It can usually depend on the team and their needs!