After nearly a decade of working as a software engineer, Harshita Pal quit her well-paying job at an American multi-national retailer to pursue a completely different path: product management.
Despite earning her bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications engineering in 2013 and working her way up to senior and lead roles within the field, Pal decided in 2021 to make what she called a “thoughtful pivot.” The pivot involved getting her MBA, learning a completely new skill set, and landing an internship at a Big Tech company.
The risk paid off; today, 33-year-old Pal is a senior product manager at the same Big Tech company where she interned.
Pal enjoyed software engineering, but she loved working with product
It wasn’t that she disliked being a software engineer, Pal told Business Insider; in fact, she really enjoyed the logic and problem-solving involved in it. And despite software engineering often being considered a stressful career, she said she felt she learned over time to navigate the pressures effectively.
Rather, Pal realized she felt a disconnect between the code she was writing and the broader business or user context, and felt frustrated by the limited interaction she had with customers.
As the engineering lead, Pal’s main focus was on technical delivery, but she found herself naturally drawn into the product discussions.
“I started asking questions about the user journey, challenging the priorities of features, and suggesting alternative solutions based on how they would impact users,” Pal said. “That’s when it all clicked for me: what truly excited me wasn’t just the act of building the product, but rather influencing what we created and the reasons behind it.”
She homed in on product management as the career path that connected with her passions. “It wasn’t about leaving engineering behind; it was about moving toward a place where I could add value on a different level,” she said.
Once Pal knew it was time to shift gears, there was no turning back. She quit her software engineering job in 2021 and began moving toward making her vision a reality. “It felt like a short-term sacrifice and an investment in my career,” Pal said.
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Here are the steps the former software engineer took to successfully pull off this major career change:
1. She joined an MBA program
To acquire the skills and knowledge she’d need, Pal started an MBA program at the University of California, Irvine, the same year she quit her software engineer job. She believed this path could lead to a better leadership position with more responsibility and greater pay down the line.
“To transition from engineering to a product role and excel in it, I realized I had to develop a solid grasp of finance, marketing, strategy, and entrepreneurship — areas that weren’t really part of my daily routine as a software engineer,” Pal said.
Pursuing an MBA provided her with the structured learning and exposure to business concepts she craved. Beyond the coursework, Pal took the opportunity during the program to connect with product leaders, dive into hands-on projects, and start thinking like a product manager. She also made it a point to learn how to present her engineering achievements in terms of product and business impact.
“In the end, it was a combination of enhancing my skills, positioning myself well, and seeking relevant experiences that helped me make this transition,” Pal said.
2. She landed an internship
To get to her target of landing a tech product management role, Pal said she shaped her entire experience around achieving it — from the classes she chose to take to the projects she engaged in to the people she networked with.
To gain practical experience in her new field, she secured a three-month internship at a Big Tech company. The process started with Pal crafting a compelling narrative for her internship application that linked her engineering background to product management.
“I showcased my problem-solving abilities, technical know-how, and passion for user and business outcomes,” she said. She also actively pursued chances to hone her product thinking skills through case competitions and side projects.
The internship application process also required an online assessment and interview rounds, which involved practicing product sense, estimation, and behavioral questions.
She made use of her MBA program’s career services for résumé building and interview preparation, and reached out to product managers at her target companies, leveraging those insights to inform her own interviewing strategy.
Pal dove deep into preparing, doing mock interviews with friends, classmates, alumni, and other job seekers she connected with online who were preparing for similar roles.
“This helped me polish my responses, get comfortable with the types of questions I might face, and build my confidence,” she said. “I believe that level of preparation truly helped me land the job.”
3. She received a full-time return offer at the company where she interned
During her internship, Pal focused on earning her team’s trust by building strong working relationships and demonstrating that her engineering background and MBA training translated into impact. At the same time, she actively built connections with other employees at the company in similar roles outside her team.
After completing her internship, Pal received a return offer for a full-time product manager role at the same company, once she graduated.
She believes that even if she hadn’t been given a return offer, the relationships she built within the company would have been critical for referrals or consideration for other roles within the company.
Pal’s new career feels like a better fit than being a software engineer
As a software engineer, Pal said, she mainly focused on executing — building features, tackling technical challenges, and maintaining coding best practices. “My main focus was on implementing and delivering based on set requirements,” she said.
While she was happy doing so, Pal said she feels “more fulfilled” after her career change. Now, her role as a product manager involves doing what she loves: figuring out what her company needs to build and why it matters.
“I shape the product vision; set priorities; and ensure alignment between user needs, business goals, and what’s technically possible,” Pal said. “It encourages me to think big, keep innovating, and stay tuned in to what our customers really want.”
Do you have a story to share about making a career pivot? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at [email protected].
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