"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.""
Harshita Pal earned a bachelor's in electronics and communications engineering in 2013 and spent nearly a decade as a software engineer, rising to senior and lead roles at an American retailer. In 2021 she left her role, earned an MBA, acquired product management skills, and interned at a Big Tech company. She now works as a senior product manager there. Pal enjoyed engineering's logic and problem-solving but felt disconnected from the business and users and missed customer interaction. As an engineering lead she engaged in product discussions, questioned feature priorities, and proposed user-impact-focused solutions. She chose product management to influence what is built and why, adding value at a different level.
Read at Business Insider
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