Product managers are the true renaissance men and women of the managerial world. They use their vast knowledge of technology to assess the value and progress of products while simultaneously juggling the personalities of the development team. They usually also serve as the mouthpiece between the dev team and the senior administration.

Typically, the development teams will want to make the best product they can and use every resource available to complete the project. Administration, however, wants a series of positive numbers indicating that the product will be on time and on budget. In the middle lies the product manager who must figure out how to word the news to both parties.

Great product managers can outline the entire process of making the product with a roadmap of milestones and deadlines. They understand that a product that is late or over budget is better than no product at all. Product managers can turn the fate of a product around which can mean the difference between life and death for a business.

But where do you find the best product managers? Thankfully, we’ve put together a list to show you just that. Here are the best 3 places to find top product managers:  

1. Product manager job boards

General job boards like Indeed and Monster are wonderful sites for posting jobs. The volume is high with millions of unique visitors clamoring to the site every month. However, there is a huge drawback to these big sites. They don’t offer you a door to your target market. They simply allow you to blast out your job listing to millions of job seekers.

While the syndication is nice, it won’t help you get quality leads. Niche job boards that strictly deal with prospective product managers are the best sites to find the best product managers on the market.

Here are a few examples of niche job boards that may be useful to you:

• ProductHire
• Product Manager Crossing
• Manager Crossing

2. Freelance marketplaces

If you’re open to remote work and hiring freelancers, then you’re in luck. Freelance marketplaces are the best place to find top product managers at an affordable rate.

You can start with freelance marketplaces can be a great place to post your project, wait for bids, and hire a freelancer. Other marketplaces like Guru, People Per Hour, and Freelancer are also terrific sites to begin your search for the best product managers.

On the other hand, you may want to consider higher quality marketplaces that have experience with matching clients with technical talent. And, there are many marketplaces that cater to that as well.

3. Recruiting firms

Want to find a product manager quickly? Then you may want to employ a recruiting firm to do the hard work for you.

With recruiters, you won’t have to worry about vetting product managers, preparing product manager interview questions, or poring over resumes and CVs. You can have a qualified agency take care of those details for you.

When hiring a recruiting firm, you’ll want to consider a few options. Ask yourself:

• Am I looking for local talent?
• Am I open to freelance talent?
• Am I willing to manage a remote employee?

Answering the questions above can help you find the right product manager recruiting firm for your needs. You can use a local, global, or entirely-remote recruiting agency to find the perfect product manager.

Conclusion

One of the more exemplary attributes of great product managers is their ability to say no to both the dev team and the admin team. Many products do not reach the completion step because of internal strife or a misallocation of funds.

If everything is not kept in tight balance then the whole thing can fall. The best product managers are proverbial trapeze artists, known for keeping their balance on the run and under pressure. The ability of the product manager to keep his/her emotions in check is of vital importance as well.

Working in product development can be very stressful and tedious. This will naturally lead to the occasional bout of unpleasantness. Fortunately, product managers are there to keep those incidents to a minimum and contained when they occur, and they always do.

The best product managers, however, can take things a step further and use their knowledge base to assess the value of a product and its eventual completion time. These few determinations, while seemingly innocuous, are the most important estimates that will be assessed.

Finding the best can be challenging; luckily with the help of job boards, marketplaces, and recruiting firms, it is possible.