As Maria van Keulen, a former Software Engineer turned Product Manager at MongoDB, transitioned into her new role, she was encouraged by her manager to apply for the open Product Management position on her team. Although another candidate got the job, Maria was offered the first Product Manager role in the company's Developer Productivity organization, working with the Evergreen team, which developed the internal CI/CD system. Her experience as a Software Engineer has been instrumental in her success as a Product Manager, allowing her to liaise between teams and users, understand complex topics, and synthesize data into a powerful story. Maria gained new skills, such as task management, learning to manage multiple tasks with varying complexities, and asking the right questions to build a holistic understanding of products and user bases. She advises Software Engineers interested in transitioning to Product Management to read up on the role, talk to current Product Managers, and consider having a trial period within their company. Maria's story highlights the value of internal opportunities and the importance of building relationships with colleagues and users to succeed as a Product Manager.