Pre-Med Track, Switzerland, & Google APM Intern

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi! I’m Cassandra Marshall, a fourth year Computer Science student at Georgia Tech and previous Google APM Intern. During my time at Google I worked in the YouTube Shopping Viewer Experience and Engagement team.

I originally was in a Pre-Med track and studied Biomedical Engineering. While I knew I wanted to make a positive impact on people, I slowly realized that I wanted to have more impact than I could on a pre-med track, and that was around the same time when I was taking my first couple CS classes. Computer Science seemed a lot more interesting, but I did feel a fair bit of imposter syndrome thinking of switching majors midway through college.

Eventually I decided to try it out and did a bit of research in the different areas within tech, and mass applied to a bunch of internships and landed a PM Internship at a mid-sized tech company. I didn't know that much about product management but it was an amazing experience, and from there I completed a couple other technical internships and leadership roles in various organizations where I cemented the idea in my head that I really enjoyed PM.

That led to my Google offer where I worked in Zurich, Switzerland as an associate product manager intern and now I’m back applying for new grad PM and APM roles!

Program Structure & Locations

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

Yes, so for the Google APM internship, you have to be in your final year of school and there’s about 35 interns, with most of them based in the Bay Area. There’s also a lottery for three people to be sent to New York, which is always a very desired and competitive location. Most of the interns come from a technical background, namely CS, with strong leadership and business acumen.

There’s a separate application for London and Zurich (still part of the 35 total interns), and they ended up taking three people for London and three people for Zurich (these have been the numbers for the last couple years but I am not sure if this is set in stone each year). I applied to both the US and Zurich programs because I have work authorization for both as a US and German citizen, and I got interviews for both locations.

Throughout the program you stay on one team, and you can work on almost any product across Google. Some people work on flagship products like Cloud and Google Docs, and I ended up working in YouTube shopping, which was a lot more of a scrappy/new team which was what I had requested for in my preferences. There is a ton of leadership and development throughout the program. You also get paired with an APM buddy and an APM coordinator who help with any product management related questions and growth.

APM Intern Week!

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

Yes, something really cool about the APM internship is they have an APM intern week! This is where they fly everyone (who is not already in the Bay) out to the Bay Area for a week of events, leadership development, networking, and other various programming. It’s super fun and during my cohort we even got to meet the Vice President of Product Management for Pixel phones and accessories, Brian Rakowski, who was also the first APM Marissa Mayer hired at Google and now he runs the APM Program.

Interview Structure & Google’s Six Buckets

What did your interview structure look like and what will it look like for this year?

Overall, I had one first round interview, and then a take home assignment, and then 3 interviews back to back. Google has six ‘buckets’ they pull questions from for interviews (product insights, strategic insights, analytical, cross-functional collaboration, craft and execution, and [Full-time role only] Googleyness and Leadership) design, strategy, estimation, behavioral, technical, data analysis). For the first round, I expected more behavioral questions, but this ended up being about a strategy question along with a few others. The strategy question was roughly along the lines of a “Should Google offer a ___ competitor?”. I also had an analytical/estimation question in the first round.

I then had a take home case study with a very open-ended prompt about launching and building a product, and I did my best to outline a framework/strategy prior to doing it since you only get 4 hours to complete it. The goal with the case study seems to be to get a gauge for the sort of decisions you’d make if you were a full-fledged PM and how effectively and concisely you can communicate ideas and technical concepts.

Finally, there’s the super day. For me it was online, and this is where you can have anywhere from three to five interviews – I had three 45 minute back to back interviews with a 15 minute break between them. I had a cross-functional collaboration question, product insights question, and a few more. Luckily for me, I felt I really connected with my final interviewer beyond just answering the questions well, and I think that’s one of the things that helped me in this interview process.

Leadership & Passion for Product

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and what recruitment strategies would you recommend to others?

One of the biggest things I’ve really realized about being an APM at Google is how important it is to have both a strong technical and leadership background. Being a product manager is kind of like being a micro-entrepreneur, and it’s important to be well rounded in order to do that successfully.

I also think having a good career story and actually being passionate about why you wanted to go into product management is really helpful. For me that meant being a first-gen college student, and wanting to build accessible products. Google really cares about diversity, and so embracing what makes you unique and relating it to PM is something that I think helped me.

You should also leverage all the experiences you’ve had, and do your best to position them in a way that they can showcase your PM skillset. For example, I’ve talked about experiences from a startup class I’m taking at Georgia Tech, to being a teaching assistant, along with my experiences at a smaller tech company in the past.

Learning Lessons, Future Plans, & APM

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

So I learned a ton this past summer. It was honestly unbelievable, and the knowledge I gained about how products are built, shipped, and how decisions are made at Google was so fascinating and something I’m definitely going to be taking with me wherever I end up next.

As far as the next play goes, once I graduate from college this Spring I definitely want to end up in the PM world as an APM or within another product facing role, and somewhere down the line I think it’d also be really cool to have a ton of autonomy and be at a startup making all of the product decisions.

The job market’s definitely tough right now, but I'm doing my best in this job search to find a new-grad role!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

NYU, Portland, and Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, my name is Andrei Stoica and I’m a current APM at Warner Brothers Discovery!

I recently graduated from NYU where I attended the Gallatin School, an individualized study college where I got to pick all of my own classes and name my major. I majored in Human Computer Interaction and Ethical Innovation Systems – at the intersection of tech, design, history, business and finance as it relates to startups and innovation. My interest in these topics started at my hands-on high school.

I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and after moving to NYC I dabbled in multiple fields – tech, VC, design, etc., and eventually found product management. This is how I got my start at Warner Bros. Discovery as an APM Intern.

Internship & Full-Time Structure

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

The program has definitely changed a bit following the merger of Discovery and Warner Brothers, but here’s what I’ve experienced and my best guess of what it may look like:

Regarding the Internship, there is typically a group of interns from all around the world for PM, Engineering, and Data Science. Those interns get placed onto a team and work as a sort-of junior/associate product manager throughout the summer, and have the opportunity to present a project at the end.

For the APM program, it’s definitely dependent on the team. I’ve seen people have rotations like a typical APM program, but there’s not a blanket structure - it depends on you.

Mentors and Perks!

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

Yes, there’s a really strong support system starting from the internship and continuing into the full APM program. We each get mentors that we see pretty routinely, which is nice since they’re typically from a separate part of the business and can give you a fresh perspective.

There’s also some pretty cool perks, and during my program they ranged from getting to see movies early in the Hudson Yards Screening Rooms to volunteer opportunities relating to media or NYC – I got to clean books at the Brooklyn Book Bodega!

Interview Structure

What did your interview structure look like and what will it look like for this year?

For my internship, I had a Hirevue interview (behavioral type questions) followed by a basic phone screen and super-day.

During the super-day I interfaced with a mix of engineers and PMs, and answered case questions while getting to know some of the potential people I might work with in the future. I would also say, a lot of my interviewers genuinely seemed to care about getting to know me and my work style, and I really appreciated that.

For the APM program there were no additional interviews, and my team placement was based on a two way conversation of how I wanted to grow in my first few years as a PM and what the teams were looking for skills wise.

Unique Backgrounds and Passion Projects

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and what recruitment strategies would you recommend to others?

I think I have a fairly unique background, and I believe a lot of people at WBD have that on the tech side. To give some more context I work within the advertising umbrella, and a lot of us joined a media company team because we're interested in stories.

As far as advice, I think highlighting why you want to work at Warner Brothers Discovery specifically compared to any other APM program will help you stand out. Saying you like movies and shows doesn't really make you stand out. If you have any relationship to the IP of WBD, or have worked on passion projects relating to media, definitely mention that! .

Salary Insights

What is the average starting salary for program participants?

While it can be location and role dependent, the U.S. has a roughly $100k starting, with a signing + yearly bonus at the end along with stock options.

Future Plans & Long Term Products

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

Yeah, so right now I’m just excited to grow in this role while getting used to working on products with long timelines. Coming from 3-6 month internships in the past, it’s super cool to work on a product and think long term.

In the past as an intern I couldn’t impact the core too much in my short time working… but now that I'm managing the core experience of apps like TNT, TBS, HGTV, and TLC. I’m adjusting to working on bigger picture products where I’m managing the entire experience. It’s been really enjoyable so far, and I’m excited to see where everything goes in the next few years!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Warner

Brown, Shark Tank, & Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I'm Ifechi Ilozor! I studied Computer Science and Applied Math at Brown, and now I'm at Salesforce in the full-time Associate Product Manager program. In the past, I interned twice at Salesforce, first as a SWE Intern and then as an APM Intern.

My journey into PM started with “Shark Tank” and my childhood idol Kevin O’Leary. I thought my career path would be investment banking → private equity → venture capital → boom, Mrs. Wonderful. Fittingly, I applied to college as an Econ major. It was only after I learned more about the roles within those fields that I realized while I still liked the business side of things and interacting with people, the IB to Mrs. Wonderful pipeline probably wasn’t for me. After switching to CS, I discovered Product Management, which I felt was the perfect combination of my former “Shark Tank” aspirations and my newfound passion for technology. And that’s the condensed version of how I got into PM!

Program Structure

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

It's a two-year rotational program with three eight-month-long rotations. 

For your first rotation, you’re placed onto a team based on what the APM Leadership Team knows about your background and previous experiences, and in your next two rotations, your preferences are more heavily taken into account. 

Finding Community

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

The Salesforce APM community has been a huge positive for me. I think for a lot of people including myself, starting a new life in a new city as a new grad is very scary, but the support system within the APM program has been amazing. The transition to new grad life was much easier and more fun than I would have ever expected. I feel I’ve gained lifelong friends, mentors and advocates.

Interview Structure

What did your interview structure look like and what will it look like for this year?

While I didn’t have to interview for the APM full-time role since I took my return offer from the internship, here’s a breakdown of my intern interview process:

1. Phone Screen: general 15-minute resume walkthrough and temperature check — at the time, we also had a coding screen, but that’s no longer a requirement.

2. First Round Interview: mix of behavioral and product questions.

3. Super Day: three back-to-back interviews consisting of design, product, and analytical interviews.

Keep in mind that this is my experience and the process has changed a bit for current prospective interns!

Resumes, Experiences, and Referrals

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and what recruitment strategies would you recommend to others?

Honestly, I obsessed over my resume, making sure each piece demonstrated clear impact since I didn’t have any prior PM roles. I was able to “sell” myself as a PM because I showcased my impact and relevant skills in adjacent experiences.

Keep in mind that you don’t need a bunch of PM experiences on your resume for an entry-level role like an APM program. There are plenty of other things that can demonstrate your capability as a PM; it’s all about how you “sell” it, i.e., showcasing impact.

For the interview, I always kept a level of positive and upbeat energy, which is true to how I generally am and I believe helps to make a good impression.

Finally, I’d recommend getting a referral, although make sure it’s a strong referral. There’s a big difference between asking random people on LinkedIn and having someone champion you.

Salary Range

What is the average starting salary for program participants?

For full-time, it’s around $140k along with an RSU package. In terms of progression, there's a yearly increase for inflation and you can get raises without getting a promotion based on your and the company’s performance.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

While I’m not entirely sure, staying at Salesforce is the most likely option for me. I've really enjoyed my time here so far, and I hope to continue learning here for the next few years!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Poker, University, & General Background

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi! I’m Tyler, a current Rotational Product Manager at Zynga, a mobile games company. I’m currently in my first rotation and work on the Poker team.

I went to a small university called York University in Toronto, Canada, and studied Business Administration with a focus on operations and information systems. In terms of my general background, before starting at Zynga I worked at a couple of FinTech companies within the grocery delivery and sports teams space, and even had the chance to work with the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs.

I also have a newsletter called Tyler Talks Product, where I try to democratize information for those trying to land tech internships and break into Product. We break down a lot of really common product terminology, talk about people's experiences, and show people that starting a career in product is totally possible with the right resources.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s the link: https://tylertalksproduct.substack.com/ 

Program Structure & Timeline

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

Sure, so Zynga has two sets of 6 month rotations, where you work on a different game each rotation. After that, the hope is that you get fully placed on a game. In terms of recruiting timelines, applications came out around September, interviews typically happen around November, and final rounds + the offer come out around January.

Becoming a Data Expert

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

I think what's really important to understand about Zynga is they're really data focused.

While a lot of companies do say that, I think Zynga stands out whether it’s in the form of their experiments or the way that they handle reporting, and they’re really focused on making sure that they're analyzing as much granularity as possible from their data. I think that's really great for someone that's starting out though, because I think being an expert at analyzing data is a superpower that many product managers want to develop.

The culture’s also great, and everyone’s been really nice and welcoming.

Interview Structure, Resources, & Processes

What did your interview structure look like and what is your advice for acing them?

While the interview process does vary each year, I would say that the typical questions contain a lot of product design questions and my advice would be to read The Product Manager Interview: 164 Actual Questions and Answers and to go watch the product management mock interviews on the Exponent YouTube Channel. If you do that, you will find questions that will not only be replicated during interviews at Zynga, but also a bunch of other PM programs.

In terms of my approach for interview questions, I would say that it's not so much about getting the right answer, but more about diving into the right process and putting yourself in a position to articulate well, and to be able to explore insights that other candidates won't. For example, following the standard structure will probably reveal insights that a lot of candidates will reveal. But, if you look at the problem from different viewpoints, you're probably going to get different insights compared to your peers which can help you stand out.

Company Awareness & Side Projects

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and what recruitment strategies would you recommend to others?

So standing out is definitely important, especially with how competitive rotational programs in products are. That said, here are my top three pieces of advice:

1. Be hyper aware of what the company does: I think a lot of people think that being aware of a company is a really easy thing to do, but I think it extends deeper and it's about finding insights that other people don't have. For me, I think games are really fun since there's a lot of opportunity to understand it from a human psychology perspective. So while applying, I over-indexed on that.

2. Meet as many people as possible: Whether that comes in the form of drawing a connection with someone and hoping it helps you stand out on the panel applications or asking for a referral, it all helps.

3. Work on side projects: I obviously wrote my newsletter, which was a really big thing that I used to show my passion about product and to show that I wanted to help people at scale, but side projects can really vary. If you want to start a side project, my main advice would be to do something you truly enjoy, not just to do what someone tells you to do.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

Yeah, I think one thing I really appreciate about Zynga is the idea that they're really focused on the idea of connecting people through games.

I personally really enjoy the social component of any product, and hopefully in the future I’m able to continue working at Zynga, or at least on a product that emphasizes the social aspect in a similar way. Apart from that, I heavily value learning, and for the time being I’m just focused on doing whatever helps me learn the most!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

UT Austin & Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi! I'm Kaci, a current second year Rotational Product Manager at Inuit. I work on the Inuit Assist for QuickBooks team, where we get to work on a generative AI-powered financial assistant for small business owners.

I went to school at UT Austin, and I studied Management Information Systems and Informatics. Originally in college I was actually interested in being a UX designer, but after a friend of a friend introduced me to a product management club and I learned what PM is, I realized the work in product seemed a lot more intellectually fulfilling and meaningful for me. I then went on to try my hand at PM through a PM internship at Redfin, loved it, and now I’m in a great program at Intuit continuing to develop my product knowledge and skills with some amazing people!

Also a quick disclaimer: All views are my own and not reflective of Intuit’s views.

Program Structure, Rotations & Buddies

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

So there are three total rotations, with the first rotation being one year, and the second and third rotations being six months each. Some people end up rolling off and staying within the team for their second or third rotation though, and others continue to rotate through the whole program.

Because Intuit has multiple products including TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and MailChimp, you could even end up working in three different products with three different types of customers. As the driver of your own career, you get to decide what skills you want to build in each rotation, what career you want to have, and what kind of PM you want to be in the future. The Intuit RPM program is very personalized and tailored to your interests and development areas, and will take all of this into account when matching you with each of the rotations.

To help you get acclimated to the new job, you also get an RPM buddy–another RPM who is a year ahead of you. I happened to receive two buddies: one RPM in the cohort above me (shout-out to Tumi!) to help answer any questions I had about Intuit and RPM and another RPM two cohorts above me (shout-out to Eric!) to help answer any questions I had about the specific team and rotation I was in during my first year. Having a second team-specific buddy doesn’t always happen though–I got pretty lucky.

Community & Small Businesses

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

I think the strong sense of culture and community definitely surprised me. In the RPM program, you’re surrounded by super kind, wonderful people who you can always reach out to when you need help with anything or just joke around and have lunch with . Because Intuit’s RPM cohort size is small, you get to meet and connect with a lot of RPMs who are one year, two years, three years, X-years ahead of you and feel like you can go to them for anything. My cohort has 11 people (with 2 based internationally), and I’ve had the chance to become really good friends with everyone both inside and outside of work because it’s just the 9 of us. The community is such a huge perk, because you don’t feel like you’re alone when you’re navigating these big, scary hurdles such as moving to a brand new city and straightening out your finances.

More broadly at Intuit, it’s been cool to see its mission of “Powering prosperity around the world” especially for small businesses embodied on-campus. I’ve seen a ton of local businesses and pop-ups hosted on campus and some of the food we eat for lunch is even catered by small businesses. I think Intuit really cares about its customers, especially small businesses, and so they’ll do things like host small businesses, buy their products to support them, and give them out to employees to increase small business brand exposure.

Interview Structure

What did your interview structure look like and what will it look like for this year?

I had two rounds of interviews. My first interview consisted of a project walkthrough, live case study, and some behavioral questions. My second and final interview consisted of another project walkthrough and a take-home case study.

For this year’s full time interviews, my understanding is that there will be a phone screen and two rounds of interview, subject to change.

Tailor Your Resume

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and what recruitment strategies would you recommend to others?

While I’m not entirely sure, my best guess would be the breadth of experiences I’ve had. I came from a design background and was a business major with some technical knowledge, and I also had some leadership experience within various clubs. While not everything I did was directly product management related, I do believe the skills I’d picked up from my various experiences indicated I could be successful in the RPM role at Intuit.

In regards to standing out, definitely tailor your resume based on the company. I speak not just for Intuit, but for all the companies that you apply for. Every company is going to be different in terms of their values and what they look for, so do your research and think about how you can exhibit and showcase shared company values and product competencies on your resume.

Salary Range

What is the average starting salary for program participants?

The current starting salary ranges from $117,000 to $158,000. It’s heavily dependent on a lot of different factors and individual circumstances. Regardless, general tip: always negotiate! :)

AI Product Management & Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

The current plan is to continue at Intuit, and I think AI Product Management is my next move. That’s technically what I’m doing right now in my current rotation, but I’d love to continue building domain expertise, become a thought leader in this space, and help others become AI PMs too since that’s where we’re all headed. In terms of 5-10 years, I think it’s hard to give you a definitive answer because of how quickly things have been changing in the past couple years (thank you, ChatGPT), so for now I’ll leave that TBD :)

iykyk

iykyk.careers

5 Disney Internships, LinkedIn Top Voice, and WayUp’s Top Intern 2023

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi! My name is Morgan Young. I'm a rising senior at the University of Nevada, Reno, studying Computer Science and Engineering with minors in Math and Entrepreneurship. I’m currently in my fifth internship at Disney. Specifically, I’ve done two IT Service Management internships, two Associate Product Manager internships, and my most recent internship is as a Product Management and Analytics Intern. I’m also a LinkedIn content creator, which led to me becoming a LinkedIn top voice for the next generation of 2023. Most recently, I also received the title of WayUp’s Top Intern of 2023.

A Huge Program With a Variety of Roles Across All Disciplines and Lots of Intern Activities

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

The Disney intern program is very different from a lot of other internship programs. First of all, it’s a huge program with over 1,200 last year and I believe it’s the same number this year. It also spans across so many different fields of study, from biology to film to engineering. So if you’re studying life sciences, you can apply for an internship to take care of the animals in Disney Parks or if you’re interested in film-making, you can work on writing, staging, lighting, or creative animation.

In terms of recruiting, every business unit, for example Disney Parks Experiences, Disney Streaming, ESPN, and ABC, has their allotted amount of interns as well as their own recruiting process. Tech roles at Disney do follow the typical tech recruiting cycle, while other positions might have different timelines. Although each business unit is separate, the entire internship program still hosts activities for all of the interns every single week. The events are more location-based, so a lot of Burbank and Glendale interns, for example, do a lot of stuff together.

Make The Most of Your Internship

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the program?

Disney internships are like “a choose your own adventure.” You have a job title, you know the person you directly report to, you have responsibilities, but you’re allowed to color outside the lines. What I mean by that is that, you don’t just have to do only what you’re given or what your job description outlines. You can do so much more than just that and sometimes they will encourage that actively. Your Disney internship is really what you make of it.

Lots of Meetings Everyday

What does your day-to-day as a Disney PM Intern look like?

Being a Product Manager means very different things across the Walt Disney Company, depending on where you work. For me, my particular role in enterprise technology is an internal-facing one, which means that I help manage design, engineering, marketing, and analytics of all of our enterprise software. So, that includes stuff that we purchase from third party vendors as well as proprietary stuff.

I think that one of the things that I love about my job is that it never looks the same. Like no day ever looks the same as the next, but my one constant thing is meetings. I usually have a minimum of three to four meetings and up to eight on my worst days. Other than that, I do some product design, software engineering, product analytics, and a little bit of marketing work on a day-to-day basis.

The best part of my job is definitely being able to listen to people’s problems and solving them to make their lives easier.

The Number of Interviews and Its Technicality Vary from Role to Role

What was the recruitment and interview process like?

The recruiting process depends on the business unit, but I’ll talk about my experience. I had two interviews, one phone screen with a recruiter and then one with a hiring manager. I only interviewed with one person because that was the only person who would decide on whether or not I got hired. Even though I only had one interview after my phone screen, I have friends who had up to three subsequent interview rounds. So, how many people you interview with after the phone screener really depends on how many people have a stake and influence in your particular hiring process. Whether or not you have a technical interview also depends on the role and business unit you’re applying for. I know a couple of Software Engineer Interns who didn’t have technical interviews at all, but I also know some that did and the same goes for Product Management.

On average, the entire process takes around two to two and a half months, and you can find all of Disney’s internships on the Disney Careers website page.

Make Sure Your Resume Is as Close to Perfect as Possible

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

Here’s my hot take on this, don’t rely on referrals and networking so much when you’re early in your career. After you’ve had your first internship, that’s a totally different story, but during my freshman year, I just applied to as many jobs as I could.

I applied to 150 internships, to be exact, during freshman year and I went through more than 19 interviews to get three offers and one of which was Disney. My biggest thing was that I got my resume really, really good so that I could catch people’s eyes and I knew that I also needed to get it in front of the right people’s eyes. So, really make sure that your resume is polished and optimized so that when the right people do see it, it’ll catch their attention. Also try to add as many metrics as possible and have at least one really big thing, I call it a brag stat, that’ll compel people to want to interview you.

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

Totally depends on the job title, business area, and internship location. I know for Imagineering, you can typically expect a range anywhere between $20-$30 for undergrads. For Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar, it’s on the lower end, between $15-$25 dollars. For Studios, Corporate, and DPEP, it’s typically between $25-$40. For anything graduate (MBA, MS, MEng, etc), it’s typically between $40-$50

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

My Disney internships have definitely affected my career plan. When I started college, I thought that I was gonna be a Software Engineer, but after freshman year, I realized that I’m not the best at programming. I’m definitely good enough to get by, but it’s not really what I love. I wanted something that was more people facing and a little bit more creative. So, when I found product through Disney, I realized that it was really my space because I really love being involved in building things and creating solutions for consumers. That’s definitely something that I realized throughout my time at Disney.

With that being said, as far as my five to ten year career plan goes, I have no idea where I’ll be. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more self-aware and I can acknowledge that I don’t really have it all figured out and I don’t know everything yet. I will never know everything. In the past three years, I’ve done a lot of exploring with product, venture capital, consulting, and that’s opened me up to a whole new world of job possibilities. So, I really have no idea what my next play is, but all I can tell you is that I want to be building really really amazing things in technology.

Value Your Soft Skills

Do you have any advice for people who want to pursue Product Management or a career in tech?

Do not under-emphasize or under-appreciate the value of soft skills because that’s something that’s almost like a unicorn quality in tech. A lot of people that are very technical and have technical education do not necessarily have soft skills. When I say soft skills, I mean the ability to public speak, communicate with higher-ups, and work well with others. I recently got this piece of advice from the President of Walt Disney World: you have to play well with others and be a team player. If people don’t want to work with you because you’re unable to work with all different types of people, that’s going to be a possible career stopper as people won’t want to work with you.

/iykyk

iykyk.careers

From Consulting to Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

I’m Jasjit, and I’m a Lead Product Manager at Hinge, but my background is in consulting. Back in college, I studied Marketing and Information Management because I really loved understanding how the marketing elements of a business intersect with data analytics to build truly meaningful experiences for people. After graduating, I was in consulting for about four years with the first two years being in tech consulting. I was focused on helping clients solve problems and scale tech-driven solutions. The second two years were more on the strategy side, where I used design thinking to align executive teams on their mission, vision, and go-forward strategy.

I decided to leave consulting to try something new, smaller, and closer to the end user experience so I joined Havenly, an online interior design company, as a PM. Two years later, I moved back to New York City and joined Hinge’s product team. I will have been here for two years this October!

Connecting Ideas to Build Meaningful Experiences

What led you to product management as a career?

I love thinking about and solving big problems. I also enjoy building an audacious vision, but then chunking it up into doable pieces. In this role I feel more closely connected to the end user which I feel like I wasn’t able to do as much in consulting.

The biggest reason I was interested in product is because your job as a PM is to collaborate and work with many different people. In this role, you get to collect different inputs from users, functional teams, the business at large, the macro environment, etc to identify problems you want to solve for and come up with interesting solutions. Ultimately, product management is really this idea that you, as a PM, get to be the connector of all these different pieces and make them come to life in a really beautiful way.

Center Marginalized Voices in Product Creation

What led to your understanding of the importance of product inclusion and equity?

I originally was interested in the topic because outside of my day-to-day at work, I care deeply about social justice issues. I got into product as a PM in 2020, and that was also a time where many tragic events were taking place including the murder of George Floyd. I was spending so much time after work thinking about these issues and it made me think that “there has to be a way where these two worlds can meet.” By no means do I think product inclusion or any tech role can solve for large, structural inequities and discrimination in the world, but I do think there is a way to make our day-to-day jobs more meaningful as very small contributors to social good. That’s when I started looking up ways that I could weave what I care about outside of work into my job and discovered product inclusion. I read Building for Everyone by Annie Jean-Baptiste and I started to learn more about how we can weave inclusion into the product lifecycle.

We talk about product inclusion in so many ways if you think about products like Pinterest – how you can look for makeup by skin tone or hair products by different types of hair. Those types of examples are all things where I’m like woah, how cool would it be if your job was to build products for underrepresented groups, or to scale any product with an inclusion-driven lens. I think people often think about DEI as a trade-off to your bottom line – we can make some money or we can service these underrepresented groups, but it’s actually that we can make money because we better serve different communities.

How do you center marginalized voices throughout every phase of product creation? Given that this is a newer space, what are some challenges?

The way that you can help ensure product inclusion stays at the forefront of your product processes is by making sure it’s integrated into the lifecycle. So when you’re ideating on problems or coming up with solutions, you ask yourself things like: Who would best benefit? Who would this not benefit? Or if it’s a problem, who is this mostly hurting? That’s where you really start to acknowledge who you are building for and as a result, who is left out.

I like to use personas as one way to help bring different audiences to life and make it feel more real. Personas aren’t ever fully representative but they do provide an anchoring point to drive inclusive product decisions and empathy. I also like to segment user feedback by various demographics to see how different ideas impact various groups (another reason for having strong partnerships with your customer insights, research, and data teams). Once again this is often directional and you risk overgeneralizing but it’s helpful in at least providing a framework.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

From Marketing and Business Development to Product Operation

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi! My name is Lena, I’m a rising Senior at Barnard and I’m double majoring in Economics and Theater Studies. My past experiences are mostly related to Marketing, specifically Public Relations (PR), and Business Development. My first internship was at Ogilvy, an advertisement agency, and then I moved into beauty and tech companies after that, specifically as a PR and Business Development Intern. Now, I’m a Product Operation Intern at TikTok.

Maintaining a Product as the Primary Job and Assisting the Marketing Team on the Side

What is Product Operation exactly? What encompasses your role?

I would say Product Operation is kind of similar to Project Management, but it’s more focused on how the product is maintained and ran. In my role, I manage one of the smaller programs called a match program, which is basically matching creators with each other for TikTok lives. We have weekly and monthly matches, depending on the creator’s size and revenue. So, on a day-to-day basis, I’m mainly connecting with creators to arrange time for report and revenue check-ins. On the side, I assist the TikTok Marketing Team by creating their newsletters as well as campaigns.

Well-ran Intern Program with Lots of Check-ins and Feedback

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

I’ve worked at different companies that don’t usually have a program for interns, but TikTok has a specific one and it’s really well managed and structured. For the internship, there’s a hiring manager who oversees the entire program and then there’s an intern manager who assigns projects to you. I have a one-on-one with my intern manager every week, and she makes time to check in on my project progress and assigns me new tasks once I’m done with the previous one. Everyone else on my team is also really helpful, because they’d give me instructions and feedback on projects.

We had three days of onboarding, where we get to read materials about the team as well as meet with the team members to better understand our role, internally and externally.

Three Rounds of Interviews

What was the interview process like and what made you stand out as an applicant?

It started with a campus recruitment process, then I submitted my application and had my first round with HR. They mainly asked about my availability and scheduling for the summer, which is pretty standard. After that, for my second round, I interviewed with one of the managers from the team and he was asking me questions related to product, my background, and my past experiences. Then for the third round, I interviewed with my direct manager for the internship. There were standard behavioral and technical questions, and she was basically explaining what the team is doing in general and the specifics of the Product Operation Intern role.

As for what made me stand out, I’m honestly not sure, but I think that for this role specifically, they wanted someone who has experience in product as well as sales/marketing. They wanted someone who would be able to operate the product as well as communicate with the creators to make sure that they understand our campaigns.

Interest-focused Networking

Is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

I think that talking to people, specifically on the team that you’re interested in, is really important. Network around your specific interest. If you do this, you’ll be able to directly share your interest with the team and have a better insight into what they are doing.

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

I would say that it’s comparable to other tech internship roles. For undergraduate students, the pay tends to be lower than graduate students.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

I’m thinking about staying in tech, maybe at TikTok or another company, go to graduate school, or explore Finance as a possible career. Those are probably my options for now.

Seek Out a Wide Range of Experiences Before Transferring Into Product Operation

What advice do you have for people wanting to go into Product Operation?

If you’re interested in Product Operation, I think it’s good to have exposure to different industries, like Marketing and Business. Most of my coworkers started in Marketing, Sales, or Product Management before they came into Product Operation, since there’s more opportunities for entry-level work there. I also think it’s really valuable to have experience in school clubs, since that’ll give you more management opportunities and soft skills for the operations role.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Exploring Software Engineering and Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, my name is Andres Lam! I'm a rising junior at UC Berkeley, studying Computer Science. I grew up in Seattle and have an associate's degree from Bellevue College in Arts and Sciences. Before university, I worked in education as a debate coach for a small company in Seattle called DebateAble LLC. I went into university thinking I want to be a Software Engineer, but I'm still exploring and pivoted a little. I ended up interning as a Product Management Intern at a healthcare startup, called Ro, last summer, and now I’m interning as a PM again at Uber

12 Week-Long Project

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

Uber has a variety of internships, primarily in software engineering, finance, product management, data science, as well as machine learning. The internship takes place in the summer for around 12 weeks. Interns usually have an internship project or are embedded in a team. In terms of structure, it’s comparable to other tech internships.

End-to-End Project and Fast-Paced Culture

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the APM program?

I was surprised by how fast it moved, but I really aligned with my mentor on what I wanted to get out of the internship. I wanted to see a project from end-to-end, from ideation to experimentation. There are also only two UberSTAR Product Management Intern this summer, in the United States. This is the first year UberSTAR has had PM interns. More broadly at Uber, there have only been a few PM interns in the past 2-3 years.

Treat Your Interview Like a Conversation and Prep A Lot Through Mock Interviews

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

I’m not entirely sure what made me stand out, but my mentor said I did well in the case interview during my last round. Because I’ve done a lot of behavioral interviews, I know about the STAR format, where you structure your interview answers in a very precise way. But personally, I’ve found that being more genuine and speaking off the cuff, while still maintaining some structure, has been the most effective to me in interviews. So, my advice is to treat the interview like a conversation. As for product sense interviews, practice makes perfect. I definitely practiced a lot of Product Management interview questions beforehand and if they throw anything new at me, I’m able to give a reasonably polished answer in an organized way because I’ve prepared a lot prior to the interview.

My best advice is to do as many mock interviews as possible. They can be with friends, people you meet online, or even yourself.

Three Rounds of Interviews

What was the interview process like?

I recall having a call with the recruiter, then I had a behavioral and product sense interview with a Director of Product of the team that I’m working on now. After that, I had another product sense interview with my current manager and mentor. So, three interviews in total and there weren’t any written assignments.

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

On the job listing, it says $46 an hour and a $5,000 housing stipend. It’s probably on the lower end for internships at Uber though.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

The next play for me is really focusing on my own projects. I found a really good team and we're working on a medical interpretation software this summer.

Explore to Find What’s Right for You

Do you have any advice for people who want to pursue Product Management or a career in tech?

Being a PM gives you a lot of ownership and visibility. However, there are a lot of unsexy parts of the job, especially earlier in your career. My advice would be to try different things and not be so set on just one specific role.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Entrepreneurial Mindset in the World of Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

I’m Tilly Zuo, and I just graduated from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) this past May with a Masters in Entertainment Technology and previously studied Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in my undergrad. Career-wise, I’ve had seven internships, with six PM internships in both large, established companies and startups/unicorns, and one UI/UX front-end engineer role. In the future, I’m probably going to ServiceNow to do my full-time. Last year, I got full-time offers from TikTok and Tesla, and I’m also a finalist of the Kleiner Perkins Fellows Program.

A Passion for AR and VR Technologies

For those who are unfamiliar, what is Entertainment Technology and why did you choose to study it?

I get questions like this often. It seems like it’s a pretty different domain and field. First of all, I treat my program of study more like my hobby. PM is never something you can study or learn in school.

The reason I chose to attend Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center was to continue my hobby and interests from my undergrad which was in the AR and VR fields. If you study HCI, there are very diverse directions you’ll learn in undergrad, including mobile apps, websites, hardware, wearable products, digital and art installations, and AR and VR games – a lot of directions. When I first tried on the Google Cardboard when I was a sophomore, I was totally shocked — it was so cool! That was also the link to my first internship at one of the largest game companies in China, which was Netease. I went there as a frontend engineer, doing some frontend coding and UX design. In the long-term, I believe AR/VR will be a big thing. To summarize, I chose to study Entertainment Technology to follow my interests rather than for my career.

Six Product Manager Internships — What I’ve Learned

What are the biggest lessons you’ve taken from the many PM internships you’ve done over the years?

I have had PM internships at Tesla, Robinhood, WeChat Pay, TikTok, Tencent, amongst others – five of them are pretty large companies and Robinhood is a very hyped unicorn.

Before you get into product management, you should ask yourself what do I want to get out of the internship – In the long-term, do I want to be a founder? Or do I want to be a product leader like a CPO? So ask yourself what is the goal.

For me, I want to be a founder so PM is definitely the role which is closest to the founder role. Since I have that goal, I want to go into the industry and different companies and learn the pipelines and methodologies different companies use to build and operate their product. Along the way, you will gradually realize that there are two layers of product management. The deeper layer is your mindset and your vision, understanding, and familiarity to the industry, society, and human nature. That is the foundation of PM. On top of that is what I call the execution layer. In this layer, I can do the coding, design, stakeholder and risk management, use Jira and different softwares and tools. I don’t think either layer is more important than the other. You have to foster your skills, PM mindset, and innovation, cultivating everything together. That’s the second takeaway.

Last one is – definitely have fun and network! This is something I gradually realized. Basically, you will work with your mentors, managers, and intern peers in the same industry for probably the next ten years so definitely use some time to think about how to build your network from day one as an intern. As a PM, you have to be likable and charismatic, otherwise your stakeholders might not trust you. At the end of the day, although we have a manager title, we don’t have the authority. A lot of times, if you want to yield a big impact, you have to rely on the team you’re working with so you have to learn how to get along well with different people.

To summarize my advice, the first is to think about your personal career and life goals before you try to get into PM roles. Second one, definitely work on your skills and mindset and lastly, network!

Finding a Community of Product Enthusiasts Is Invaluable in Breaking into Product

Why did you found Product@CMU with your co-founder, Anna?

The mission of Product@CMU is to build up a community open to all Carnegie Mellon students and alumni - that’s something, for me as a student and alumni, that I’m always looking for along the way. When I entered CMU, I was looking around the school asking myself where are all the product people? Before that, I already had a gap year and three internships back in China in large companies, so I pretty much knew I already had the skills so I just wanted to find all the product people at CMU so, you know, we can hangout and prepare for interviews together. However, there were no product people; it was so empty. There’s definitely some programs like MSPM, MBA, and MIIPS, and so many others, but all the programs are so isolated.

I was talking with some friends in some more general programs like MSCS or MISM, and found a lot of people also interested in product management who also had the skills set to break into product. At that time, I was actually talking to a friend about wanting to start something at CMU. I always had this thought in my mind and then I met Anna (Co-Founder) during the last recruiting season because we were basically in every APM interview together like Google, Uber, and Lyft. At that time, I asked Anna about maybe starting something like Berkeley’s Product Space.

All my friends at schools like UC Berkeley and Wharton had tight-knit PM clubs that they could rely on, so I asked Anna if she had any interest in starting something like that. She was very very responsive and was super excited. There was clearly a user need and I had found the right co-founder so we met up and decided to start Product@CMU.

Bringing Product@CMU to Life

What was the process for bringing Product@CMU to life — What worked well and what were the biggest challenges?

One time, we were asked a question during a founder talk which was: If we were given the opportunity to go back to last semester, what would we change? Both me and Anna said we wouldn’t change anything. It was totally a very fun experience, although sometimes it was a little bit overwhelming because at that time, I was interning at Tesla, and everyday after finishing work in the office, I would work on Product@CMU. Every Sunday, I spent literally the whole day running the weekly board meetings and meeting with several VPs to check in on their progress, in addition to putting my resources into this community. One of the main goals when I started Product@CMU was to invest my connections and resources back into CMU.

What worked well, I think everything worked well. The only challenge was the scope, the growth speed of this organization was actually much much faster than I ever thought. Our Slack channel reached 200 members within 14 days, which was something we didn’t anticipate. Given that we don’t have much of a foundation, we were literally starting from scratch. We wanted to do a lot of things – school events, content, mentorship, a robust marketing and design team. Although we were supported by tons of CMU alumni and the Director of CMU’s MSPM (MS in Product Management) program, Brad Eiben, I felt like everyone was so overwhelmed because we all took on so many jobs. There were several weeks where I met with the VP Development where she barely slept as we were ramping up the mentorship program, and this was the same story for everyone else on the board. The shortage of manpower was the most challenging thing, which we confronted and overcame.

Your Network Is Your Net Worth — Connect with Alumni

In the future, what are your goals for Product@CMU? What value do you hope it brings to the CMU community and beyond?

In the future, a few members of our board are moving to San Francisco so it’s time to spin up our alumni initiative which we already have a very solid foundation to support, including through the mentorship program and content teams I’m working with over the summer. We have to add value.

The main purpose behind the content team is to serve as a voice for CMU alumni in the industry so we can expand our network for alumni and students. We want to serve as a bridge between the alumni and students and to give the alumni a stage to add their voice into the community. In the future, there will be three things – start the alumni initiative, branding our content initiatives for our podcasts and newsletters, and organize more school events to support our community in this upcoming recruiting season.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Staying Anonymous, a Recent Grad with a Degree in Computer Science

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I’m a recent college graduate with a degree in Computer Science and I’m an incoming Security Engineer at SeatGeek.

Coding with a Security Mindset

What is cybersecurity and how does it differ from a regular Software Engineering role?

Cybersecurity is about defending user information and data. There are different avenues in which you could do that, but the one I focus on is securing applications like websites and mobile devices. It’s different from a Software Engineering role in that there’s a whole security mindset that you need when you’re coding things. You have to think about all the different avenues that attackers can come from, so like downloading malicious software and installing random Node packages (NPM). So, you really have to think about what you’re doing with tech differently, rather than just coding applications.

Take Home, Behavioral Interview with Recruiter, and Final Round with Security Team

What was the interview process like and what made you stand out as an applicant?

A week after I had applied, they sent me a take home which was basically a demo application where they gave me the source code. I had to find vulnerabilities, report it, and send it back.

After a week or two, I got a scheduled call for a behavioral interview with the recruiter. They went through my resume and asked your basic behavioral questions. One of the most surprising questions they asked was what my expected salary was, so I just gave them a ballpark.

Two to three weeks later, I was pushed to the final round which consisted of three to four hours with the whole security team. Because the team was very new, I had to interview with every single person, but they all had different interview formats. One of them was a reverse interview, in which I could ask questions, one was a little more technical as they were went over my portfolio, and the last one was with the manager where they went over things on my resume to make sure it was good.

Do Your Take Home ASAP

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

I think that one of the best strategy I had was doing my take home the same day that they sent it to me, because I think that the recruiters definitely notice.

Get Experience Through Internships, Projects, and Self-Learning

What were your previous experiences and is it difficult for someone with no direct experience to go into cybersecurity?

In my portfolio, I had two previous internships and projects. During freshman year, I worked as a Software Engineer for a small security company, writing challenges that involve people helping other people learn concepts in cybersecurity. The summer before my sophomore year, I worked as an application security, like a pentester or consultant, so I reviewed and tested clients’ applications, wrote reports, and explained what was wrong. I think that the two experiences helped me because it helped me gain a better understanding of both Software Engineering and Security. As for my projects, I did some volunteer work at security events.

It honestly might be a little bit hard for someone to go straight into security with no adjacent experiences, because there are some core concepts that people just don’t know about. For example, cryptography versus hashing versus encoding. They’re things that you can definitely learn if you take the time to do so.

Projects and Competitions are Important

What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue cybersecurity full-time?

Personally, I think that projects are definitely more important than a high GPA, because it shows more ambition and dedication. You’re actually taking time out of your day to do the projects, rather than just going to a class that you were forced to take.

I would also recommend doing cybersecurity competitions and honing your programming skills, but using a security mindset. You need to think like a real Security Engineer by thinking about which key points can be vulnerable.

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

I would say my salary is on par with the new grad Software Engineer salary.

Future Plans

What’s your next play and what is your 5-10 year career plan?

I want to stick with security so that I can move into a managerial position later on, and climb the ranks.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

From Civil Engineering to Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I’m Tina! I currently go to Vanderbilt University and I started college as a Civil Engineering Major and a Computer Science Minor. At the end of my junior year, I realized that I didn't want to go into civil engineering and that I wanted to go into tech instead, because I really enjoy analyzing everyday products. It’s something that really excites me! So, after my Junior year, I took a gap year and that’s when I decided to pursue some product management (PM) opportunities. I got my first PM internship with Notewardy through a collaboration with Vanderbilt’s Product Space. With Notewardy, I was able to work on their beta product, which is an EdTech tool that uses AI to transform notes into flashcards. For my specific project, I focused on user research and user experience testing as well as low-fidelity wireframe designing. I thought that the experience was really fun and it pushed me to find internships at other companies. I ended up interning at Dolby in San Francisco after that, and that experience made me realize that I want to go into entertainment because I love being able to work on products that people really love.

Now, I’m a few weeks into my PM internship at Electronic Arts (EA)!

Orientation Week, A Game Matching Ceremony, and Lots of Coffee Chats

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

I’m part of the Central Product Management (CPM) team, which is a smaller program with around 10-15 interns this summer. During the first week, we had orientation during which you go through Product Academy. It’s essentially a week-long bootcamp where you learn the foundations of product management through asynchronous and live lectures with full-time employees. So you don’t only learn from PMs, you also get to meet Game Directors, Lead Analysts, Engineers, Designers, and etc. Outside of orientation week, they also allow time for you to really meet the people you’re working with. Especially with PM being a cross-functional role, it’s helpful to know who does what to better align goals and stakeholders.

After orientation week, you get matched with a game and a game studio, based on your preferences, and there is a matching ceremony that you get to attend. For example, I’m working on a mobile game called Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth this summer and I’m specifically looking to integrate sales into the game. Most of your time is spent with the game studio that you’re matched to, but I would say it is pretty flexible in terms of what you want to work on within the game that you are assigned. Although you primarily work on your mobile game, the program also values your personal development. You get a mentor who can meet with you and guide you through your projects and goals. Being able to coffee chat with other full-times and learn about their work is also something that I really like about the program.

Your Project is Tailored to You

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the APM program?

I feel like the job posting is purposefully kept a bit more broad and vague to cater to as many people’s interests as possible. Realistically, you have three months during the summer so you’ll be working on something a bit smaller and you probably won’t get to touch all the skills that are listed. They definitely take your preferences into account before assigning you to a game and project. Your overall internship is more focused on what you want to accomplish.

Due Diligence

Is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

My strategy was to reach out to people, specifically PMs, at the company and talk to them about their role before my interview. I would ask them about how they landed the role and if they had any advice on the interview process. This really shows initiative and that you’re willing to go out and talk to people, in order to better understand the role and go into the interview prepared.

Four Rounds of Interview

What was the interview process like and what made you stand out as an applicant?

The interview process had four rounds in total. The first round is your typical phone screener. The second round is focused on data analysis, where they would give you a set of data from a fake game and ask you to analyze it. They asked questions like, what does this data mean? How should PMs interpret this and what should they do about it? These kinds of questions really gauge your ability to read and analyze data, in order to generate insights from it. There’s really no right or wrong answer to this and they’re just looking at your thought process and how you structure your answers. My advice for this round is to really try to put yourself into a PM mindset and approach it like you’re a PM at the company. The third round is actually my favorite because you get to choose any game you want, break it down, and go through a PM case study to see what can be improved. The fourth and final round is a conversation with the Director of Product Management and it’s really to gauge whether or not you’re a good fit for the company as well as the team. It’s basically a “get to know you” kind of interview.

Some of the resources I used were Exponent and PM case study videos on YouTube. I really focused on applying the same PM skills to video games instead of regular tech products.

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

I think that the average starting salary in video games is a bit lower than your average tech company, and that’s because video games attract really passionate people. With more passion, there’s a higher supply because many people just want to work in gaming. I would still say that it’s a really good salary for a new grad. The hourly range for undergraduate interns is $30 - $35. If you’re an MBA student, it might be around $45 per hour and the starting salary might be close to $90k per year if you join full-time.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

I definitely want to pursue product management full-time, because I’m really passionate about being able to shape, ship, and deliver products. I also really like the cross-functional collaboration aspect and being able to work on business challenges, like growth, positioning, and strategy. My internship at EA gave me a better insight to what working as a PM in a gaming company is like. It really clarified things for me and I would say that my next play is to either join EA full-time or a different APM program.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Cornell, LinkedIn, and Moving from India 

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I’m Jahnavi Shah! I'm a master's student at Cornell University, and I grew up in India where I did my undergrad in Computer Engineering at Pandit Deendayal Energy University. I also create content on LinkedIn, and have amassed over 25,000 followers and been a part of the first cohort for LinkedIn’s Creator Accelerator Program in India.

I’ve been interested in and studied product management for almost two or three years now, and have been applying to internships since the day I moved to the U.S. last year for grad school. It was also during that time when I found my current Product Management internship at ARC XP, which is the SAAS Software division of the Washington Post where I’ll be working on the Composer Team.

I’m super excited to be starting this internship in a few days!

Standing out through Networking 

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant for this internship?

I think one of the biggest things that helped was networking! To be honest, I’m not sure that I would have gotten an interview with the Washington Post if I hadn’t networked, and it was actually the hiring manager who forwarded my resume to the recruiter.

When I originally applied for the role, I reached out to a bunch of different product managers and employees at the Washington Post trying to set up coffee chats without much expectation, and luckily one of them replied back. It was during the call where I noticed she was taking notes, and when I asked for a referral she told me she was the hiring manager for the role. I learned they were already in the process of interviewing other potential candidates since I had applied two weeks after the job posting, but it was actually the day after this call where I had my HR interview screening.

Another thing that helped was being able to really tie in my past experiences to the job role. As I mentioned, this role was for the content team, and during my interviews I was mentioning my experiences as a content creator and tying them in with what Washington Post and Arc XP does.

Notion Job Tracking

Are there recruitment strategies that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

So last year from August to February, I applied to 133 internships. I've never applied to so many applications before, and to keep track of everything, I built a personal application tracker on Notion.

A strategy I followed was that for every company I applied to, I put them in two buckets.

1. Cold Applications

2. Networking Applications

The second bucket was for companies I was either really interested in, or companies where I felt I could really do well in the interview. For the second bucket, I would network with hiring managers, recruiters, and people actually working in that role through LinkedIn, and I actually ended up landing three or four interviews just from networking.

Interview Process and Rounds

Can you describe the interview process and what it looked like for your role?

For this internship, the process was as follows:

1. HR Interview: Basic screening questions and info about the internship and future interviews.

2. 30 Minute Interview w/PM at Arc XP: Resume walk through + behavioral questions

3. 2 Hour Product Case Interview: 1st hour — Receive a prompt and one hour to make a presentation w/all my findings. 2nd hour — 30 minutes for my presentation and 30 minutes of behavioral questions.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after this internship?

So during the internship, I plan to give my best effort and ideally want to convert the internship into a return offer!

For future plans, I have one more semester at Cornell left before I graduate, and I'll be looking for full time jobs starting January next year. I’m hoping to get into a full time role in product management, but the main goal right now is to put my best foot forward for this internship!

Bonus: LinkedIn Posting Advice

Bonus Question: As a content creator, do you have advice for fellow job seekers who want to start documenting their journey on LinkedIn?

Yes! So to give some background, when I first started on LinkedIn a few years ago, I actually had no idea what I was doing but I was very curious from seeing influencers talk about how students could use LinkedIn to grow their personal brand. That’s when I started posting for a year, and I slowly started seeing some of the benefits. I received opportunities to write articles for leading magazines in India, and even when applying for internships I would gain credibility from people seeing my profile.

Advice wise, I would say that while posting on LinkedIn can be really scary, it can be really beneficial for not just yourself but also for the people who get to see it. Even if you’ve built a small project, put it on LinkedIn because small steps are what lead to a great profile over time. While you might think that people don't see what you're putting out, in my experience I’ve had so many people tell me they’ve seen me on LinkedIn, and I think that personal branding on LinkedIn can be incredibly powerful.

Also, don’t get discouraged if the engagement when starting is really low. I think my first five posts had like three or four likes, and that comes with consistency. It’s important to value quality engagement and not just likes or shares, and I think LinkedIn is a great tool to do that!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Harvard, Grad School, & Product Management

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I'm Caleb! I grew up in Seattle and did my undergrad at Harvard with a major in Statistics and a minor in Computer Science. I originally started working at IXL Learning as a software engineering intern after graduating (with plans to go to Grad School) but a bit into my grad program, I decided that it wasn't the right fit for me and re-interviewed at IXL to become an APM. I'd always wanted to explore the product route, but never had a good opportunity to do it or never heard back from companies that I was interviewing for, so this was a really good opportunity for me.

Some context about the company: IXL Learning is an education technology company. It's been around for quite a while, but we're growing super quickly right now. Currently, I'm working on the Teacher and Classroom Experience team, and it's been really exciting because we're adding so many features. The APM team is also a really smart, cool, fun group of people to work with.

Rotations & Program Structure

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

So the APM program originally wasn’t a rotational program and APM’s were put on more consistent teams, but it’s slowly becoming a rotational program. The next set of incoming APMs are going to have a broader range of experiences compared to previous cohorts, rotating into different experiences roughly every 6-9 months.

During the program you’ll generally be working with a more senior PM, and embedded in a specific product team of five-eight engineers, a couple of QA people, and a design team. As an APM at IXL, task-wise you're doing a lot of the same stuff a “full fledged pm” would do, but with a lot of guidance.

The type of work you're doing ramps up really quickly too, and it makes you feel like you're making a lot of impact at the company as an APM!

Daily Tasks as an APM

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the APM program?

While in general I think the landing page is pretty clear, I would say not all daily tasks are strictly product management related, but also include work with the engineering manager or lead engineers to figure out things like sprint planning and prioritization.

There’s also a section on the website about gathering requirements and clarifying goals for new projects, and while it seems kind of like a small bullet, that's actually the bulk of what I think people on the IXL Product Team do. We speak to a lot of different stakeholders, teachers, users, and customers to try to better understand what their needs are and bringing that solution to the market.

On top of that, APMs at IXL also generally come from a pretty well-rounded, but skewing technical background. A lot of my peers do have some sort of STEM background or have experience working with software or working on software, and I believe that it translates really well to being an APM and connecting with the technical side of things.

Standing Out as an Applicant

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

I think it helped that I already worked at IXL as an Intern prior to applying to be an APM, and that my background also leaned towards education technology since I was involved in several education non-profits during college.

Another thing is that while IXL may be principally a Tech Company, I think it was helpful that I had a healthy balance between my interest in IXL as a tech company along with an interest in the user and where the product fits into education. IXL tends to attract more mission-driven individuals, and my interests in Ed-Tech and ability to advocate for the needs of the teacher, users, students, and admin were definitely helpful throughout recruiting.

Interview Structure & Process

Can you describe the interview process and what it looked like for your role?

While the current process may have changed, this is what my interview process included:

1. General screening interview

2. Take-home test

3. On-site interview with a couple rounds involving different PMs and managers

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

Overall, the average starting salary and progressions are both pretty comparable and competitive with other companies in the area.

I would say though, another benefit of working at IXL is that, even as a new grad, you get a lot of chances to meet with a lot of really important people. You get regular chances to meet with cool stakeholders and people like the VP of Product, COO, and CEO.

Future Plans

What’s your next play after graduating from this program?

So technically the APM program doesn't necessarily have a time limit, and so we're not necessarily expected to make a hard choice on whether or not we want to stay after two years. At IXL you're kind of like a PM in training where the company is trying to build your skills and hope that you enjoy your time to stay for however long you want to stay.

As for future plans for me, I’ve personally been enjoying my time at IXL a lot and I've been learning a ton, so I’m very happy with that. I also like my team, my manager, and other APMs, so I see myself staying at IXL and continuing to learn!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Egypt, Cornell Tech, First 1000 Newsletter

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I’m Ali! I’m currently an APM @ Duolingo and writing the first1000.co newsletter, a newsletter about How Founders Got Their Very First 1000 Users.

I grew up in Egypt and did my undergraduate degree at NYU and my Masters at Cornell Tech, and prior to my masters I also used to work in Venture Capital in the middle east.

A couple fun facts about me are that my favorite place in the world is the comedy cellar in NYC and my favorite food is spicy rigatoni pasta!

Rotations and Program Structure

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

So the Duolingo APM Program’s primary goal is to recruit, hire, onboard, and train leaders to set them on a path to product greatness.

Each APM does 2-3 rotations (6-9 months each), and when APMs graduate they are promoted to PMs.

Mentorship at Duolingo

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the APM program?

I think one thing that really stood out to me is how much mentorship you get at Duolingo. Besides your role manager you have two mentors (one that is one level above you and one that is 2-3 levels above you). Those mentors help you become the best product person you can be, and they’ve helped me tremendously in growing and honing my product skills in my first year here.

It is crazy the amount of support and investment Duolingo provides to APMs.

Prep > Referrals

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

I think people over-index on referrals and under-index on prep.

I spent a lot of my time just diving into the Duolingo App, reading blog posts, watching Duocon’s from my previous years and trying to understand the “Duolingo way of building products.” Just understanding the high level philosophy/strategy of a company is very underrated and in my opinion more people should be doing this. For context, I didn’t spend any time trying to network with people @ Duolingo, and fully focused on prep.

Interview Structure and Content

Can you describe the interview process and what it looked like for your role? (# of rounds, types of questions asked, etc)

I think in total I had 3 rounds, with multiple interviews in each. The first round is an HR interview with typical resume checks.

The second and third are kind of similar. If I remember correctly, the interviews I had in those rounds were focused on strategy, product sense, design sense and analysis.

Most of the interviews were in some shape or form related to Duolingo.

Salary Expectations

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

It’s competitive and comparable with other APM programs!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Computer Science, Internships, and PM

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I’m Kevin! I’m currently a product manager at Indeed, specifically working with enterprise clients on their hiring needs.

My journey into product management began when I landed an APM internship at Indeed during my junior year of college while studying computer science. I was actually applying for SWE internships at the time, and I wasn't really sure what a product manager actually did. However throughout the internship that summer, I realized working closely with designers, engineers, and our users was something I genuinely enjoyed and could see myself doing as a career.

Rotations, Teams, & Network

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

The APM program at Indeed consists of two one-year rotations with different teams within the company. These teams can span across jobseeker-facing, employer-facing, internal orgs, or any in between.

In your first year, you're assigned to a team, while in your second year, you have the opportunity to review proposals from different teams, meet with managers, and choose your next rotation. A supportive network of current and former APMs is also available to help you throughout the program.

Genuine Interests, Curiosity, Learning

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant during the application process?

I think what may have stood out about me as a candidate was my genuine interest in and understanding of the tech landscape. I don’t know if this is a recruiting strategy that no one is doing per se (especially now), but I browse a lot of forums & podcasts around tech and venture capital due to my own interest, and I would often mention relevant topics & examples as I saw fit throughout the interview process.

All that to say, I think having genuine interests, intrigue, and your own opinions on the different products, features, and decisions different tech companies & startups are making can go a long way to make you stand out as an APM applicant/candidate.

Salary Expectations & Progression

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

In 2020, the average starting salary for new grad APMs was $90k before bonuses & RSUs. Throughout the two-year program (and beyond), there are multiple opportunities to increase your pay.

Post-APM, Building Products, Growth

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

I’m technically graduated from the program since it normally runs for about 2 years, but the program has definitely provided me with new perspectives as I evaluate my career for the next 5-10 years.

It has helped me learn what kind of teams I really enjoy working with, and the differences in building products B2C vs B2B. Being on different types of teams, and being in a tight community of other talented APMs/PMs has also helped me better identify what I think are my strong suits vs. areas of growth.

This program has also definitely changed the trajectory of my career. End of the day, having a program like this on your resume is really helpful just to get your foot in the door, even though it might not always be fair and based partly on luck. It’s given me a bunch opportunities to network and grow, and I’m excited to see where exactly I head next!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

Notre Dame, Business, & Real Estate

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hey, I’m Krissy! I’m an Associate Product Manager at IBM and have been for almost a year now. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame last May. At Notre Dame, I got my bachelor’s in Business and majored in Business Analytics with a minor in Real Estate. IBM was my first role after graduation.

Learning about PM and Intros

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

The APM program at IBM is great. The first 6 weeks of the program are a virtual product management boot camp, where you get to meet all of the other new APMs, learn about what it takes to be a product manager and how product management is run at IBM, and take part in a group project with a few other APMs to ease your transition into the role. It’s a great intro to product management for people who haven’t been a PM before. After the boot camp, you are placed into your product team and get straight to work within your division.

Predetermined Placements

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the APM program?

Something that I didn’t know going into the APM program was that you don’t have much say or control over which product you are placed in after the boot camp. Usually, this is pre-decided by your recruiter and hiring manager, and wherever PMs are needed throughout the organization. I was lucky to be placed in the Data & AI division in a product that I’m interested in, but I didn’t get to choose it.

Interning & Resume Structure

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

I interned at IBM during college, which I think definitely helped me stand out in the recruiting process as I had already built connections at the company that I could reach out to advocate for me to get my full-time offer. Take advantage of your internships and make as many connections as you can! Whether it be through 1:1’s or coffee chats, having people in your corner whom you can learn from and that can vouch for you coming back to the company is so important. I’m still in touch with my mentors from my internship and catch up with them regularly now that I’m back full-time.

In terms of getting my internship, I structured my resume to make all of my experience thus far related to product management skills, even if they weren’t actual PM internships or roles, like aligning multiple people together, leading a vision, and having empathy for teammates. Make your work experience and extracurricular activities speak to your interpersonal skills, as these skills are vital for product managers.

Compensation & Promotions

What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

My full compensation package added up to about $129k, including bonuses. I’m not too sure what my salary will look like in the future, but the next promotion I’d be able to receive is going from Associate Product Manager to Product Manager.

Sticking with PM & Gaining Experience

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

I love being a product manager so far, so I’d definitely love to stay on this career path! I’m also interested in getting my MBA a few years from now to broaden my network and advance in my product management path. I’m also really interested in real estate and am saving up to start investing in real estate so I can grow that as a side hustle. I’m still so new to my career that there’s so much I want to get involved in, but am focused on living in the moment, enjoying my role, and getting all the experience I can for now.

iykyk

iykyk.careers

UMich, Walgreens, & Data Science

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi, I'm Kelly Schweitzer! I’m a 23-year-old living in San Francisco who’s part of Indeed's APM cohort graduating in 2024. I grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan for both my undergraduate degree and a one-year master's program. I originally started College trying to be a designer, and I pursued my undergraduate degree in UX design at the School of Information, which has a unique concentration in UX design.

During my sophomore year I had a voice UX internship at Walgreens, where I became more interested in the cross-functional aspects of design, including making business and engineering decisions, and I also got introduced to product management.

As a designer, I definitely felt like an underdog while applying for APM roles. Regardless, I applied for Google's APM Intern program during my junior year (during Covid) and got in. While I didn’t receive a return offer, I still learned a ton about working for big tech companies and what product management entails. From there, I realized I still loved product management, and decided to get my Master’s Degree in Data Science to strengthen my knowledge of big data and landed a role in the APM program at Indeed.

Program Structure & Indeed University

For those who are unfamiliar, how is the program structured and run?

For sure! So for my Cohort there were around a dozen people, and people were distributed in offices around the U.S. The total cohort is two years, with two one year rotations where you rotate products.

I also started my first quarter with a program called Indeed University, which is a really fun training program for new grads. It’s essentially where you’re placed into teams including a PM, a couple engineers, and sometimes a designer, and you come up with a project. It’s kind of like an incubator, and you come up with an MVP to launch and test. It was a great experience in September, and we got to spend basically an entire month in their Austin headquarters, which was really fun.

In terms of promotions, you can be promoted at any time once you perform at the “PM level”, based on the standards that they set for those performance guidelines.

Community & Tokyo Office

Is there anything the program landing page doesn't tell us about the APM program?

We definitely have really good mentorship. There’s a pretty strong APM community within Indeed even though there haven’t been that many cohorts, and the internal network contains a lot of really smart & kind go-getters. Everyone’s really willing to help each other out, and there’s a lot of people to reach out to for help.

Indeed also offers a really cool opportunity to do your second rotation from the Tokyo office, which would be super cool! I’ve had my eye on it, since it’s also one of the things that caught my attention before joining the program.

Weaknesses → Strengths

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant during the application process?

Honestly, I definitely felt like I was an underdog coming into the interviews from a design background, but in hindsight I think it also gave me a unique strength. I feel like understanding design really helped me crush the design questions by answering questions with design frameworks and structures in mind. I think with engineering, a lot of people talk a lot about processes and the components that go into building things, which are all very important, but understanding design can help add depth to your answers. I also really focused on storytelling in my answers.

Interview Process

Could you describe the interview process?

So there was one screener interview, followed by a one on one, and then a panel and confirmation interview. You also have to complete a written test before interviewing, but luckily there’s no homework between the interviews.

Following the panel interview I think I also had an interview with each of the panelists, but I don't know if they did that for everybody. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure if there’s one set structure for all the interviews, or if the interview structures get slightly altered depending on the candidate. The questions were a mix of analytical and creative questions, but it definitely erred on the side of analytical and data oriented questions.

Salary Expectations & Progression

5.What is the average starting salary for program participants and what does the salary progression look like once you’ve graduated from the program?

It differs by region, but in San Francisco I started at 121k with a 15k sign on bonus, as well as a 5k relocation. We also had around 45k of shares that were vested over four years.

I think it goes down to around 100k in Austin, and actually, one of my friends who was also in the Bay Area negotiated up to around 130k.

I also recently got adjusted up to 125k as a merit increase, since when we do evaluations during our promotion cycle you can get a raise if you demonstrate progress towards the next level. That’s also a really cool perk.

Japan, Startups, & APM

What’s your next play after graduating from this program? Has this program impacted your 5-10 year career plan?

Ideally, I'd really like to go to Japan in a year and live there for a couple years. I'm not sure if that's gonna be completely possible, but doing it through Indeed would be super cool and I think it’d provide a ton of personal growth for me! So that's kind of my main goal for right now.

After I graduate from the program, I would really like to have a startup era. One of the things that being a PM has taught me is the power of having a variety of skills, knowing a lot of different things from design engineering data to business strategy while working on your weaknesses every day. I think being in a startup is the perfect place to grow in that way, since it gives you the chance to wear a lot of hats in a high-pressure, sink or swim environment. While I don’t necessarily consider myself a business person, I’d love to try that out for my own growth!

This program has also definitely changed the trajectory of my career. End of the day, having a program like this on your resume is really helpful just to get your foot in the door, even though it might not always be fair and based partly on luck. It’s given me a bunch opportunities to network and grow, and I’m excited to see where exactly I head next!

iykyk

iykyk.careers

NYU Stern & Merging Business + Tech

Hi there 👋 — Who are you and what’s your background?

Hi everyone! I'm Isaiah Gomez. I was born and raised in New York and am currently a sophomore at NYU Stern School of Business. I'm majoring in the newly established Business, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (BTE) degree-granting program.

During the college application process, I knew I wanted to study the intersection between business and technology. I heard about product management during my senior year of high school, and it sounded like an exciting role, but the stigma around it being a difficult career to obtain was daunting. I just wasn't sure where to start! Gratefully, I discovered NYU Stern had released a new program that no one had been through before, so I knew this was the opportunity for me. Fast forwarding to now, I've done many cohort competitions and projects such as design sprints, data sprints, and design-thinking projects centered on customer discovery and creating a product idea that delivers the maximum value.

A fun fact: I recently studied abroad at NYU's satellite campus in Abu Dhabi last semester! I utilized this experience to immerse myself in the UAE culture and took a bunch of electives such as Music Theory and Ethics, Business, and Technology. (I also saw Bill Gates on campus!)

Outside of work and academics, I sing and engage in spoken word!

PM Intern Responsibilities

For those who are unfamiliar, what is the function of a PM intern at a large company?

The responsibilities of a PM intern differ by the company and by teams within it as well. A PM Intern at the Microsoft Xbox team will have a different project than another intern in the Azure team.

Generally, PM interns are in charge of defining the vision and product direction and interacting with software engineers, technical product managers, and others to deliver the product. However, since the internship only runs for 12 weeks, many interns tend to miss the production or delivery stage (which is okay!). What matters most is demonstrating your ability to:

1. Work cross-functionally with various teams (Engineering, UX, Sales, Business, etc.)

2. Define user needs and product vision

3. Manage stakeholders

4. Prioritize product features

PM interns give a final presentation at the conclusion of their internship to higher-ups within the organization. This stage visually and verbally shares your reasonings for product decisions and demonstrates your learning process throughout the internship.

Landing the Interview

How did you prepare yourself to get this internship? Is there any recruiting hack that helped you land the interviews?

Compiling experiences applicable to product management and redefining my resume were my focuses during my freshman and sophomore years. The BTE program helped immensely with exposing me to the product world and the professionals within it. So I knew what companies would be looking for on my resume.

Having prior internships was helpful for my resume! I was able to describe any responsibility or impact related to product management and point it out by using buzzwords.

Landing an interview for a product management internship is difficult, especially for big companies such as Microsoft. I recommend anyone who wants to score an interview have internships beforehand, even if they aren't directly related to product management. Oftentimes, there are tasks that you complete that relate to product management. For example, working cross-functionality, interpreting data, managing stakeholders, conducting customer discovery interviews, and acquiring market knowledge are just a few!

If you don't complete prior internships, I recommend joining clubs, gaining leadership experience, or designing projects that relate to any competencies of a product manager. Product managers should know how to interpret data and identify trends, communicate efficiently, have a technical background (PMs don't need to code, but having a programming background is helpful), and prototype efficiently.

The Recruiting Process & Prep

What did the interview process look like? Can you tell us in detail about the number of rounds, topics, and how you prepped?

There are three stages to the interview process for the PM internship at Microsoft:

1. Recruiter phone screen

2. On-site (final round) interviews

3. Offer stage

The application for Microsoft opened in late August, so I applied in early September (apply as early as possible!). Two weeks after submitting my resume, I got an email for an invite to a 30-minute recruiter phone screen. Here, you can expect behavioral, problem-solving, and technical questions.

I recommend knowing your resume thoroughly since the recruiter will ask you behavioral questions based on your experiences. Preparing a pitch for yourself is essential as well! Since most companies will ask why you're interested in their company, make sure to read up on the values of that company and reminisce about the experiences where you reinforced those company values.

About three weeks after the phone screen, I got invited for the final round of interviews! This round consists of 3-4, 50-minute back-to-back interviews with PMs of any seniority level. These interviews normally entail the applicant flying out to Washington to the Microsoft Headquarters to interview but were held virtually due to covid circumstances.

Another recruiter I was assigned to told me this round would be more technical. Cracking the PM Interview was a book they recommended and a couple of videos Microsoft made about the PM interview. Since I had a month to prepare, I read the entire book, watch YouTube videos on the product design framework, and practice methods such as CIRCLES in mock interviews.

In total, I did five interviews (including the recruiter screen and final round). Two weeks after the final round, I received a congratulations email from Microsoft and was ecstatic!

Standing Out & Recruitment Strategy

What do you think made you stand out as an applicant and is there a recruitment strategy that nobody is doing right now, but should be?

Firstly, I believe my degree program was intriguing to the recruiters. I'm not strictly a CS major or a business major, but I have my hands in both concentrations with a final touch of entrepreneurship. Business, Technology, and Entrepreneurship encapsulate the three areas product managers focus on: business, tech, and UX.

I also had two prior internships: one as a business consulting intern at a Big 4 consulting firm and another as a product management intern at a tech startup.

As for recruitment strategy, I recommend applying as early as possible. Positions for PM internships are limited and filled with thousands of applicants, so you want to make sure you are one of the first!

Considering the climate in the tech industry currently, the headcount for interns has been reduced, so competition is more fierce. I did not receive a referral (nor is it necessary to have one), so don't stress out! But, receiving a referral will only increase the chances of your resume appearing on top of the pile. You must tailor your resume to the job description that the company posts so your resume has a higher likelihood of appearing to the recruiter.

Salary Expectations & Progression

What is the average salary for Microsoft PM Interns and what does the salary progression look like once you join fulltime?

PM interns make around $50 an hour, which adds up to $8000 per month for the 3 months duration. Microsoft provides corporate housing, but you could decide to find your own housing with a $10k stipend. If you're a returning intern, there is usually a signing bonus and a slight salary increase.

Salary progression for full-time product managers depends on the leveling system at Microsoft (starting from L59 to L68). Most interns to full-time PMs start at L59, starting at $120k base, with the signing bonus and stocks negotiable. From L59 onwards, your performance defines how fast you'll get promoted and your salary progression.

After the Internship

What’s your next play after graduating?

I hope to join Microsoft with a return offer! However, since I'm a sophomore, my return offer would be for another internship next year. If I get another return offer next year, that would mean I join as a full-time PM! I'm sure my goals will continue to develop as the years go by, whether it's reaching a seniority level or developing a startup.

As for college, I plan to apply for deferred-admission MBA programs during my senior year! As I'm sure my time at Microsoft will be extraordinary, I hope to leverage my experience and use it for my MBA applications.

iykyk

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