How to Transition from International Student to Product Management

What was your Background before Starting Graduate School in the U.S.?

I was working in product operations in the sustainable agribusiness space. I was in that space for close to four and a half years. My undergraduate degree was in business and I found a lot of parallels between what I had studied in college to what I was applying in these sectors.

Why did you Decide to Get a Master’s Degree in the U.S.?

So, I decided to get my master’s degree at Yale in environmental management. Even though I was working product operations before going to grad school, one of the reasons why I was interested in environmental management as a master’s degree was just going to the sector I was working in where concepts of sustainability, environmental sciences, and overall aspects of carbon footprinting were playing a bigger role as time went on. I’ve seen a growing prominence over the years, and so it just seemed like a very interesting facet to be in as a working professional.

After Joining Product Gym, How Many Interviews were you Averaging a Week?

I was averaging around 12 interviews a week. It slowly ramped up after I joined and was in the process of refining my resume and cover letter. It took about two to three weeks, and I took my time to really refine them and get multiple rounds of feedback. From that point on, once I started applying and had a predictable cadence to how many jobs I was applying to, I was averaging 12 interviews a week.

What Advice do you Have for Current PM Job Hunters?

The biggest advice that I have is to really strategize and set goals for yourself on the number of applications you want to put in each week. It’s a numbers game; the more you apply, the more potential interviews you get. At some point down the line, once you’ve gotten enough experience with interviewing, you have to start prioritizing which role you’ll be most excited to interview for. With that being said, it is essential that you have some amount of applications that are going out (at least three to four times a week) to make sure that you have meaningful interviews that have the ability to go somewhere and possibly lead to offers.