Seeking guidance on this since I joined Meta 3 years ago, after leaving a pre IPO company after a short tenure of 3 months (so no stock vested and they IPOed successfully). Naturally, it would have been more financially rewarding to stay there, but it was the brand name that drove me to Meta. Since joining I’ve looked for ways to lean in to the brand name for exit opps. Here’s what I’ve tried and failed at: 1) MBA: rejected from all of the top 10 schools, most without an interview 2) Pre IPO: rejected from Stripe, Robinhood, Tiktok etc. in final round interviews 3) Venture capital: rejected from 40 VC funds (Bain capital, Greylock, etc) in early to final round interviews 4) Other big tech: rejected from Google, Amazon, Netflix etc. in final round interviews My question is, is there a #5 that I’m missing out on? Or should I continue to lean in on one of the 4 that I’ve listed? Feeling a bit lost so would appreciate advice. Wondering if joining Meta was worth the struggle in the first place (it’s a rough place to work). TC: 200k Role: PM4
To what exactly?
What type of roles are you applying for in VC?
Investment associate for seed/series A
Nice!
I’m just wondering how being a PM in meta qualifies one to work as a VC unless you were working on M&A, took a new product category 0–>1, involved in M&A. Maybe you need to evaluate the transferable skills and having realistic expectations ? Not sure if you agree or not but just my perspective here
Yeah it doesn’t seem to transfer over well as a skill set
OP what is your objective (short term and long term)?
Clearly money
^ and working with fun people on interesting problems
5 could be you stay at meta for 3-4 more years and make it to L6-7 and then move to a pre ipo as a vp.
Good point. But I see most L6 going to places like Stripe in a lateral role (i.e. product lead/group PM) as opposed to VP
OP, please update the list (2-4) to say whether you were rejected with or without interviews so that the Blind community can provide you with better advice
Updated. Thanks. Any advice?
Your problem isn’t your resume. You’re clearly getting interviews and interest. So it’s your interview performance. My guess is you’re having a hard time articulating why you want the role, or what makes you a good fit. So maybe you should ask yourself what it is that you’re looking for in that next career step
I think it’s probably needing more experience, but if you are making interviews you gotta just keep doing them till you get better at interviewing. I’m extremely good because I can’t from a shit company and it required 100s of interviews to get a better job - now I’m extremely good at it. If you’re not getting any interviews, then post your resume here and let’s see if it’s that. I paid for a professional resume writing and it was a very good investment.
Clarified that most rejections were in the final round
It’s not just the interview skills! You need significantly deeper experience and should have managed products from concept to scale & built teams by hiring & attracting people. All this comes only with time & FB is as good a firm as any to gain these skills! Think about what the firms would be looking for when you interview. It’s these stories & experience around launches, leading initiatives, etc. They can hire APMs & RPMs for cheaper than your comp.. Promo to PM5 should get your comp to 350-400 & PM6 to 550-600. At that point, you will be managing large teams & initiatives and would be a better time to make a move.
Given the fact you’ve landed all these interviews, it isn’t your resume that needs tune-up… you’re leveraging brand name well, I would say work on interview skills. Sorry for vague answer!
OP didn’t say he/she landed interviews. Or are you implying being “rejected” means failed the interview process.
Good point, I was assuming they failed the interview process.