New grad Ops Program Manager at Apple or Product Manager at Cisco?
I have two new grad offers. One with Apple as an Operations Program Manager and the other with Cisco as a Product Manager. I did an internship as a product manager and know that outside of entrepreneurship that it is definitely the field I want to work in long term. If I don’t become the next Bezos, Zuckerberg, Elon, etc I’d like to eventually be a FAANG+ Product Manager. From a standpoint of what role sounds more exciting to me the Cisco offer sounds way better. Not to mention I’ve heard that Apple Ops (let’s be honest any Operations/manufacturing is a sweatshop, 60+ hours and Sunday nights I’ve heard from Apple people). I know most new grads would instantly say Apple no matter what job but to be honest after having interned at several FAANG companies I don’t care about the ego of working at a big name tech company as much as I do work that I enjoy, pay, wlb (Elon Musk taught me that) and future opportunities. I also realize that if I went the Apple route I could use it to get into a top MBA program after a couple years at Apple and then transition to Product Management. If possible though to get to where I want to without an MBA that’d be nice and a big savings. I also understand that Operations long term is probably not as good pay wise. Please put your reasonings for your vote in the chat. Blind Tax: this decision isn’t about money but more about which will set me up for better exits/opportunities. But for you blind guys both offers are about 150K #tech #product #product management #product manager #apple #cisco
Even in terms of all that, any experience at Apple would put you light years ahead of Cisco. You want to be an entrepreneur and are shying away from putting in long hours. It isn’t a choice, my guy.
I’m not afraid of long hours by any means but I want to invest my time smartly. I was taught by a very wealthy relative that what separates the smart and hardworking people from the very successful people is that they are smarter about what they choose to invest their time into. At the end of the day if I’m just working in a corporate role as a cog in someone else’s machine where I don’t personally see the return financially that I create for the company I’d rather just keep my hours to a minimum. Only time I will sell my life to a company like Elon expects of his employees is if it’s a company I have a large ownership % or it’s a firm structure where I have the chance to become an equity partner if I work my ass off.
Gonna be way harder to get into FAANG level Product Management with no experience, completely disagree with Apple. You’ll for sure get PM interviews from top companies with Cisco PM on resume.
What was your interview experience with Apple like for the Ops role?
Pretty standard mostly behavioral. Feel free to DM me
what do you anticipate learning/growing in at cisco, regardless of title or role? if it’s a decent team and you can use it as a springboard in 2 years to another company for a more experienced PM role, then go for it. otherwise always take the path of most learning and trying out different things this early in a career. apple would set you up for success for future transitions wherever you go, you’ll certainly be pushed to get a lot done.
Understand the dilemma here because of the Apple brand name , but please dont do the mistake moving from Ops to Product is a difficult transition i have gone through it took me 5 years . Cisco is still a good brand but even if it was a Product Manager at Unicorn company that would be a better choice than Apple Ops.
Thank you! That’s exactly what I decided to do
Long shot but can you tell me specifics about the Apple operations role? I have an interview coming up so would love to know have some real information.
Product Management any day is a better option no matter which company Since you are looking for better role, go with Product Manager but be ready to slog it off for more than 60+ hours even on product side because welcome to the real world, prod is no cake walk! Apple wins when it comes to company but PM role at Cisco will take you wherever you want to go, light years or mach speed.