Tech IndustryDec 5, 2019
NewKendrick99

New grad seeking advice or referrals for ops/product🙏

TL;DR: new grad working in product at no-name startup since july with experience running businesses in undergrad. Getting to final APM and bizops interviews but can’t seal deal. Looking for advice and/or referrals please! Ok, here’s ny story: I’m a new grad (May ‘19) with 2 years of experience running a small business in undergrad, 1 yr head of product at failed tech startup, and then joined a small no-name startup out of school as a Product Manager (unpaid and sort of cofounding it) to get more product experience while I search for more structured role at better company. It’s served its purpose for product experience and behavioral interview stories (I spin it well) in getting me in the door to interviews but I obviously can’t stay as it’s realistically going nowhere. Given the limited entry level APM/PM roles, I’ve broadened my search to include product operations, bizops, etc and have gotten to final round interviews with 90% of the companies I passed the resume screen for. I’ve tracked my progress with qualitative feedback on interviews and by response rate on resume submissions as I’ve iterated and gone through this process. I’m definitely improving and it’s flattering — albeit potentially precisely the problem — that many of the people in the very roles I’m applying to tend to have a couple years of experience in consulting, IB, or even smaller bizops type experience. I take this as a sign that I’m packing a solid punch for my weight class, so to speak, but I’m beginning to doubt I’ll ever seal the deal after the onsite. I know interviewing can be a numbers game, but I can’t help but wonder if I’m aiming in the right direction. Could anyone either offer guidance for other roles to target or if you think I should just keep on keeping on maybe offer a referral? Surely if I broaden top of funnel and get more phone interviews I’ll boost my odds of closing an onsite. Right? 🤷‍♂️ Qualifications: New grad (may 2019) from top 20 school Social sciences degree with CS minor, and competent with SQL, python, data analysis, financial modeling, and great with business and product case interviews! Not sure how many responses to expect, but I appreciate anyone who reads this and would love to hear any thoughts whatsoever that might help a struggling new grad. Thanks in advance.

Facebook UncS60 Dec 5, 2019

Gonna be hard to get into Biz Ops without a finance background. Product Ops is probably easier. For PM, it’s hard for everyone regardless unless you’re working at a top Tech/Consulting/IB company.

New
productboi Dec 5, 2019

I’m OP. Changed my name — anyway... Appreciate the insight — I’ve realized that’s pretty much the background of the current employees and I’d imagine of my competitors. Will def look harder for product ops roles but given how scarce even they are, any recs beyond that?

Facebook UncS60 Dec 5, 2019

I’m in a Product Ops role. Pm me - let’s chat