Finding My Dream Career In Product
This summer I interned as a Product Management Intern @ SanDisk. This happened after not knowing who or what a Product Manager (PM) was just 8 months prior; during my 3rd year in college. Nevertheless, upon learning about Product, I found that it really piqued my interest and my internship was the cherry on top.
For those who don’t know what Product Management is or what a “PM” does, here’s a quick introduction:
Product Management is all about building an experience that delights users (s/o to David Chang for this blurb). A PM empathizes with its product’s users and helps designers and engineers create solutions that enable great user experiences.
A PM achieves this by working with all necessary stakeholders to guide every step of a product’s success. Typically, this means that a PM is a jack of all trades. They have the technical background to evaluate technical trade-offs while simultaneously evaluating business goals and constraints.
As I worked throughout the summer, I realized how passionate I was about Product Management and how much it mentally stimulated me. Unlike my prior internships, I had a certain excitement when it came to Product.
Over summer, I honestly don’t remember waking up being like “dang, I don’t want to go to work”. I don’t remember waiting for the hours to go by. Instead, they flew by. I don’t remember complaining about staying later to get stuff done. What I do remember is enjoying all the meetings I sat in on and soaking up everything. I remember my curiosity and desire to learn.
At this point, I can honestly say that I’m excited about working as a Product Manager in the future. Why? Because of the impact of the work and the creative problem-solving involved with it. The idea that my work will support or develop a product that might solve a need in society or disrupt the way people live is insane.
For me, what is craziest about Product is:
what I stumbled upon when I was 20 years old could be my job role for the next 30–40 years of my life.
I probably sound like a huge nerd right now, but I can’t help myself. I truly get excitement from talking about Product and feel like it’s the perfect fit for my skill set, passion for business/tech, and desire to make an impact with everything I do.
My interest in Product & Technology has even taken me for an unexpected whirl.
In the past year:
- I started to listen to podcasts like Product Hunt, Vergecast, and Repeat Customer to follow stories on technology and customer experiences.
- I started to read books like Swipe to Unlock to understand technology strategy better.
- I check TechCrunch every day to read about the latest and greatest in disruptive technology and emerging tech.
- I bought and read the “Holy Grail” of PM books: Cracking the PM Interview.
- I’ve taken on the Product Manager role on a lot of my school projects and personal endeavors.
So while I don’t know much about what the future holds for me after I graduate, it does seem Product is here to stay.
