Please briefly describe your background prior to Haas
Prior to Haas I worked for four years as a Product Manager, initially at a FinTech startup and later in an insurance company in Georgia. I spent my last two years before Haas working at a B2B software company in a strategy role.
What industries and functions did you recruit for and why?
I recruited only for tech but did not limit myself to any specific function. I was mainly interested in product management but also applied to other roles if I resonated with the company’s mission and product. I’ve always been passionate about innovative technologies and coming to Haas I was pretty confident that I would recruit for tech so I never considered targeting other industries.
Briefly describe how you approached recruiting. Anything worked particularly well for you?
Knowing the condition of the job market, my approach with recruiting was not to be very selective during the application phase but reach out to many companies and make the decisions on what I actually wanted to pursue during the interview/offer stage. I received interview invites from companies I was not particularly excited by but it helped me practice interviewing and learn more about the industry which was useful with other interviews later.
I spent most of the time workshopping my resume and I did it continuously throughout the year as I was actively applying. When it comes to networking, talking to people from companies I was applying to helped me tailor my resume to emphasize the experiences that were more aligned with the company culture and priorities. Networking also helped workshop my interview answers.
Briefly introduce your internship company and your team
I spent summer at Apple working as a product manager. I joined the Apple Services Engineering org which is responsible for products like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and other services offered by Apple. Specifically, I was on the commerce team.
Fun facts about the company
Apple relies a lot on interpersonal communication and to be successful as a PM you have to talk to a lot of people in different roles to get information that is essential to your project. Apple deprioritizes documentation so sometimes to find a key piece of information you need to network your way to the right person. I feel like this gives everyone a sense of ownership over their domains which in my opinion is one of the main reasons why people choose to stay at Apple for a long time.
Apple is also really big on presentations and storytelling. The quality bar for any presentation is extremely high in both the content and how it is presented. Any product manager at Apple will need to figure out how to distill complex technical issues into simple and captivating ways.
Thoughts / reflections on your internship
Overall, I really enjoyed my summer internship. Over the summer I talked to almost 100 people in the company which gave me a good understanding of how the teams are organized and how different functions in the company fit together. I was able to understand how product management works within a large tech company environment, where the challenges are complex and even minor changes to product features require a lot of due diligence.
Closing thoughts or advice
Recruiting can be overwhelming, especially in tech, but one key piece of advice is to network strategically. Building relationships early on with people in your target companies or industries can be very valuable. While it might not directly open doors for you in large corporations, it will help you better understand the role and company culture to give you the chance to tailor your applications and interviews in a way that resonates with each company. Be adaptable, and don’t get discouraged if your path takes unexpected turns.