Please briefly describe your background prior to Haas
I was based in Taiwan. Never had experience living/studying abroad.
I major econ in my undergrad, worked as a marketing specialist for 2 years at a dating app startup, then worked 5 years as a product manager building up a new gaming/gambling platform at another software company. (They are both Singaporean software companies.)
What industries and functions did you recruit for and why?
I only recruit for tech and specifically want to work for software companies since I love the dynamic – fast changing, innovative, agile. Specifically for big tech since that’s why I came to the U.S. – to see how these giant monster runs and what can I learn from it and bring back to Taiwan.
My prioritization was PM(including program manager, project manager and product manager) then PMM.
The reason is simple – I had experience both in product management and marketing, and I found them interesting. I am the kind of person who likes to view things from a macro perspective and break things up and make it work. Also PM paid more than PMM 😊
Briefly describe how you approached recruiting. Anything worked particularly well for you?
Conclusion first: I think most of the things I tried didn’t work. So here’s my experience with these approaches:
From October to December, I initially took a “medium effort” approach. I was applying, but not as aggressively as others. I would casually browse job listings and apply for a few that seemed interesting, usually about a week after they were posted. I used the same resume for most applications, making only minor adjustments—about 5% changes—to tailor it to different roles.
In January, when many people started receiving interview invitations and I still hadn’t heard back from any applications, I started to feel stressed. I reached out to CMG coaches, who told me that my resume was lacking, despite having updated it multiple times in the fall with feedback from at least ten different coaches. I was frustrated, but at least I had a clear direction on how to improve.
I shifted to a completely different approach, tailoring my resume for each individual role. This process was time-consuming—about 12 hours per application: 3 hours writing the resume, followed by reviews from a coach or peer advisor, then another hour rewriting based on their feedback. I repeated this process with another peer advisor, then spent 2 more hours finding a referral and applying. The result was “higher quality” applications, but this approach was not scalable. Given the volume of resumes companies receive, it was unlikely mine would be noticed as the first drip in their flood of applications. Unfortunately, none of these efforts resulted in callbacks.
Next, I tried another common approach: submitting applications within 24 hours of a job posting. After tailoring so many resumes, I had generated over 100 bullet points highlighting different skills, and I could quickly decide which ones to include for each role. I didn’t bother seeking referrals unless they were extremely easy to obtain. However, this approach also failed to yield results.
Ultimately, I only received three interview invitations: one from Amazon, which almost everyone received and I applied to using the original “suck” resume; one from an e-commerce company that specifically recruits from Haas and GSB; and one from my intern company, which I matched with through a job platform.
However, I do think share and discuss more with your peers helped. Initially I didn’t want to bother my peers and went to CMG coaches and peer advisors only. But if there are people who know the best about this year’s recruiting, that will be those who are actually doing it, aka your peers. I received major help from my peers when I was preparing my interviews, and they pointed out different aspects about my resume and behavioral stories that CMGs never shared as well.
Our year also created co-created a list on the internship posting, formed small casing groups together, and shared interning status regularly. Don’t fight alone! Your peers are not your enemies.
Briefly introduce your internship company and your team
I interned at Confluent as a Product Marketing Manager. Confluent is a B2B SaaS company that offers a data streaming platform built on Apache Kafka, enabling real-time data integration and processing. It helps organizations connect and act on data instantly with managed services and enterprise-grade features.
I worked in the Data Streaming Platform team, which focuses on non-core products like Connectors, Stream Governance, and Flink, among others. The goal of this team is to expand Confluent's product offerings beyond the core platform, reducing reliance on the main product.
Briefly describe your summer project or job description
My role involved inbound product marketing. I built personas, analyzed decision-maker survey data to generate insights, studied competitors, and translated these findings into positioning and messaging strategies for our Sales team. Additionally, I created sales enablement materials, such as white papers, to support our go-to-market efforts.
Fun facts about the company
My company was relatively young—only about 10 years old. Our stock price had been stagnant for some time and even dipped during the summer. In response, the management team decided to make significant changes: they fired the Head of Sales, L&D managers, and the VP of Marketing, and also reassigned one of my bosses to the product team. I’m not sure if this level of turnover is typical in Silicon Valley, but it did concern me.
Another aspect of my experience was that our team worked fully remote, and we had a marketing offsite at the end of July. As a super introvert, I was pleasantly surprised by how positive it was to meet people in person—it was a great experience, and it might be something worth considering when deciding which company to join. I might be a bit biased, though, since we went to a baseball game and the sundaes there were amazing!
Thoughts / reflections on your internship
1.Between PM and PMM, B2B and B2C
This can vary from company to company, but in the U.S., it's common for Product Managers (PMs) to own only a small product and develop an in-depth understanding of it. On the other hand, Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) tend to be more strategic, have a broader view of the company roadmap, and are exposed to more cross-functional collaboration opportunities. These aspects were what I was looking for and what I learned.
However, I also found that when the focus is primarily internal and there’s no direct access to users, the role can become less engaging. I’ve always worked with B2C products and had direct communication with real users, whereas B2B companies often rely on the sales team for user interactions.
2.Team Culture
Another lesson I learned is the importance of team culture. Having a good manager is crucial, whether you’re in the U.S. or Taiwan, and whether you’re in a mid-size or small company. My previous company had a flat organizational structure—employee, manager, general manager, and that's it—whereas my current company has numerous hierarchical levels. This sometimes makes communication a bit chaotic, but it also brings efficiency. It’s a double-edged sword because it often means you primarily interact with your boss and work independently rather than as part of a team. Although I’ve considered myself a solo worker, I’ve come to realize that I actually prefer working in a team environment.
Closing thoughts or advice
Don’t hesitate to share your feelings and thoughts along the way. You’ll be amazed at how supportive the Haas community is—everyone is incredibly willing to assist you with whatever you need.