Mechanical EngineeringProduct Manager
Self-attested. The author confirmed their identity to us. The content itself is unchecked.Starting conditions
- Institution
- Non-target University
- Major
- Mechanical Engineering
- GPA band
- below-2.5
- Graduated
- 2015
- Location
- Seattle, United States
- No professional network
- No relevant experience
Limited exposure to the destination field at the start.
The sequence6 steps
- Internship6 mo
Mechanical design internship
Mechanical design internship. This took 6 months and was harder than expected.
Evidence for this step - Project8 moPivotal
Led a cross-functional product launch as the engineering lead
Led a cross-functional product launch as the engineering lead. This took 8 months and was slower than expected.
Evidence for this step - Networking4 mo
Built relationships with the product organization internally
Built relationships with the product organization internally. This took 4 months and was harder than expected.
Start this earlier than feels necessary.
Evidence for this step - Application5 mo
Applied to APM programs externally
Applied to APM programs externally. This took 5 months and was slower than expected.
Obstacle
Applied broadly without understanding what the reviewers actually screened on.
How it was resolved
Narrowed the list and applied early in the cycle rather than late.
- Setback1 moPivotal
Rejected from every external APM program
Rejected from every external APM program. This took 1 months and was slower than expected.
Obstacle
The plan stalled here, and it was not obvious it would recover.
How it was resolved
Asked the people who rejected me what the specific disqualifier was, then fixed exactly that instead of everything at once.
Start this earlier than feels necessary.
- Pivot4 moPivotal
Moved internally into an associate product role
Outcome
Product manager offer
Reflection
Would repeat
- Starting the outreach earlier than felt comfortable.
Would skip
- The first application cycle, which I entered underprepared.
Biggest obstacle
Having no contacts in the field, which made every early step slower than it needed to be.
What was luck
- One person answered a cold email who did not have to.
Estimated cost: Roughly $25,000 across the whole transition.