Why You Might Want to Work for "the man" After Graduation

Obviously I'm terribly biased because this is the path I've chosen. I decided to write this post because in the last few year, I've talked to many undergraduate students who have been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug in a big way. I was exactly the same way. I had started several cash flow positive business in high school so I thought I might as well repeat my success after I get my undergraduate degree.

That all changed after I worked for a start up during my undergrad. Lets just say I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. Overall it was a positive experience, but the start up crashed and burned. I even saw a hostile takeover that outed the founder. At one point, most employees were working for free in exchange for equity. After I crunched the numbers, I realized that even under the most optimistic circumstances, the equity I owned would not be worth more than one year's salary I could make working for another company.

In my opinion, inexperience, a rogue founder and a poor market assessment led to it's downfall. After this experience, I found an internship with a high growth tech company, which has lead to a career at high growth public tech companies. Here is why I think you should consider working for "the man" after graduation, especially at a high growth technology company.

Marketable skills. Following  this route, you'll likely pick up skills that fit within a job title that will be an asset to you for the rest of your career.

A strong network. With a little effort, a strong network of talented people in your field from all functions and levels can be built within a few short years.

Financial stability. Earning competitive wages in the tech industry will not make you a millionaire, but will enable you to save aggressively.

The entrepreneurial spirit is rewarded. At many tech companies having an entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged and even rewarded. You'll be able to climb the ranks faster if you bring that entrepreneurial spirit to your job.

The halo effect. If you go to a start up and it fails, you'll get more credit than you deserve. If you go to a growing company that succeeds, you'll also get more credit than you deserve.

Do I still have the entrepreneurial bug? Of course! Joining a start up or doing my own are still in my future. I believe when that time comes, I'll have the skills, network and emergency fund to have a better shot at being successful.

Building Strong Professional Relationships Starts with the G-Word

This is a guest post by Tom Yang. Tom is in the Leader to Executives Program at T-Mobile. He strives to give more than he receives in all of his professional relationships. He recently graduated with his MBA from the Chicago Booth School of Business. Before attending business school he worked in the automotive industry for Nissan and Mazda. 

You just met someone you feel you could learn a lot from. This person might be a rock star in your industry or just a higher-up at your company. He or she just handed you their business card and suggested you two keep in touch. What do you do now?

Well, the first thing that comes to mind should not be what you can ‘ASK’ of them. Rather, it should be what you can ‘GIVE’ them. The reason for that is simple. The foundation of any relationship is trust. Trust builds over time and through reciprocity. To set reciprocity in motion, start by giving first:

Give Information: Even though information is abundant and easily accessible these days, there is still a shortage of people who can actually draw strategic insights from facts and figures. The next time you send a link of an article to someone, don’t just copy and paste the link to the body of the email without adding detailed context. The better approach would be to write a summary of the article in your own words and communicate why you think the article is relevant to what this person is trying to achieve. He or she will certainly appreciate the thoughtfulness. 

Give Intellect: My favorite question to ask someone whom I admire and want to learn from is “what book would you recommend me”? I ask this question because I believe people recommend books that reveal quite a bit about who they are and what they are passionate about. Once I get the recommendation, I read the entire book from cover to cover. I take copious notes along the way, so I could share what parts of the book resonated with me with the goal of stimulating an intellectual conversation with that person. As a ‘thank you’ gesture, I find another book that is cut from the same thread, read it, and mail a new copy to him or her to continue this virtuous cycle of intellectually invigorating conversations.

Give Inspiration: We all need a little motivation from time to time. We need people to believe in us when we are having trouble believing in ourselves. As such, it is of no surprise that we seem to build stronger bonds with those who were there for us during challenging times. Just recently, an acquaintance informed me that he was planning to apply to his dream business school. Having gone through that arduous process myself, I knew he would need a boost during those early morning, pre-work, GMAT study sessions. I decided to mail him a coffee mug from his dream school to remind him every morning to keep moving towards that goal. This small gesture made a sizable impact and I can say he is currently making strong progress. The key is to find out what people’s aspirations are and support them in a memorable.

Most importantly….

Give Appreciation: I feel the most gratitude during the month of April because that is when TIME magazine releases its list of 100 Most Influential People. This is the period when I reflect on the people who had the most positive influence in my own life in the past year. After I compile a list of 5-8 people, I hand-write a thorough letter to each person expressing the impact he or she had on me. As a final touch, I attach a copy of the special TIME 100 issue along with the letter and send it priority mail. I enjoy doing this every year and I can tell you that people really do appreciate this gesture. As you come up with your own creative ideas, just keep this principle in mind: when someone moved mountains to help you in a major way, that person deserves more than a ‘thank you’ email or text. By showing appreciation in a special manner you move one big step closer towards cementing the relationship.

The old saying, “anything in life that is of value takes time,” rings true in building relationships. I would just add “…and acts of giving” and you have yourself a winning formula. 

How to Prepare for a Job Interview

In the last few month, I've interviewed a bunch of potential job candidates that are interviewing at LinkedIn for marketing positions. All these interviews have reminded me about what it takes to set yourself up for success in a job interview. In my opinion, here are some of the things you can do that the most successful job seekers do to prepare for an interview.

Look for warm connections. Check LinkedIn to see if you have mutual connections with the interviewers. If you do, make sure to mention the connection in the interview, especially if it's a strong contact. This will make you more memorable and encourage your interviewer to reach out to them to get their thoughts on you.

Research the company. Do you  know what the company does? How they make money? What's the latest company news? Who is the CEO? I recommend in the days leading up to the interview that you set Google news alerts on the company. Also, reading the 10k, if it's a public company is a treasure trove of company specific information. Leverage Google search, social media and friends that you might have that work there to get as much information as possible.

Prepare questions to ask. The first rule of asking any question in an interview is don't ask any question where the answer can easily be found online. Try to ask questions that only that person could answer. Questions like, "why did you come to work here?" or "what do you like best about the culture?".

Research the interviewers. Google them and focus on professionally relevant information you might find. Look at their LinkedIn, Twitter and other social profiles to see what they have shared recently. Use all that information to help you think of better personalized questions to ask each interviewer. An example could be a question like, "I saw that you have an engineering background and started out in aerospace, but are now a product marketer. I've followed a similar path, do you think your engineering background has helped you here at XYZ company?"

Practice. Role play can feel cheesy, but your answers will be much better if you do a mock interview with someone else beforehand. Practice the stories you want to tell using the STAR stories format to keep them short and powerful.

Think about the question they will ask. There are many websites, like Glassdoor, where people will anonymously post questions they were asked in interviews at different companies. Read through the questions and practice answering the ones that you think you might be asked. Also, there are lots of website that compile common role specific questions.

If you're interviewing a lot, not all job interviews probably deserve this sort of preparation. A lot of preparation though, will make a big difference in how well you perform. If there is something you think I missed, please let me know in the comments!

How to Make a Stranger Feel Like a Million Bucks

A few weeks ago I attended a LinkedIn customer event in Sydney and literally bumped into a famous Australian athlete. His name is Kevin Sheedy. He's a well known former player and coach in the Australian Football League. I immediately shook his hand and told him he gave a great speech, expecting him to quickly move on to other fans. He had spoken at the event earlier in the day to a large crowd and based off of the crowd's enthusiastic reaction, there were a lot of people eager to say hello and take a selfie with him. He did not move on quickly though. In fact, we chatted for over 30 minutes. When we finally parted ways, I felt like million bucks. As I look back on our conversation there were several thing that he did to make me, an American who knew nothing about the sport he has committed his life to, feel like a million bucks. While we don't all possess the natural charisma that Kevin has, there were some basic things he did that can help anyone engage a stranger in a conversation that will leave them feeling uplifted.

Ask questions. Shortly after I introduced myself, he started peppering me with questions about my life. He took a sincere interest in me as person. He asked where I was from, what I did for a living, how I liked Australia.

Bring energy to the conversation. It had been a long day. I was tired, but Kevin's energy was contagious. I left the conversation having channeled some of his energy and feeling ready to take on the rest of the day.

Be authentic. He was so authentic that it made me feel very comfortable, even though at first, I was very flustered to be speaking to someone who has accomplished so much.

Answer each question with sincerity. He treated each question I asked the same, even the really ignorant ones. I even asked him if played or just coached. Turns out he has played or coached in over 929 games, he's even in the Hall of Fame. He did not act annoyed or insulted, he just answered with an enthusiastic, "yes, I played too."

Each time we meet a stranger, we have an opportunity to have an impact on that person and leave them feeling uplifted. I hope this experience gives you a few ideas how you can do that, because what Kevin taught me that day in a 30 minute conversation is not a lesson I will soon forget.

No response to your request for an informational interview? Try this.

When I was an MBA student I reached out to a lot of busy professionals asking for a few minutes of their time for informational interviews. Even when it was a warm contact, not everyone was great about responding to my emails. As a busy professional before and after business school, I totally get it. Even when the intention is to respond, things happen. You forget, or even just deprioritize sending a response that day. There is though, a simple way to follow up that can help you eventually get some time on the calendar with most well intentioned busy professionals.

A week or so after you sent the email, reply to your first email and say

"Hope you had a great weekend. Let me know if any of these times work this week for a quick chat and what number to reach you at.

Monday- 9am-7pm

Wednesday- Anytime after 1pm

Friday- all day.

Thanks,

Joe Schmoe"

That's it. Short and sweet. Following up in this manner is making it as easy as possible for them to reply. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with sending a similar email each week for a month. At that point you might want to try different tactics if you're still not getting a response, but as long as you keep it positive there is a good chance eventually you'll get a response.

Have another great tactic you use to follow up? Please share in the comments.

4 Simple Ways to Give Back to Your Network

I graduated from college in 2009 in the middle of the financial crisis. At that difficult time for the US economy and my career, there were managers and coworkers that took the time to mentor, provide encouragement and give me a chance. I could not find a full time job by graduation, but was lucky enough to get an internship that summer with Adobe. I learned a lot that summer, but had to keep looking for a full time job because of a hiring freeze. Following the guidance of many mentors, I was able to leverage that internship experience to get a full-time job at Salesforce. Often, I think back on the many people in my professional network that have helped me along the way and are still a part of my evolving career. This got me thinking about what are some of the small things that anyone can do to give back and show appreciation to those in our professional networks. Here are a few ideas that can all take less than 5 minutes.

Respond to an email you forgot about. Maybe someone reached out asking for an introduction, a reference check or perhaps it was a student wanting to learn more about your company. Take 5 minutes right now, write them back and make their day.

Lend your network. Amplify the message of someone in your network by liking or sharing their post on LinkedIn. It could help someone in your network find their next hire or gain a new customer. If the post is great, share the love.

Send a note of appreciation. It does not have to be long, just heartfelt. Handwritten is best, but an email is nice too.

Share a post you know your network will love. Not just some post with a great headline, but something that is truly thoughtful or inspiring. Take a few minutes and really think about what content would resonate most with the people in your network.

I challenge you to take a few minutes today to find a way to give back to your network. If you can think of other great ideas, please share them in the comments.

How to Get a Job in Product Marketing

My first job out of college was a entry level web analytics role in the online marketing group of Salesforce.com. My coworkers were amazing and the company was growing like crazy, but after a year or so I realized the role was not a great fit for me. I spent a few months shopping different roles all over the company. Through conversations with product marketers, and my own observations, it seemed that product marketing was where I wanted to be. I was drawn to it because you get to be strategic, creative, analytical and work on a variety of projects. After a few failed attempts, I was able to transfer into my dream role in product marketing.

Since I made the switch, I often get asked, "how do you get a job in product marketing?". To those of you that are thinking this might be a good fit for you in the future, I've mapped out a few of the common paths to a career in product marketing that I've observed in Silicon Valley.

Transferring within the company- It's not uncommon to get into product marketing from a different role within the company, just as I did. Most commonly this happens from within the marketing department, but I know several people that have come from roles as diverse as sales and PR.

Here is how David James, Director of Product Marketing at Lithium Technologies did it.

"My career started in the agency world of public relations and advertising. A technology client hired me to come "in-house" as a marketing generalist. Overnight, I traded working alongside creatives, account services and traffic to collaborating with engineers, product managers and database admins. And I loved it. Slowly, I discovered there was a huge need in marketing to tell a compelling story -- but still know the product inside and out. It was the perfect marriage of marketing creativity and technology know-how. 

Bottomline: If you're in product marketing (or want to get there), know your product/service inside and out. Meet with product managers. Become their friends. Have a seat at the PM table and be the voice of the customer." 

Going to business school- Product marketing is a popular post MBA job. Companies like HP, Intel, Adobe, LinkedIn and Google will take product marketing MBA interns for the summer. This can be a great way to get your foot in the door to a career in product marketing. Many of those same companies will often hire product marketing Managers right out of business school, even if they did not intern there.

Here is how Neal Armstrong, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Symantec did it.

"I came into B-School from the finance industry with almost no marketing experience. To learn more about product marketing I found a class that allowed students to complete projects for local companies to earn class credits. There was a project focused on marketing with Adobe. My credits were already maxed, but I joined the project anyways. Throughout the project I found out more about how vital product marketing was to an organization. I expressed my interest in continuing my work as a summer intern. The Adobe employees I worked with on the project knew I was excited about working with Adobe and they personally recommended me. I had received other internship offers from large tech companies outside of product marketing for the summer. After our final project was presented, the team manager and I sat down and talked. At the end of our discussion, and with other offers in hand, I secured my dream internship and was able to continue my project as MBA Product Marketing intern." 

After some time in consulting- Lots of former consultants end up as Product Marketers, more often than not they had been consulting in a similar industry where they end of working. It's easier to get a product marketing job if you've established some domain expertise your future employer values.

Here is how Elizabeth Maples a Product Marketing Manager at LinkedIn did it.

"I went back to get my MBA a few years ago, but I was one of those “nontraditional” applicants: I’d been working on the editorial side of book publishing, where I spent my time searching for new authors to put under contract, and then working with them to turn an early idea into a physical book (ah, the days of physical books!). Coming out of business school, I knew I eventually wanted to get into (non-physical!) media or technology, but still felt like I needed to build on the strategic and analytical skills I’d learned in school. Consulting was a phenomenal training ground—and gave me the chance to work at a number of big companies in the industry. With that experience, I was much better positioned for PMM positions (and I’m loving it now!).

Pro-tips: If you’re taking the consulting route, try to get on product strategy or marketing-related projects in your desired industry. Also look for places that have a history of hiring consultants into PMM roles; they’re most likely to see the parallels in the skill-set."

These are some of the well worn paths, but there is always the road less traveled by. I would love to hear in the comments some of the other ways people have found their way into Product Marketing.