Abrar Maniyar

I was doing the easiest thing that I could thinking that that is some sort of a progress. Easiest thing was just going out and applying, make some sort of a resume that I thought was fine, maybe get it reviewed by a couple of peers but that's the extent of it. I was applying for jobs hearing back from employers that I was not really interested in but I applied to them in the first place and it was kind of that cycle. I was at this very very suboptimal conventional job search of just applying online for about 6 months. I just had a newborn around that time and I just had a moment of honesty to say that this is not going to take me anywhere. I need help.

I spoke with a few people that had taken IGS previously. I weighed my options and I think it was a no-brainer at that point that I needed help, and in the larger scheme of things it was a good investment. I talked to my wife and she persuaded me that look I know it's an investment but you want to break out of this funk, you want to break out of these shackles, then you have to do something different.

The first thing that clicked was the whole "tell me about yourself" — the seemingly simple trap question, almost a trick question. It's not "tell me about yourself" but it's about why are you the best person for this job. I heard that and I was like this is such an obvious thing that I couldn't think of myself on my own because I'm just in my own universe in my own bubble and I just answered it like anybody else giving the entire biography of everything I've ever done.

What clicked for me was this entire hiring process — there are so many layers to that and there is a method to it. It's not just loosey goosey. There is a lot of structure and method to it, and as a product manager I need to be aware of that — if that is the structure, that's what my audience wants, that's what my customer wants, I need to cater to that and speak that language. I became the biggest fan of all the structure provided in the program and then there was no looking back.

As soon as I joined I was very motivated partly because I made this monetary investment, so I wanted to back that up with my effort. I had two months of very intense and focused work that helped build up the base. My biggest break was getting into the recruiting cycle with Meta. I had done so many practices, so many mocks with all the coaches. I felt so confident going into it. I was able to crack the screening round with Meta which I understand is a pretty big screen. But I couldn't make it through the final round — the behavioral storytelling had taken a backseat as I was focusing on more product sense and design.

I had to take a 6 to 8 month break for immigration reasons and I was at the point of burnout. But once I came back, to my surprise, all of my baseline work — I could just pick it up back just like that. The Intuit role was one of the first ones that I started talking to them about and everything came together pretty fluidly. By December I had an offer. I didn't even have to look much else — this was one of my dream companies and it just worked out.

There was no charter at the university telling me to build AI. I took that opportunity and actually built three different AI-related experiences. I could take those stories and tell that narrative through all that structure. Making the match of what you've done in the past and how that translates over to that job and why you're the best person for this particular job — the clarity from the program is how I was able to sit down and think how these things translate to each other.

I don't think it's a matter of forcing it. If you're really forcing it, maybe that's not the right opportunity. I would rather find something that has a natural fit that I can tell a story convincingly. I am convinced myself before I go out and convince others. There's only finite energy. I need to manage my energy and prioritize.

Intentional Job Search is three components: giving you the tools to build a structured narrative, giving you the expert group of coaches that will help you simulate real-world conversations, and an amazing peer network that will help you keep accountable. The peer network probably is one of the more underrated things — it was a pleasant surprise. I've made really good friends out of this. We did daily product design exercises together. People opened up their networks. Now that I'm at Intuit, I'm passing along resumes for peers who helped me.

I would encourage anybody that thinks they could use the help to actually go out and seek the help. Instead of diluting yourself with talking to a peer here, talking to somebody there, go for the structured program and get the best help that you can. If you can afford it, there is zero reason why not to go out and seek out the best help you can get in the market.