Ankur Gulati

I have seven years of experience in product growth and marketing in India, and I was looking to move geographies and get into tech. The big challenge for me was that I didn't have a network in the larger global ecosystem in tech and hadn't really prepared for big tech in terms of interviewing and how to go about it because it was a change of function for me. I found Intentional Job Search as a good program for me. I got into Cornell Johnson MBA, but I still felt that I needed more structured support from people practicing in the industry versus in college.

The first thing that stuck out to me about the program was the storytelling aspect. I set up initial sessions with Sam, and he was very communicative. I could ask him any question, and my apprehension was whether my stories would be good enough for me to represent them in the product interviews. The approach we took to create those stories went into making a big story and then breaking it down into parts and being able to spin them to attack different questions. It was a very thorough process, and my lack of confidence in whether I'd be able to before getting into this process went away.

What I was not expecting was the mindset aspect of the program. I was looking for product design and product strategy stories, but the entire mindset piece ended up being the most important for me. I admit I may not have attended all the sessions, but I watched and re-watched some of the winning episodes multiple times, and a few principles like maintaining my gratitude journal. During the interview process, I started doing a gratitude journal, created a year-long vision for myself, and then got deeper into envisioning how my interview would go.

As a result of the program, I am a Senior Product Manager at Amazon, and I have to thank Shobhit, Sam, and the entire network of interview coaches. I had four interviews back to back and did not repeat a story. I never felt short.

Book a call, and you will be changed as a PM and a person even after that first call. You will learn a lot about yourself that you may be thinking wrong and get another perspective on your understanding of what you're doing and where you're headed.