Sofiyaa

I started my job search in an extremely stressful situation. I had been laid off from a startup where I had worked for over six years, being part of it from the very beginning. That was emotionally very challenging for me. Coming out of that, I fell into the trap of mass application submissions, which led to more stress from rejections and a lot of negative emotions stacking up.

When I joined the Intentional Product Manager program, one of my biggest hesitations was whether I'd be competing with other PMs from the same program for the same jobs. But I quickly learned it's about finding your niche and targeting the right roles, not randomly applying. The first big breakthrough for me was the internal reflection — understanding what I should highlight about myself and what I truly wanted.

For landing my role at Lucid Motors, three things really worked: networking, practicing, and reflecting. My husband helped me connect with the right person who led to a referral. I made sure I was prepared through extensive mock interviews with friends and IPM peers. And after every interview, I took time to reflect on what went well and what I could improve.

The program helped me beyond just interview prep. It taught me how to compartmentalize my thoughts and deliver them clearly, which I use in my daily work. If you're in a place where you don't know what's going wrong in your job search, this program will give you the tools to identify the gaps for yourself.