The mbaMission Podcast
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The mbaMission Podcast
Ep 79 | How to Land Your Dream MBA Internship
For many business school students, securing a summer internship between the first and second years of their MBA program is a top priority. These MBA internships are competitive, and the recruitment process starts earlier than you might think. In this week's episode of the mbaMission podcast, Harold Simansky and Jessica Shklar welcome back Aman Singh. Aman is a former mbaMission client, currently in his second year at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Aman had long dreamed of working at Google, and over the summer completed a coveted product management internship at Google. Today Aman shares his insights into the internship recruitment process, and his advice for future MBA students. If you plan to start business school next year, you won't want to miss this conversation!
00:00 Welcome to the mbaMission podcast
00:47 MBA internship recruitment
01:46 Aman's product management internship at Google
02:36 When does MBA internship recruiting begin?
03:23 Recruitment support at MIT Sloan
06:17 Google internship application process
08:21 MBA internship interviews
10:30 Getting the offer
11:59 Working with MBA students from HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, and Haas
12:51 Aman's Google internship experience
14:07 How competitive are product management internships?
14:59 What is "Googliness"
17:05 Study Treks at MIT Sloan
17:38 Internship recruitment advice for MBA students
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I remember I was sitting in PM class one day and the recruiter reached out to me and was like, Oh, are you free for a call today? And I was like, Yes. She called me and she's like, You've got the job. And I straight away rang my girlfriend or rang my mom and I was like, I've got it, I've done it. So how was the summer? How was the internship? Amazing. It was looking back on it, it was I learned so much. And I think it was all due to my manager who was just fantastic. Um, and not just the manager, but the whole team.
Jessica Shklar :What advice do you have for new people coming into MIT specifically or to business school in general about the recruiting process?
Aman Singh:It's okay to be confused. It's okay to be overwhelmed. Uh, I bet everyone else is also overwhelmed and confused.
Harold Simansky:Amin Singh journeyed from Ireland to London to Boston for his MBA at MIT Sloan, and we are eager to learn more about this transition and his experiences. Our consultants here at MBA Mission love hearing from former clients, and last April, Jessica Scar got the kind of email our consultants particularly love. It read, I just want to share with you that I landed my dream internship at Google as a product manager. I'm absolutely over the moon, and I cannot wait to move to the West Coast this summer. Thank you again for all your help and support getting me here. You were truly instrumental in getting me here, and I am forever grateful. Amund Singh not only got its first choice business school, MIT Sloan, but then went through an extremely competitive process to get a product manager internship at Google. He was the only one in his class at MIT to get the offer and one of only 10 in the country. Let's hear more about it on today's episode of the MBA Mission Podcast.
Jessica Shklar :What triggered this conversation was the email you sent me that I think Harold referenced earlier about how you got your dream summer internship. And so I was so excited to hear more about it. So can you tell us first just what the internship was? But then I want to go back and understand more about the whole recruiting process. So just start with the internship and we'll go into more detail on it later, but just to help set the stage.
Aman Singh:So we're working on a new product initiative that I won't go into much too much detail about. But uh yeah, it was essentially a new product that we're working on. It was very exciting because uh Google has not done anything like this before, and I kind of got to see it firsthand, use the product and kind of do a bit of go-to-market strategy bit around it.
Jessica Shklar :Very cool. We will talk about more, whatever you can share. But let's rewind to your first semester at MIT. Tell us about recruiting. How early does it start? What are the resources?
Aman Singh:Yeah, so I think one thing everyone says and everyone still feels is overwhelmed because invest in banking and consulting are so structured, whereas product management is not structured at all. So everyone was like, oh, don't get stressed, it'll be fine. And I was like, Yeah, I don't, yeah, I'll just focus on product management. But I did end up getting overwhelmed and stressed, and I did end up applying to consulting as well. Um, but for PM, it's a bit all over the place. There were some people who applied to Amazon who were getting interviews in December, and some people getting interviews in April. Um, there was, you know, the Google applications, you applied to them in October or November, and you didn't get anything. I didn't get an interview till February. Um that is really something.
Jessica Shklar :Yeah, what are the resources that MIT provides to help you even navigate what jobs are out there?
Aman Singh:Uh so the CDO is raked with the Career Development Office. They have all the positions available on their website. Other than that, the PM Club had an Excel sheet kind of circulated with all opportunities copy and pasted into this Excel sheet that you can go apply to. Um additionally, my friend and I we were both applying for PM jobs, so we had an Excel sheet shared between us to all the jobs we'd apply to, so we could see if you know we didn't apply to either or. And we also had updates like interviewer rejected or waitlisted or whatever.
Jessica Shklar :Did that get competitive with your friend?
Aman Singh:No, not at all. I think I thought it would have. Um I thought it would have got competitive throughout Sloan with the people, um, but I never felt that. Even when I was preparing for Google, um, I leaned on all of them to help me with the interviews, and all of them gave me expert feedback. They told me like I was speaking too fast, I wasn't articulating enough, I wasn't focusing on the actual question, but going off on tangents. And we were doing timed interviews, we were doing questions from a question bank that we found online. And I don't I think without my classmates, I would not have gotten the internship.
Harold Simansky:That's so interesting. Um, can we just take a step back though? It sounds like you did go through the consulting uh recruiting process, and that truly is a contrast.
Aman Singh:You want to just talk about what that looked like and how you and how you were so for consulting, I think I was getting a bit overwhelmed. I think I wasn't getting any biden. People around me were preparing for interviews and networking, and I was like, what am I doing? I should be doing something. So I did decide to apply to McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, and luckily enough, I got an interview at all three. Um, but I do think that preparing for my interviews for those companies really helped me prepare for product management. And the reason I say that is you do these case-based interviews where you have to kind of lead the interview. And with product management, even though it doesn't sound like it, but some of the questions can be a little case-based where they ask you a very broad question, like, um, what's your favorite product and how would you improve it? And that's all they say. And you it's all up to you to kind of create a framework, it's up to you to kind of go bring you through the steps. And I think preparing for consulting really helped me prepare for PM. Uh, and it's not something I'd say I'd recommend you go do, or you know, it's it's individual to everyone. Um, but for me, that really helped. There are some people who didn't do that and they still got PM jobs and amazing PM jobs at that too. Um, so yeah, I would take that with a bit of a uh caveat.
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Jessica Shklar :So walk us through the Google one. You applied in October. What was that application?
Aman Singh:Okay, yes. So I applied in October. It was just a resume and your kind of history. And when I went onto the Google website, I saw my last like 37 rejected jobs as well. Um, but you just apply, and luckily I had a uh reference uh from someone who worked at Google who I worked with before, so he referred me with internally, which is amazing. Um, I applied and then that was it. Um, and then in December, I received a questionnaire. Uh, and basically the way that Google works is they have eight functions for MBA. So product management, program management, finance, uh, people analytics, but you're not able to select a specific one you apply to. You basically submit your resume and then they choose the best fit for you if you do get accepted. Uh, but in the questionnaire, they do let you rank your um uh which one you would prefer, and product management was number one for me. And then they also ask if you would like to update your resumes, is there anything else you they should know and your visa status, all these uh kind of generic questions.
Jessica Shklar :Do you know if that's selective? Did everybody who apply now?
Aman Singh:Sorry, uh no, it only went out to certain people. So I was select. Yeah, I only know three other people at MIT, or except for the ones that got the job as well, like three others that got it.
Jessica Shklar :So it was a screening process based on the resume.
Aman Singh:Yeah.
Jessica Shklar :And then you get this application. So you knew that okay, things are in progress, things are still alive.
Aman Singh:I mean, uh some people filled it out, but also then did not hear back from interviews. So, you know, I think from there it goes on to a different step, which I think was team matching. So uh what they did was they um distribute your resume to different teams within Google who are looking for product managers, and then if a team likes your resume, they will set up the interviews. Um, so I think from my application I saw that it was being updated constantly every day. So that made me think it's being sent out to teams. So what updated you would say sent to this? Oh, sorry, it's uh I would just check the portal on Google and I was like, okay, you know, it's updated, it's a good sign, could be could be a good sign. So I was just like fingers crossed, something good comes out of it. And yeah, and then I think it was on Wednesday morning I got the email like we'd like to schedule three interviews with you. And I was like, So it was three interviews, three interviews back to back, same day? No, um, some people did have them back to back. Mine were spread out over so those were not selective.
Jessica Shklar :So you got all three at once. You didn't pass the first one and then get the second one. Yeah, all three at once.
Aman Singh:They were all with one team, all with my team that I joined. Um, so the last one was with actually my manager, uh, second was with someone um that I worked really closely with, and third one was another uh PM that was team adjacent. So worked in the same org, same kind of product, but uh was working on a different stream.
Jessica Shklar :Did they ask the same questions?
Aman Singh:No, not at all.
Jessica Shklar :So do you feel like they they organized who was going to ask which questions?
Aman Singh:I think so, yeah. But it was stuff that we had prepared for because product management, you know, there's a lot of great resources out there. You're my PM club really helped me out. So there's like six categories of questions they can ask you. And I think one of them was like product design, how would you design this product? Some some of them are craft and execution, like if you're having trouble with PMs or engineers, like how do you solve that? Uh, product strategy and go to market, things like that. So um, there's six basically uh criteria, six topics that they can talk about. And I had studied all six of them, and uh, each of them, I think my first one was craft and execution. So, how would you do this? What does being a product manager mean? Um, and I think that's where I recall all of Jessica's advice on you know, interviewing were make it more of a conversation. Uh, but not only that, I was vulnerable. I talked about things that I have difficulty with. I was able to talk about it, and then we were really able to relate on those things, and I think that made the conversation more human. And I think that really also set me apart a little bit. Um, the second one as well, um, talking about my frustrations with my favorite product and why I have those frustrations, but relating it to my own experience, I think that was again really powerful. Um, being open and honest, I think all those different things that I'd learned from Jessica and I'd learned from uh leadership classes throughout MIT really helped me stand out.
Jessica Shklar :Did you ever get feedback afterwards, just casually in conversation, uh, from those people that you interviewed with about how the interview went?
Aman Singh:I did ask uh and I was told you're not allowed to give feedback. There we go.
Jessica Shklar :Um So then after those three interviews, what happened?
Aman Singh:So after those interviews, um, I think they said they would reach out to me within two weeks, and I was like, okay. And then I remember I was sitting in PM class one day, and the recruiter reached out to me and was like, Oh, are you free for a call today? And I was like, Yes.
Harold Simansky:Yeah, always, always free.
Aman Singh:You tell me. I'm so free.
Jessica Shklar :I will walk out of anything.
Aman Singh:Yeah, and then yeah, she called me at like 5 p.m. I was walking home. And funnily enough, we were walking home to get changed to go to a recruiting event. Um, and she called me and she's like, You've got the job. And I straight away rang my girlfriend, I rang my mom, and I was like, I've got it, I've done it.
Jessica Shklar :So you said a recruiter, is that a Google recruiter?
Aman Singh:A Google recruiter.
Jessica Shklar :So MIT, you you navigated the Google process with a recruiter who does summer internship?
Aman Singh:Uh yeah, so there's uh people at Google that are specifically there for internships, and they basically handle you as a candidate and they submit your they distribute your resume. They're kind of your first point of contact.
Jessica Shklar :So you had met her? I uh spoken to her.
Aman Singh:I know no, she was in Austin. You had spoken to her? I just spoken by email, yeah. But um there was no kind of resume screening, I think, because I was re referred. I don't know how the process works specifically, but um she helped me schedule the interviews and uh that was about it. That's great. And then where was your internship? Uh so in uh South Bay, so San Jose, uh, which is kind of their new campus for Android and platform and devices. Um so I was living out in Sunnyville in front of the Sunnyville. Did they help you with an apartment? They did send out some links uh and they did provide a really generous stipend. Um, but I ended up finding a place on my own um with another classmate of mine.
Jessica Shklar :So tell us about um that you said there were other there were 10 other MBAs?
Aman Singh:10 other MBAs, but we're all spread out. There were some in New York, there was Seattle, in San Francisco, in Mountain View.
Jessica Shklar :Where where are they from? Were anyone else from MIT?
Aman Singh:Uh no, I was the only one from MIT, uh, so extremely lucky and grateful for that. Uh, there was a few people from Kellogg, Harvard, um, Berkeley, and Wharton.
Jessica Shklar :And did you all get together ahead of time? Or were you working in different places?
Aman Singh:We were all working in different places. I did manage to meet some of them who were working in Mountain View in San Francisco, so that was really nice getting to meet them. Uh, one of the people I met in San Francisco had a very similar background to me. She was a machine learning engineer like I was. She was at HBS and we were able to talk about it a lot. Um, but all you know, people at Google extremely great, and they look for googleness. They look for people that really fit into the culture, and you could really see that. Yeah, that's so interesting. So, how was the summer? How was the internship? Yeah, amazing. It was looking back on it, it was I learned so much, and I think it was all due to my manager who was just fantastic. Um, and not just the manager, but the whole team, like the VP, the directors, the PMs, the engineers, like everyone from top to bottom was amazing.
Jessica Shklar :So, what happened your first day?
Aman Singh:So, first day, pretty nervous, all about onboarding. Um, you know, my manager was like, you know, take your time onboard, it's fine. You know, we'll have a conversation when you're up to scratch. I had my conversation, he kind of outlined the project for me a little bit, and I was like, okay, sounds like an interesting project. I thought it would be, you know, working with uh engineers, applying some sort of functionality, but it wasn't that at all. It was kind of more on the strategy side of things. Uh, not what I expected, but I was actually kind of grateful for it because I'd never done anything like that before. So it was definitely an opportunity for me to learn, try it a few new things, and with the guidance of really experienced people.
Jessica Shklar :Did you reach out to your MIT contacts who had helped you along the way, the PM Club, when you got this very vague strategy assignment?
Aman Singh:Yeah, so a lot of my friends were PMs as well at Apple and Amazon at Capital One. So we were constantly in communication with each other, which was uh you know amazing. We were talking about our experiences, what we should do, advice. Um, my roommate was at Audible. We were constantly kind of going back and forth.
Harold Simansky:That's what I'm trying to say. Would you say that your classmates who were most interested in PM roles, did they end up getting PM internships?
Aman Singh:Even though we were told it's really hard to break into, they all got an interview. I would say that. I think 95% did get a PM.
Jessica Shklar :Even if they didn't have a PM background.
Aman Singh:Even if they didn't uh the majority of people I like my friends, I did like my roommate, he got into PM. He was in investment banking at JP Morgan. So the switch there was insane. Um the other is they came from consulting backgrounds, strategy backgrounds. I think I was one of the only ones who came from a tech background.
Harold Simansky:That's so interesting. Because Jessica, I don't know about you, but frequently we're hearing that if you don't have a PM background, it's very hard to get a PM role.
Aman Singh:It sounds like you were hearing the same thing, but that's not we heard the same thing, but yeah, definitely I would say you just need to network and try and you know, be show your best self, essentially.
Jessica Shklar :I want to ask you what googliness is.
Aman Singh:Yeah. You know what? I'm figuring it out that for myself, but I think it's just being a good person, you know, helping out people, making sure you're there for people, talking, listening. It's all those things that we hear in the NBA, like you know, active listening, communication, feedback, and the things that everyone's like, oh yeah, I know all that, I know all that, but like, do you really uh you know, I thought I knew all that, but I didn't really. I think listening for me is awful. I barely listen to people when I after uh I've gone through it, and you know, I apologize to my girlfriend and my family for that. But um no, but uh being googly and just like really just kind of being there for your team, making sure that you're dependable. And not even just dependable, but you're vulnerable. You're letting people know what you're feeling.
Jessica Shklar :This may be a sensitive question. Did you get the job?
Aman Singh:Uh I don't know yet. I think um there's a few things that need to happen beforehand. I think we I had an internal recruiter who reached out to me. I filled out all my feedback. I think my manager was pretty happy with the work I did, hopefully. Uh-huh. And then what happens is they look internally. I think there's some um head count uh things that they need to go through. But it's an internal process, it's all very long. Um and do you have to interview again at any point? I'm not sure. Uh I'm not sure. But maybe if there's like a bit of team matching towards the end, maybe I'll have to interview with different teams. But um, yeah, I think right now I'm just waiting for some updates.
Jessica Shklar :And when will you hear?
Aman Singh:Um, so they did say for PM MBAs it's you know next year in April. Um, which Wow, so it's that long.
Jessica Shklar :So do you are you going through recruiting again now?
Aman Singh:I don't know yet. I don't know. I you know, I would love that return offer, and you know, Google, please give me one. Uh but no, I I think I need I'm gonna just take some time off, enjoy myself a little bit. Um, you know, I had a great time, cherished that, be grateful for it, and then I think in the spring we'll re-evaluate.
Jessica Shklar :And if you do get the offer, would you stay in the US?
Aman Singh:Great question. Uh I think my yeah, I would like to. I think I think I'm open to wherever. Yeah.
Harold Simansky:Um, Oman, we just haven't had the chance to touch on some things we talked about off the line. Do I understand that you're planning a trip to New Zealand and MIT?
Aman Singh:MIT have these study tricks that happen in the spring, and basically students that lead this whole trip, they talk to companies and they plan the whole itinerary of what you're gonna do each day. Um, there were some amazing ones last year. I didn't go to them, uh, but my friends did. There was the Nordics trip, there was the one to Australia, and there was a few others, and this year I'm trying to plan the New Zealand trip. So we've got a few people who are gonna plan it with me, but we essentially need to put in a proposal, uh, see if it gets accepted, and then we will go from there.
Jessica Shklar :What advice do you have for new people coming into MIT specifically or to business school in general about the recruiting process?
Aman Singh:It's okay to be confused. It's okay to be overwhelmed. Uh, I bet everyone else is also overwhelmed and confused. Um, but if you come in with them, you know, an idea of doing product management or consulting, you're gonna get confused. You might say, Oh, I'll try VC or PE. And it's great to explore those things, talk to people that have worked in there, talk to alumni, talk to the clubs. Um, but you know, I would try to stay focused on what you came in for. Obviously, you've thought about it a lot during your application process. Um, you know you want to do it, and it's an internship, it's an opportunity for you to try it. So I would try it, I would, you know, give you your best. And then if it doesn't work out, if you're not a big fan of it, there's you can always recruit for something else full of time.
Harold Simansky:No, that makes sense. Then listen, this is really terrific. Thank you very much for spending some time with us.
Jessica Shklar :Please keep us posted on the return offer.
Harold Simansky:Yeah, absolutely. And good luck, good luck with the recruiting, with Google, with MIT Sloan, and with that trip to New Zealand. Amazing. Thank you so much, guys. Yeah, of course.
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