| Topic Name: |
Pulling My Hair Out - Need Advice |
| Message Name: |
you need to start out lower |
| Date Posted: |
01/28/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
I'm feeling like I'm at the end of my rope, so I thought I'd post here and see if anyone has any ideas for me.
Here's my profile:
*BS Mechanical Engineering, GPA: 3.5
*MBA (entrepreneurship concentration) from a regional program with a top 20 entrepreneurship program
*MS Telecommunications from same regional school, Telecom program is ranked in top 5
*Combined grad school GPA: 3.8
3 years of engineering experience in the automotive industry prior to grad school, great experience with a lot of management responsibility and international customer contact.
3 good internships during grad school, including one that was a full-time product management position for a start-up Internet infrastructure company
2 product management offers when I graduated, I declined both because I really wanted to be in the Telecom industry (and they weren't). Yes, in retrospect, turning down these offers was a huge mistake.
Those job offers were in December 2000.
Since then I've been job hunting, networking, and running repeatedly into a brick wall. Luckily I've been able to live on my savings and the occasional business plan consulting gig. I've also had the opportunity to do some international travel, so the time off hasn't been completely bad. But now as my savings dwindles, I'm getting desperate. I originally focused on Product Management positions, but it seems like I'm not seeing any that dont want at least 3 years of experience in a Product Management role. Funny how quickly that tune changed from the time when I had 2 offers to do the same work. So lately I've been looking for anything, Telecom industry or not, and I'm still coming up empty. I'm basically willing to do anything, relocate anywhere, just as long as I'm getting good experience. But I'm not finding anything. my confidence is shot, I'm depressed, sheesh, re-reading this I realize even my writing abilities have gone downhill.
I've been job searching using Internet job boards, personal contacts, and a lot of researching (newspapers, etc). I've tried sending cover letters and resumes, and also sending introductory letters listing acheivements with no resume. Neither seems to get much response.
Does anyone have any ideas or advice? I feel like some sort of leper. |
| Message: |
Product management positions are generally given to people with experience either in managing projects or with the actual product that will be managed, and it doesn't sound like you have either.
Find a job, any job, working on the type of product you want to work with, and then either work your way up within that company or use it as a stepping stone to get a product management job in another company with a similar product.
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