TechKnowledgical

In Episode 2 of Season 2, we break down one of the most requested episodes: a day in the life of a machine learning engineer.  

Hear from Tomasz Jurczyk, Machine Learning Engineer at Moveworks, about how he broke into the field and the types of problems he solves on a daily basis. From creating algorithms to understand human language no matter how complex, to creating a knowledge graph on enterprise support, Tomasz knows it all.

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In the first episode back for Season 2, we talk to Connie Yang, Lead Data Scientist at Pallet.  

Connie transitioned form an Applied Math & Computer Science degree at Carnegie Mellon into an entry-level Data Scientist role at Microsoft. During her time at Microsoft, she cofounded a Women in Data Science Community and grew as a leader and people manager.  Finally and most currently, she made the switch to the startup world as Lead Data Scientist at Pallet. 

Learn how Connie grew in her role and the things she did to set herself up to become a leader in her field!  

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In this episode we talk to Alex Carmen about her experience and knowledge working in presales at IBM and transition to post sales working in customer success at Mulesoft. We discuss what each role represents at the two companies, day to day responsibilities of someone in sales, the differences between pre and post sales, and finally how Alex first got her start into the world of tech after studying chemistry.  

00:00 Intro 

01:34 Finding interest in tech with a chemistry + economics degree 

08:35 IBM sales interview process & skills needed 

10:55 Impact of your role & environment on your personality 

15:25 Summit Program & sales training at IBM 

18:18 Roles & responsibilities as an Account Executive 

21:11 Learning about new industries 

24:11 Diving deep  on sales terms & processes 

28:47 Jumping from IBM to MuleSoft 

32:08 Account Executive vs. Customer Success Manager 

35:57 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion work throughout Alex’s life 

41:39 Closing advice on getting into sales or customer success

Shardul is a writer, marketer and generally curious cool cat. He currently works as the Creator Marketing Lead at Public where he's in charge of all things creators on the platform. Public is on a mission to make the stock market more inclusive, educational and fun. You can join public for free and get your free slice of stock at http://share.public.com/shardul.  Shardul also writes a great newsletter on the creator economy news and does deep dives on creators at http://creatorsdigest.substack.com.  

In this episode, we dive into: 

0:00 Intro 

4:02 Switching from Software Engineering to Product Marketing 

7:32 Experience in PMM at Salesforce 

12:26 What is Creator Marketing & How Shardul Moved Over 

19:24 Most Interesting Creators Out There 

26:23 Becoming a Creator Himself & Going to Public 

34:13 Creator Marketing at Public 

42:25 Advice for Creators 

46:52 What’s Next for Shardul

In this episode we chat with Gabi Campagna Lanning about her vast experience working in user research and design at Big Tech (Google, IBM) and a few startups along the way. She takes us through her education (undergrad in Architecture and MS in Fine Arts), how she first got into user research, and ultimately her experience and thought process for thinking about designing for some of the world’s most complex enterprise Machine Learning products.   

00:00 

Intro 02:11 

Interviewing for UX Research Roles 

04:35 Deciding to get a Master’s Degree 

08:57 How to build your portfolio 

14:45 Why did you choose IBM for design? 

17:22 Where do UX Researchers fit into the product cycle? 

22:30 How do you truly empathize with users? 

27:31 UX Research career ladder 

31:00 Differences between IBM and startups 

33:50 UX Research at Google 

36:00 Closing thoughts

Andrew Dabydeen studied Operations Research & Engineering for his Bachelor's at Cornell University — with a heavy curriculum towards statistics and computer science. Post-undergrad, he decided to get consulting experience at Accenture. After gaining a breadth of experience across multiple industries and seeing various roles in the data space, he pursued his Masters in Data Science at Brown.

Since Brown, Andrew has worked at Shutterstock and is now currently a Data Scientist at Peloton. In this episode, you'll hear Andrew go deep on:

0:00 Intro

1:10 Thinking About Careers at Cornell

2:50 Time at Accenture

6:12 Deciding What to Do Next

8:57 Choosing MS in Data Science at Brown

12:14 What’s the MS in Data Science at Brown like?

15:15 Recruiting into Data Science

18:37 Interviewing at Companies in Different Stages

21:29 Biggest Piece of Advice in Interview Process

24:13 Day-to-day as a Data Scientist

26:30 How do Data Scientists Prioritize Work?

28:23 Data Science Stakeholders

30:17 Career Progression

33:56 What is Machine Learning Engineering?

36:10 Is a PhD the only way to get into machine learning engineering?

38:39 Actionable Advice for Learning Data Science

41:35 Closing Thoughts from Andrew

Jason Ma graduated from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and immediately went to Oracle to pursue product management after graduation. After a few years in, he got the entrepreneurial itch and jumped to Scale, a hypergrowth startup that's helping accelerate AI development.  

In episode 11, you'll hear: 

0:00 Intro 

2:20 Preparing for tech from undergrad 

5:25 Getting into product 

10:28 Why Oracle? 

14:15 Day to day as a PM at Oracle 

19:45 Transitioning to a startup 

23:30 Scale overview, stage, interview process, and role 

30:52 Scale as a key enabler for the AI industry 

34:08 After undergrad: startups or big company? 

39:51 Startup compensation & equity breakdown 

45:33 Did a larger company better prepare you for a smaller one? 

51:53 Closing thoughts & advice

Kyle Woumn grew up in Atlanta, went to Georgia Tech, and studied Computer Science. He was always driven to get into tech, starting with him interning at GE in college. Then after graduation, he went to work at Twilio out in San Francisco, a fast-growing startup that had recently IPO'd.  

After a few years of learning the ropes, he decided to get out and create companies solving problems he really cared about. Most recently, he's the Head of Technology at Overflow, a startup that makes it easy for donors to fund nonprofits by giving them company stock. In this podcast, you'll hear about:  

- Approaching Big Tech interviews vs. startup interviews 

- Time-split as an entry-level engineer 

- Leaving Twilio to become a Founder 

- Overflow: the startup Kyle is currently a Founder of 

- Day-to-day as the Head of Technology ("CTO") 

- Being an individual contributor vs. leading a team 

- What startups look for in software engineers

Investment Banking is one of the most sought and common roles, but what do bankers typically do afterwards if they're looking to get into tech? In this episode, we've brought on Chandra Pathuri, currently doing Business Operations (BizOps) at Facebook. What's the day-to-day like? How do you break-in? How does the work translate from being at Goldman Sachs?  

Tune into this episode to find out!  

Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com.

The Chief of Staff is the right-hand person to the CEO and has been gaining a ton of popularity post-MBA and consulting. What's the day-to-day like? How do you break-in? In Episode 8 of the TechKnowledgical podcast, Omari Ross, Chief of Staff at Adaptix and ex-PwC consultant, breaks that down for you.  

In this episode, you'll hear about: 

- Transitioning from Big 4 consulting to a Series A startup 

- Why the chief of staff is an important role for tech companies 

- Day-to-day responsibilities and projects 

- Challenges and struggles 

- How to stand out and get an interview 

- And more!  

If becoming a Chief of Staff now or eventually is something you're interested in, you won't want to miss this.  Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com.  

Product Design is all about thinking deeply about the user & their needs, and figuring out a solution that will make the experience of using any product delightful. What's the day-to-day like? How do you break-in? In Episode 7 of the TechKnowledgical podcast, Becca Yukelson, Sr. Product Designer at Salesforce, breaks that down for you.  

In this episode, you'll hear about: 

- Becca's background and journey to Product Design 

- Why product design is an important role for tech companies 

- The different types of product designers

- How product designers work cross-functionally to solve users' problems 

- How to stand out and get an interview 

- The different parts of the product design interview process 

- And more!  

If getting into product design now or eventually is something you're interested in, you won't want to miss this.  Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com. 

Product Management is one of the most sought after roles at technology companies, but what's the day-to-day like? How do you get the interview? Once you're in the interview, how do you set yourself up for success? 

In Episode 6 of the TechKnowledgical podcast, there's nobody better to break that all down for you than Ex-Facebook Rotational Product Manager and Sr. Product Manager at Nubank, Abhi Muchhal.  In this episode, you'll hear about: 

- Abhi's background and journey to Product Management 

- How to stand out and get an interview 

- The different parts of the product management interview process 

- The various rotations Abhi worked on as a Facebook RPM 

- What it's like to go from Facebook to a growth-stage company like Nubank 

- Where Abhi sees his career heading 

- And more!  

If getting into product management now or eventually is something you're interested in, you won't want to miss this.  Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com.

One crucial role in the tech space that's relatively new and starting to gain traction is called Product Marketing Management (PMM). Product Marketing sits at the intersection of product development, general marketing, and sales by figuring out the best way to launch and bring new products to market. 

In Episode 5 of TechKnowledgical, Jodi Innerfield, Director of Product Marketing at Salesforce, shows us the world of product marketing as she's worked across different companies and multiple roles within PMM.  

In this episode, you'll hear about: 

- Jodi's background and journey to Product Marketing 

- All the various functions of Marketing at a company (there are many) 

- Her experience through Salesforce 

- How to get your foot in the door for product marketing 

- The skills needed to be a successful Product Marketer 

- Where she sees her career heading 

- And more!  

If getting into product marketing now or eventually is something you're interested in, you won't want to miss this.  Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com.

Software is eating up the world, and to build that software, we need engineers. Software engineering is one of the most coveted jobs in tech, and in episode 4 of TechKnowledgical, we've got no one better than Chris Caruso, Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft to talk about the ins-and-outs of the role.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

1. How to stand out from a pool of applicants for a competitive role
2. How to grow as an entry-level software engineer
3. What processes SWE's participate in on a day-to-day basis
4. How software engineers interact with different functions of a tech company
5. And more!

If getting into software engineering now or eventually is something you're interested in, you won't want to miss this.  Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com.

Welcome to TechKnowledgical — the podcast where we break down the tech industry — from various technologies & their impacts to different roles like product management, so you can get your dream job in tech.  

Every technology company was once a startup. When we were going through the job search in undergrad, us as well as a bunch of classmates kept coming back to ask the same question: "What's it really like at a startup?" In Episode 3, we've got the best person to answer it: John Pepelnjak, MBA candidate at The Wharton School who's worked across the range of startups, like Zuora and Flexport.  

If getting into startups now or eventually is something you're interested, tune-in to hear how to evaluate startups to work for, what it's like being employee #7 and working out of an apartment, what to do when a startup goes under, and how different roles work together as the startup grows.  

Feel free to send us any feedback, give suggestions for new topics or guests for episodes, or ask questions at techknowledgicalpod@gmail.com.