MyTechStory: Meet Abass, A Product Manager Intern.

My Tech Story

Abass Odunola

I am passionate about solving problems and after exploring different career paths in tech, Product Management ticks it the most for me.

• What prompted you to take on this particular role?

The details of the job, knowing fully well that I can influence people who use my product and make I help make their life easier.

• How long have you been working in your job role?

4 months.

• How did you get your tech role?

I applied via LinkedIn as well as reached out to a few people inside the company so that I get an opportunity to interview.

• How does your typical workday in your life play out?

I usually begin my day by checking my email and slack to respond to any pending messages. I then draft a list of Todos for the day and that’s what sets the direction for the day.

• What platform do you enjoy using in the course of working and what fascinates you about it?

I enjoy working with Miro the most due to a number of prebuilt assets it has. It’s a very powerful tool for everything wireframing.

• What do you think would make you perform better at what you do? (You never can tell who’s reading this presently)

I think upskilling is very important, especially in areas in which I am not so strong. Also, learning the engineering vocabularies and mastering how to work with them would be a plus.

• Who do you look up to as a role model in your role and why?

Ankit Shukla – Founder of HelloPM

He was the one who opened my eyes to the world of product management. I have equally learnt alot from his website.

• Trying not to sound like that troublesome HR… Tell me, where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In five year’s time, I see myself as a Senior Product Manager or a Director of Product in a fintech company with a very strong product culture building innovative solutions that will revolutionise the fintech space globally.

• Do you have any milestone you think wouldn’t have been achieved?…but, alas! You smashed it?💪🏽🚀🤝

Yeah. While I was job-hunting, I landed upto 4 interviews with companies in Nigeria and abroad.

I accepted an offer which is my current role. All that happened when I changed my approach to job-hunting. I had applied earlier for a couple of openings online but weren’t forthcoming.

The era of cold application/online application is long gone. The competition is getting more robust and nobody is willing to take a chance on you if you are a fresher.

Cold emailing is the new gold, learn it. People who think it doesn’t work have been doing it the wrong way.

In summary;
– I cold emailed 7 companies
– I got a response from 5
– Did four interviews
– Accepted an offer

I am planning on writing an e-book on how job seekers can use cold emailing to land their next role.

• Techies are stereotyped as nonchalant; some even claim to work around the clock and have little time for socializing… How true🤷‍♂️?

While tech can be quite demanding, I believe everything boils down to time management.The amount of time people spend on social media alone is alarming doing all sorts of frivolous stuffs. So, if you manage your time well, you will have the opportunity to engage in other things asides from work.

I explore the web in my leisure time trying to upgrade my knowledge on life’s events generally. Nature, food, inter-gender nuances are all my forte.

• What golden secret can you tell someone trying to get into a similar role as yours to help them succeed?

Why apply to 100 companies only to get one interview with 99 rejections when you can cold email your way in and stand a better chance?

People should ditch online application when it comes to job-hunting. There’s climatic change and it comes with a new way of doing things. The era of resume and cover letter is long gone!

The only secret people need to know is cold emailing. It works all the time.

Cold emailing makes you stand out from the crowd.

• Kindly share a link to your most active social platform. You may be the light someone has been waiting to connect with.

Twitter – AbassOluokun

• Before I leave you😊, what’s that one thing that’s going/working well for you✅, that you can consider as a rose🌹, ever since you ventured into tech?

I think I am making some tangible progress in my career as a product manager. And that won’t be possible if I didn’t network. So networking is key when it comes to building your career as a talent.

• Hey Techie✌🏻… being sincere, what else do you wish to tell us? You might just see it happen/finally get someone inspired! You gerriit?😉👍🏼

Plus my passion for product management, I plan to learn more about product design and no-code tools. These are part of my plans for the year.