John Huang is an MBA graduate from the University of Michigan Ross MBA Program. Since receiving his MBA, John has worked for one of the world’s largest companies, a job position with no official title as well as helping a 10 person startup. When Covid-19 came into our lives, the events and effects that came to all of us, happened to John as well. From wondering if he would have to make a career change, to being laid off, finding new opportunities, and how he feels overall today about his MBA after riding such an unpredictable employment wave due to the lockdown- John shared his reflections, thoughts and experiences from his time working during lockdown, new changes in his personal life, to pivoting to a new career opportunity. 
How did the company you worked for handle the initial wave of the pandemic? How did this impact you personally?
John: The startup that I worked at moved quickly to have everyone working from home without much of a plan. However, when it became clear that this pandemic was going to last more than a few weeks, the company moved quickly into cash preservation mode and laid off a third of the workforce which included me.
Personally the bad news didn’t hit me as hard because I had accepted the risk and volatility that comes with startup when I took the role. Luckily, the company was generous in their severance and support which certainly helped ease the blow, but I was incredibly nervous being unemployed during this period of uncertainty. Most companies decided to institute a hiring freeze and all of a sudden the market was flooded with new unemployed professionals.
What was your thought process around deciding to make a career change? And then, how did the change come about?
John: After getting laid off, I decided to fully commit to pursue Product Marketing as my career path after considering several marketing related paths to pursue from my previous experiences. My thought process was based around the type of work I enjoyed the most and where there was demand in the market for my generalist background and skills. I had the benefit of working with Product Marketers in my past roles, and I felt confident that this was the right path for me. Given that I am later in my career and wanted to start a family soon, I knew I had to make the change now.
Having been laid off, the change was forced on me. I thought about playing it safe and going back to roles I was previously in but in the end I decided I would not be happy with myself if I settled.
I was incredibly lucky to find a Product Marketing role only a month after being laid off. Honestly it was luck – I was at the right place, at the right time when I submitted my application to Indigo Ag. They had just raised a large round of funding and agriculture wasn’t that impacted by COVID and my varied background and experience in tech and marketing was the unique combination that they were looking for.
How has the last year and a half affected your chosen career?
John: It has been a roller coaster. I hit deep lows when I was laid off and could no longer pursue a role in leading growth and community that was crafted just for me. I was lucky to rebound with my product marketing role, but it was strange to start a new job where I have not met anyone in person and had to be in a role heavy in cross-functional coordination.
Having seen so many others struggle to find roles during the pandemic made me appreciate how lucky I was to be able to pivot into a new career path. I will say the silver lining to the pandemic is having so many companies hiring remote workforces. It has opened up so many different product marketing roles to people like myself who do not live in the Bay Area. It has made me feel more confident that I can live in Boston but still work for B2C tech companies that had previously been inaccessible which would have forced me to focus on a different Product Marketing path.
How has the pandemic made you reflect about your MBA Experience?
John: The most valuable aspect of my MBA was the network I built during my two years on campus. When I was laid off I had several classmates reach out and offer to refer me or introduce people in their network. I have also noticed a lot of my classmates changing jobs recently and I believe that our MBA network gives them more confidence in taking those leaps.
I felt bad for the MBA students this year who had to take all the courses fully remote and missed opportunities to bond with their classmates because it is those bonds that will pay off long after business school is over.
Returning to the office, what are some of your priorities when it comes to your work environment, or workplace benefits?
John: I will be fully remote now so on the rare occasions that I do visit the office, my priority will be meeting people in person and building relationships.
As an expecting father, I am glad to be at a company with a distributed workforce so I have the benefit of spending more time with my family. The pandemic has made me value work life balance more and all the regained time is worth more than the free food and office perks that I used to receive.
John worried that his original career path would not pave out the way he had intended it too when it became clear that this pandemic was nothing to be taken lightly. Like many MBA alumni, John received his MBA in pursuit of better himself and his overall career. With a global pandemic at large, the anxiety of what would come next, or if anything was coming at all as far as a stable work environment was something that he and the rest of us could not predict. There was also now the increased anxiety to worry about physical health and illness as well as how to find a healthy balance of work and life while being in lockdown, which John enlightens us on this and how he feels a bit more personally, about the pandemic as an MBA alumni.
Was work harder or easier to do while quarantine was going on?
John: I would say both. Harder in a sense because we could get together as a group to effectively brainstorm and plan. I don’t feel that I had the opportunity to develop many deep relationships with my co-workers given I had never met any of them in person. The easier part was having less interruptions during the day and the opportunity to deal with life admin and errands more effectively.
Were you fearful of what would happen to your health and well-being during the pandemic? Did it affect the way you work?
John: I was worried about being home all day and lacking the social interaction that I enjoyed from the office setting. I also worried about burnout because work and afterwork all blended together because I never left the house and there just never seemed to be a clean break between work and non-work time. It was incredibly easy to keep working because I had nothing else to do. It wasn’t until I developed a healthy routine and the right habits that I was able to get into a better place.
In terms of how I work, I was already used to lots of Slacks and emails so that didn’t bother me. It was just hard not to be able to walk over to someone’s desk and chat or engage in non-work conversations just to break up the day. All my conversations centered around work which gets a little old.
Was it a challenge to switch to work completely remote?
John: At first it was because I didn’t have a routine established, and I was starting a new job without having met anyone in person. I also wasn’t used to being in one place for all my waking hours. Now it feels normal as I have established my routine and found other ways to engage with people outside of work.
Written By: Julia Posz