After graduating from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, Catie Bass (Foster, ‘21) transitioned back into the professional workplace, and into a Product Management role at a tech company. During our conversation, Catie spoke about the transitions in her life and career that she made, and what she has learned from the experience. She also spoke about some of her accomplishments, and future goals, and also provided some advice for how MBA graduates can navigate their own career and life transitions.
MBASchooled: Think back to when you graduated from business school. What were you excited about or nervous about when you graduated?
I was really nervous about whether I would feel the same “fit” that I did when I was an intern with the same team – I was scared that maybe since there had been some changes in the department since I went back to school that the team would be completely unrecognizable! Fortunately, that wasn’t the case at all. It was great to see people again.
On the other hand, I was really excited to have weekends be truly free again with no homework. It was so great to have that time to really unwind.
MBASchooled: What was it like to transition from business school back into the workplace? What did you enjoy, and what was challenging?
I actually found it pretty easy to transition back – in a lot of ways, working was easier than grad school in terms of time commitment. Instead of being in class for 2 hour chunks throughout the day plus homework/studying in the evenings, I generally had a set 8 hour window when I was working. It really and truly felt like I was getting free time back.
Additionally, most of my team is still working at least part-time from home – because I did my entire internship and second year remotely, I felt really well prepared to dive right in and start making an impact even though I wasn’t physically colocated with my team every day.
MBASchooled: What was it like to make a transition into a new role, function, or industry?
It’s definitely a challenge to make a role transition! I’m still in the stage where I feel like I’m learning something new every day and rarely am I ever feeling like I have a “predictable” day. I definitely feel like I’m growing a lot, and having open dialogue with my manager and team really helps with that – I know I can reach out to my colleagues with questions as they come up, and I also know that I can rely on them for honest feedback on how I’m doing.
MBASchooled: What did you learn from your career transition into product management?
I started my career not really knowing what I wanted to do, other than truly knowing that I didn’t want to do translation work (because I didn’t enjoy it and also wasn’t the best at localization) and that I probably didn’t want to become a teacher. I didn’t really know what was out there for me, so when I received an offer to work at Amazon as a call center associate, I took it.
My first career pivot was after a few years at the call center, when I realized that I wanted to become a program manager. I spent about 4 years doing operations and program management work (with some associate product manager duties mixed in) and realized that I was happiest when I was helping to launch a new product. That led me to talk to my department’s director about a potential role change, and he recommended that I consider an MBA.
My biggest learning from the career transition process is to not let other people decide what you’re capable of. I spent a lot of my youth thinking that I wasn’t good at math because that’s what people told me. What I didn’t realize until I was almost 30 was that I am good at math – I just need to understand the practical application for what I’m doing, or it won’t click. Business school was the perfect place for me in that regard, since everything is introduced with a practical application (running a business)!
Similarly, there are a lot of companies that won’t hire a PM without an engineering degree – what my resume won’t show a hiring manager, however, is my passion for technology that stems from when my family got our very first PC when I was 6 years old! When it came time for me to interview for internships, I paid close attention to what companies invited me for PM interviews, and which of those roles were for more technical product management positions and which were more business-focused PM roles.
Because I wanted to have a good mix of technical and business focus, I evaluated potential internships based on how the interviewers responded when I’d talk about my passion for technology despite the lack of an engineering degree and made decisions based on those responses. You won’t be happy in the long term when you constantly feel like you have to prove yourself at your job – go where people believe in you and your abilities.
MBASchooled: Looking back upon your time in business school, what are things that you did in business school that have been valuable to you in your work and career?
The most valuable thing in business school for me was to take the classes that scared me. I came into business school not having taken a math class since I was 16 years old and graduated with a STEM MBA and a GPA that I didn’t think would be possible when I started my program. I learned that the secret to math and finance courses was just practice – taking the time to do the readings and doing the practice problems in the textbooks even if they weren’t assigned as homework made a huge difference for me. I never would have dreamed that I’d come out of business school and do things like model potential acquisitions for fun during a hackathon.
MBASchooled; How have your own thoughts about your career and professional success changed and evolved since graduating?
I really credit the Leading Teams and Organizations class taught by Crystal Farh for this, but I think what’s most important for me now is that I feel like my core values match with the work I’m doing. If there’s a mismatch there, I don’t feel successful.
MBASchooled: What’s been your proudest accomplishment so far?
I’m getting to use my undergraduate degree in my work! I graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Japanese and thought there’d be no way that I’d be able to use my degree in a career unless I went into translation or teaching – career paths that weren’t right for me. I’ve been able to use my second language for some projects already and am really excited to sit in on some remote interviews with Japanese users in the future.
MBASchooled: What’s one career goal, or milestone you’d like to hit in your career?
I’m in between goals right now. I started my career as an associate at an inbound call center, so it’s been a crazy ten year journey from front-line associate to floor lead to program manager to grad student to product manager. I’m not sure I’ve figured out the next goal yet – I’m making the choice to really enjoy this time and learn as much as possible. I’m sure the next milestone will reveal itself soon!
MBASchooled: In what other ways has your life evolved or changed since graduation from business school?
My husband and I bought a house during my final quarter of second year, so we’ve been really busy doing home improvement projects. It’s almost become a second full-time job for me, so I’m looking forward to having the major work done so I can relax a bit more (and finally host people for dinner parties!).
MBASchooled: What advice do you have, for MBA graduates who are graduating from business school?
Ask questions! Others won’t expect you to come in knowing all of the answers, so don’t hold yourself to an unattainable standard.
Links