After finishing his first year of his MBA program at Penn State University, Sanath Adiga (Smeal, ‘21) spent his summer as a Product Marketing intern at Dell Technologies. During his summer, Adiga worked on a project to create an integrated marketing plan while learning the ropes of Product Marketing. Adiga shared his story of his experience this summer, the lessons he learned, and advice for those MBA students interested in Product Marketing Internships.
MBASchooled: What did you do for your summer internship?
I interned at Dell Technologies under the CMO marketing internship program. I was assigned as a product marketing graduate intern. I was part of their Storage and Data protection marketing team.
MBASchooled: What projects/responsibilities did you have as a PMM Intern?
As part of my summer project I worked on creating an integrated marketing plan to utilize the technical assets in a way that will help the customers understand the product technically in simple terms. Also designing new and better ways to engage the customers.
What were the important skills you had to use to be an effective PMM Intern?
I think the most critical skill as a PMM is to quickly be able to understand the product and build connections with different teams. PMM works with product management, pre-sales, sales, technical marketing, channel partners, field marketing, etc. to name a few. It’s essential to understand what each team does and how to navigate through the teams to get the right information.
MBASchooled: What were some of the things that helped you be successful in your summer internship?
I think, as an intern, one needs to be hungry and be ready to go the extra mile to learn and gain as much experience as one can. I think that attitude helped me push myself further. The team also plays a key role. My team and my mentor were wonderful. Helped me identify my project milestones and narrow down on my goals. When you have limited time as an intern, if you are not focused and don’t have a structured plan, you will always risk leaving the project in an unfinished state.
Lastly, the networking you do as an intern is very critical. Your network is your support system. They have been in that organization for years now. They know the product, and problems better than you. The advice and guidance that your network shares with you is priceless.
MBASchooled: What was it like to build relationships virtually? What helped? What was hard?
At first, it was odd. Starting the internship virtually from day one and meeting your team virtually did make me nervous. I wasn’t sure how successful I would be in building relationships. But I think the company’s culture plays a key role here. Dell Technologies culture is such that everyone is happy to have a chat with you. I have never been denied a coffee chat request. The other person knows the situation and does everything they can to make you comfortable.
I had weekly meetings with my manager, mentor, and team. I was part of various meetings with different stakeholders that helped me gain valuable insights. These insights allow you to participate in other discussions. This participation will not just help you build professional relationships but also helps you connect personally with your colleagues.
MBASchooled: What was an important lesson that you learned from your summer internship?
“No idea is small” . There is no point in holding back your ideas. The people in the company want to listen to your ideas. They genuinely want to understand your outside perspective on the product/team. Many times these small ideas are transformed to a bigger impactful idea after discussing with your team. When you have an opportunity, speak up and propose your ideas, be open to criticism and always strive for improvement.
MBASchooled: Knowing what you know now, what would you do to prepare in order to be even more successful in your internship?
Start the preparation as early as possible. There is always tons of information online about a product. Understand different resources and the purpose of each resource that is being used to market a product.
MBASchooled: What was a challenge that you had to overcome or work through?
Planning my time was a challenge. My team was spread across different time zones. As an intern, you would like to continue networking, learn about other groups, and continue to progress with your internship project. All this had to be done, making sure you are taking care of your personal commitments. Having many zoom meetings can lead to zoom fatigue and bring down your productivity. Hence, I think scheduling meetings and planning your work for the day is a bit challenging, but a necessary skill one should have to be successful.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have for MBA students considering internships in Product Marketing?
Don’t give up! No matter how many rejections you might get, at the end of the day, all you need is one offer. If you are passionate about marketing and want to pursue a career in product marketing, then keep that passion alive and use that as a fuel to move forward. Focus on your transferable skills. Try to highlight those transferable skills during the interview and plan on how to use those skills during your internship to achieve your goals.