Have a workout routine? Do the same for learning about tech
Welcome to Wharton! Learning about tech happens beyond the classroom
Author: Dan Wexler| Editor: Ibrahim Bengali, Siyu Chen
Editor’s note: March and April are two important months. Current students, especially those recruiting for roles in non-FAANG tech companies, are in the last sprint before landing at a job. Prospective students are getting their admission decisions and choosing where to go (Welcome to Wharton!!).
In our prior articles, our Club President Matt explained why and how you should build your network in the tech industry. This time, our 2Y Tech Club member Dan will explain why the very first thing you should do is learning about tech — before jumping into recruiting. LEARN BEFORE TRYING TO GET A JOB!
Take Four Immediate Actions
You’re a first year MBA student, and you’re looking to break into tech. You shop on Amazon, search on Google, text on iMessage, and binge on Netflix. You’ve heard tech pays well, provides free lunches, and has a more relaxed culture than what your consulting friends commiserate about. So you want in on the action, but have no idea where to begin.
One thing you’ll quickly find out is that tech recruiting is entirely different from the structured and compact recruiting cycles for banking and consulting. It’s a slow burn, beginning around November and potentially dragging through May. Job postings come in fits, led by larger firms. Interviews can be scheduled immediately or pop up out of nowhere, long after you wrote off the opportunity.
All this is to say, a methodical approach to tech recruitment is required not just to be successful, but to maintain your sanity through the school year. I typically recommend four immediate actions to take as you look for an internship in tech:
- Prioritize sectors of interest: While the lines between Amazon, Facebook, and Apple become blurrier every day, their core businesses play in entirely different markets. There are also more niche sectors of tech, such as digital health, autonomous vehicles, and fintech that have nuanced market dynamics. Find the companies or markets that get you excited.
- Determine the ideal company size: Responsibilities, compensation, and career progression all differ significantly between large enterprises and Series A start-ups. You need to determine your personal risk profile (especially with all those student loans).
- Identify the roles you want: Most MBA internships are strategic in nature but are spread across functions such as PM, PMM, CorpDev, BusDev, and the ever-descriptive Strategy&Ops. You need to identify what roles to pursue, balancing your skills and interests. Full disclosure, there’s no standard definitions, so some research is definitely necessary. (Editor’s note: Check out our MBAs in Tech Series!).
- Learn about Tech: It’s simple. Read. Listen to podcasts. Keep a pulse on what’s going on.
You can knock out the first three in a weekend with some arm-chair research and self-reflection. However, the last step is the easiest to overlook and the hardest to start. That’s because it requires building new habits.
Let’s dive into why it’s important to stay on top of happenings in tech and how to do it efficiently.
Why Consuming Tech News is Important
You absolutely will get asked questions about the company’s industry and tech trends in general in your interviews.
Some questions are easier to prepare for (e.g., “why do you want to work in tech”), while others will come seemingly out of nowhere. In every interview I had, I was caught off guard by questions that I couldn’t have proactively crafted a response to. Sometimes the interviewer wants to test your ability to handle the situation, other times they are testing your knowledge, and some just want to see that you’re passionate about tech.
Examples of these questions include:
- “The CEO is curious, what’s the next frontier for us?” or
- “What’s an interesting bit of industry news you’ve read recently?”.
You’re also likely to get a case or two that assess similar things. Answering these questions well isn’t the result of successful cramming, like you do for your econ finals. The key is having a broad understanding of the tech world; and that comes with consistently reading about tech happenings. If you stay on top of the trends and news cycles, these types of “gotcha” questions can turn from moments of failure to moments to stand out from the crowd.
And, let’s be honest, you won’t have time to prepare between the recruiter reaching out and the first meeting. This leads to scrambling to understand the company’s products, strategy, competition, culture, on top of your interview stories. You’re in b-school, overcommitted with tons of activities tugging on your time. Consistency will reduce last minute prep and give you time to balance competing priorities.
Ok but how?
It may sound like I’m recommending the equivalent of another MBA course. But actually, I believe you can be successful by committing 15 to 30 minutes each day to reading or listening to podcasts. My favorite times to catch up on the news are commuting to class, walking to the grocery store, or doing chores around the house. For me, it’s about making the most out of my downtime.
Fine, then where?
Below are some favorites, but by no means is this a complete list. Note, don’t sign-up for ALL of them tonight. You’ll be overwhelmed tomorrow and boom, there goals your daily habit. Choose 2–3, max, and be consistent.
Reading
- Stratechery: Ben Thompson’s publication about the strategies employed by big tech firms is my absolute favorite
- TechCrunch: Great news site to stay on top of all things tech
- CB Insights: Geared more towards start-ups and funding, but provides fantastic strategy teardowns and updates of big tech as well
- Wall Street Journal — CIO Journal: Daily email newsletter containing top tech headlines
Listening
- Wharton Tech Toks: weekly episodes from tech experts (e.g., Big Tech execs, founders, VCs) talking about the current state of an industry and boldly predicting where its going in 5–8 years
- Exponent: monthly podcast hosted by the writer behind Stratechery
- Pivot: semi-weekly podcast hosted by Kara Swisher and NYU’s Scott Galloway primarily focused on tech stories
- Acquired: In-depth analysis of tech IPOs and M&A
- Wall Street Journal — Tech News Briefing: mirrors the CIO journal update, but in podcast form
There is far, far too much content about tech news for you to consume it all, so you will need to find the right content for you. My internship focus was on big tech firms, so the podcasts and newsletters I subscribed to were limited. There is no shortage of voices to read/hear about whatever corner of tech you want to pursue.
Finally, while it’s important to carve out the time, there is absolutely a balance. You 100% can overdo it. Sure, you may know everything there is to know about the digital advertising ecosystem, but it is way too easy to burn out on the tech recruiting process.
Last Words of Wisdom
In B-school, we often only think about recruiting in terms of resumes, applications, networking, interviews and job offers. That’s important, but neglecting learning about the industry is a mistake. Consuming tech news each day is the one of the only things you can do at this stage to truly set yourself apart.
