While other industries can promise high salaries and strong career progression, working in tech can mean a career like no other. Tech employees are frequently operating at the forefront of innovation, working on products and services with far-reaching impact.
“You are really at the pulse of the time. It’s a benefit that’s hard to describe, but it’s interesting because everyone will be talking about AI, for example, and you will know all about that already because you’re working in one of the companies innovating in that area,” explains Jan Malte Jeddeloh, cloud solutions architect at Microsoft and MSc graduate from ESMT Berlin.
Breaking into tech after business school could mean working on cutting-edge tech innovations such as the Apple Vision Pro or helping OpenAI enhance its large learning models.
There are also enviable company benefits in tech, such as unlimited annual leave at firms such as Netflix and Workday. Top business school grads entering the industry can also land salaries exceeding $150k.
Salaries and benefits are part of the reason why the tech industry is among the most competitive to enter for business school students. If you want to work in a big tech firm or land a high paying tech job such as a product manager or operations manager, successfully navigating the recruitment process can be tricky.
To give you a better idea of what’s required to break into tech, BusinessBecause spoke with b-school grads across the globe working within the sector—from tech-based startups to big tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
Here are 10 key insights they gave on how to get into tech.
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How to get into tech
1. Don’t be intimidated by working with technology
“We had a presentation from Microsoft showing what a tech career looked like, and I recognized that this was actually just a company providing products and services to all sorts of industries, and that requires all sorts of skills. That means they have roles in areas like sales and HR, so you don't necessarily need to code every day.”
Jan Malte Jeddeloh, cloud solutions architect, Microsoft (MSc Innovative Management, ESMT Berlin)
2. Keep an open mind
“You need as much pipeline as possible. So try to open the scopes, even if you're not fully sure of something. There are false positives and false negatives, there are companies you think will be a great fit—and they are—and there are companies you're not so optimistic about, and they actually turn out to be great. So what I think really helped me, if we talk about my job at Microsoft specifically, was to just keep applying.”
Fede Pacheco, senior partner marketing manager, Microsoft (MBA, California Berkeley Haas School of Business)
3. Be prepared to start applying early
“Starting early makes a big difference because once you're in the MBA program, the first months are a whirlwind of classes, making connections, social opportunities, and just adjusting to a new city or country. So, if you can do any work before, it really goes a long way to preparing you for the application season.”
Karan Saini, growth product manager, Adobe (MBA, Northwestern Kellogg School of Business)
READ: What’s It Like Working At Amazon, Google & Microsoft?
4. Be authentic in interviews to make sure you’re the right fit
“Try to be as authentic as possible, I think that's something a lot of students forget to do. They want to try to show who they are in terms of what the company is expecting, when really it should be who they are and what their interests are.”
Yara Slim, content strategist, TikTok (Master in Marketing, HEC Paris)
5. Refine your core pitch
“One thing that really helped was having a ‘tell me about yourself’ pitch. That's the first question they're going to ask you. You need an impactful pitch that explains your journey, why you're interviewing for that role, where it fits with your career journey, and why it’s key for you to get this job if you want to progress your career in tech.”
Renata Stabenow, product marketing manager, Microsoft (MBA, California Berkeley Haas School of Business)
6. Develop your industry knowledge
“If you find that tech aligns with your interests, dive into current tech trends, new advancements, and the pros and cons of both existing and emerging technologies. This should be combined with role-specific research to build your expertise in the field.”
Jayanth Varanasi, chief product officer, IntuitEV (Post Graduate Program in Management, Indian School of Business)
7. Seek out others who can advocate for you during admissions
“Having a referral is super helpful for getting into the first interview, at least for international students. In my case, I'm Peruvian, so I could connect with other Peruvians who were with Amazon to have coffee chats and try to make them support my candidacy and be able to get a referral into the system.”
Javier Rodriguez Del Campo, senior product manager, Amazon (MBA, Harvard Business School)
8. Network!
"When I was interviewing, I already knew lots of people from the team because I had texted them and showed productivity on LinkedIn. Send people a message saying: ‘I'm interviewing for this position, I already know this, and I have these questions.’
“Make sure you also show what you can bring to the team, why you could be a good fit. The focus should always be on what you can bring to the company and explaining why if you join that team and that company it will leave it better placed.”
Carles Vineta, growth manager, Google (MBA, IESE Business School)
9. Utilize all available support from the career service
“The Career Development Office at Asia School of Business has an entire team to support the students. One of them, Sean, helped me all the way from creating my resume to salary negotiation. So that was very helpful.”
Vinceya Edwin, inclusion program manager, Google (MBA, Asia School of Business)
10. If undertaking an internship, make sure to stand out
“It’s about going above and beyond and adding a little bit of pixie dust over everybody else. And you’ve got to not be shy of selling yourself to some degree, because it's a two-way test – you're testing them, but they're trying to evaluate who are the best amongst what they have.”
Aditi Nair, digital strategy manager, Adobe (MBA, London Business School)
For more info about what it's like to work in tech, the perks and salaries you could gain, and tips on how to successfully land a job in the technology sector, download our BusinessBecause Careers in Tech Guide
