3 Strategies That Helped Him Become a PM at eBay During a Recession (Even With a CS Background)

In this Blog, I am going to talk about a person who will raise the bar for you, he’s one of the hardest working & strategy-led jobseekers I’ve ever interviewed. 

Currently, he works at eBay as a Product Manager, he cracked the role 2 years ago during the time of peak recession in 2023, despite his masters being in computer science. 

Meet Shreemad Patel. 

- Moved to the U.S. in August 2021 to pursue an MS in Computer Science at Arizona State University (ASU).  

- Completed his degree in 3 semesters (Graduated Dec 2022).  

- Before coming to the U.S., he had:  

  - 1 year of work experience as an Analyst at an EdTech company.  

  - 1 Product Marketing internship.  

→ This background helped him craft a strong pitch for PM roles, despite having a CS degree instead of a business background.  

1// Job strategy: planning from day 1  

From the moment he landed, he was laser-focused on internships and full-time jobs.  

→  First 3-4 Weeks in the U.S.A at ASU:

He surrounded himself with like-minded people who were also job-focused and started:  

► Joining PM Communities & Slack Groups:  

   - Product School  

   - Product Buds  

   - The Product Folks  

   - APM List on GitHub  

►  Finding Job Boards & PM Listings:  

   - LinkedIn  

   - BuiltIn  

   - AngelList  

   - VC-backed job portals  

► Doing  Mock Interviews & Case Prep:  

   - Learned about Root Cause Analysis (RCA), behavioral interviews, and product case questions.  

   - Practiced with real interview questions.  

►  Market Research & Industry Trends:  

   - Subscribed to PM-focused newsletters & VC updates.  

   - Read content from:  

     - Lenny Rachitsky  

     - Aakash Gupta  

     - The Product School  

►  Networking & Learning from Peers:  

   - Talked to students who had already interned as PMs to understand hiring trends.  

   - Joined the Product Management Club at ASU as a volunteer in the first semester.  

   - By the second semester, became the VP of the club.  

→ First Breakthrough:  

- Found a UX Research Aide role at ASU via the university job portal.  

- Applied online and got selected during the holidays.  

- In the interview, he discussed how ASU’s UX research team could improve its processes which helped him + the time he spent in India made him a great fit

2// Internship hunt: resume, applications & strategy  

►  Resume Preparation  

— Started working on his resume before even moving to the U.S.  

— Created multiple versions of his resume.  

— Used networking chats to get feedback from experienced PMs.  

— Iterated on his resume constantly based on feedback.  

► Structure of his resume:

— There were 2 key sections that made a lot of impact::  

○ Education  (section 1)

○ Previous PM Experience  (section 2)

   - Company name + One liner on the Industry  

   - Time spent there (in the same line as company name)  

   - 3-5 bullet points highlighting:  

     - Problem statement he worked on  

     - Metrics & impact of his work  

→ First Networking Win:  

- In his first week in the U.S., a founder approached him for a PM internship.  

- Though it didn’t work out due to logistics, it gave him early interview experience.  

► How He Applied for PM Internships  

○ Divided Applications into Two Strategies:  

1. Qualitative Approach:  

   - Targeted specific companies that fit his profile.  

   - Tailored his resume to each company.  

   - Researched PM job descriptions to match key skills.  

   - Looked at VC-backed companies and job postings on VC portals.  

2. Quantitative Approach:  

   - Had a generalized PM resume that worked for most roles.  

   - Applied broadly to companies in eCommerce & tech.  

→ First Success:  

- After 2-3 months, he started getting interview calls.  

- Secured 8+ interview calls, including one at eBay.  

- Landed a PM Internship at eBay (Summer 2022), which later converted to full-time.  

3//  Cold DMs, referrals, networking strategy & interview prep

► Tried both direct applications & referrals:  

- For eBay, referrals didn’t work, only direct applications mattered.  

- But for other companies, referrals played a role.  

► How He Reached Out to PMs  

— Used LinkedIn’s "People" tab to find PMs at target companies.  

— Applied filters to refine searches.  

— Used Careerflow(dot)ai to find hiring managers.  

— Learned Boolean Search techniques to find fresh hiring posts 

► Cold DM Strategy  

- Kept messages short, clear, and to the point.  

- Didn’t ask for favors upfront, focused on learning from their journey.  

- Expected only 1% of people to reply (Managed expectations).  

►Coffee Chats: What He Talked About  

—  Their career journey & how they got into PM.  

—  Exciting projects they worked on.  

—  Potential growth ideas for their company.  

—  Kept the conversation alive by sharing interesting posts.  

— Asked for a referral only after 3-4 weeks of interaction.  

► Managing Time Efficiently During Job Search  

○ His Daily Schedule:  

- On-campus job + classes during the day.  

- PM applications + networking in the evenings.  

- Mock interviews & prep on weekends.  

○ Key Focus:  

— Prioritized interview prep over mass applications. 

— Focused on understanding the company’s needs & problem statements.  

► Cracking the Interviews: How He Prepped 

— Tweaked resume continuously based on feedback.  

— Reached out to PMs before applying, discussed their challenges, and suggested solutions.  

— Read S-1 documents (company financials) before interviews.  

— Asked deep, thoughtful questions to hiring teams.  

→ This even helped PMs themselves recommend internship roles to him! 

4// The results: what all this effort led to

— landed a PM  internship at eBay, which later converted into a full-time role.  

— secured 8+ interviews from top companies during his internship hunt.  

— built a strong network of PMs, many of whom helped him without him even asking.  

— refined his resume before even landing in the U.S., iterating on it constantly.  

— started preparing for interviews months before even applying.  

— learned to think like a PM early, discussing real-world product problems before even getting interviews.  

Most jobseekers start when they “need” a job.

Shreemad started before anyone even knew he existed in the U.S. job market and look at the level of effort he put in:

→ The day he landed in the U.S., he wasn’t thinking about settling in, he was already planning his job search.

→ While most people start preparing after they apply, he was doing mock interviews before even submitting a single application.

→ For him, a coffee chat was a chance to understand the game, to learn how real PMs think, and to refine his own approach.

→ He reached out purely to learn, to understand their journey, to build real connections, without expecting anything in return, and prepared 

And when it came to interviews? He went beyond just preparing answers.
He studied financial reports (S-1s), broke down business problems, and came armed with insights, so that when he walked into an interview.

That’s the bar. And he set it high. 

If you’re serious about breaking into the job market, ask yourself: Are you putting in even half the effort he did?

Because he didn’t just aim to get hired, he aimed to be undeniable.

If this helped you, feel free to check out my Ultimate Job Hunting Course that’s helped 1800+ international students build strategies like this.

We cover resumes, networking, DM templates, tools, community support, and everything in between.

And if you’re reading this while struggling to find your next role:

Trust the process. Your time is coming. 💪