898: What a LinkedIn Product Manager Does With Alex Valaitis, LinkedIn [Main T4C Episode]

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Alex Valaitis is a product manager* and product lead of Elevate, one of LinkedIn’s enterprise product lines — with 12 dedicated engineers. When Alex graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in December 2016 with a double major in Economics and Computer Science, he had a sub-3.0 GPA.  And yet, he still managed to secure a job as a PM at Intuit. While at Intuit, Alex led a team in building a notification platform that powered smart notifications across the company. Alex is also the author of Modern College, which offers advice on how to find your “dream” job straight out of college. 

*Since Alex did this T4C interview he’s moved into Strategy and Operations at the DeSo Foundation.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• What Alex does as a product manager at LinkedIn (2:30)
• What a typical work day looks like for Alex (14:00)
• Why Alex majored in economics and computer science in college (17:20) 
• How to make the most of your opportunities and connections (24:30)
• Why it’s important to start getting internship experiences throughout college (28:00)
• How to pick the right major (33:10)
• What injuring his right hand while trying to write a book taught Alex (37:15)
• Why to check out Alex’s Espresso Shots episode #609 if you want to learn how to break into PM in the tech world