Shilpi Sneha

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Career, Personal productivity, Work productivity

Is your remote work productivity getting better or worse?

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When I first started working from home, doubling the work productivity was my pursuit. How would I, with no prior remote work experience, possibly do that? Saving on three hours of commute time and a […]

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Career, Job search

Online job applications are a waste of time: reality or myth?

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Online job applications

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash Filling out online job applications is tedious. Have you been applying to jobs online without ever having any luck? Hear out my personal experience to decide for yourself. I […]

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Career, Work productivity

How to feel productive every day with a to-do list done right

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Craft To-do lists to increase productivity

With limited time on hand, we all strive to juggle the ever-growing list of things to do. However, our life is more than deadlines and reminders. It’s full of aspirations. In this post, I will […]

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About Me

Shilpi Sneha

Hey, I'm Shilpi.

I'm a product marketer at Cisco and in this space, I talk about career growth, productivity, home workouts, and life hacks.

Come learn, grow, steel, & unwind with me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Views and opinions expressed here are my own.

I share career, product marketing, and study abroad tips

life.with.shilps
Here’s the high-level path that most product mar Here’s the high-level path that most product marketers I have worked with have taken (including myself) 👇🏽 SAVE reels for later 📚 Work on building the foundation knowledge to develop product sense through a degree, self-study, courses, or certifications 👩🏻‍💻 Develop hands-on expertise through projects (academic or side gig), internships, or stretch assignments at work 💼 Apply to rotational programs or entry-level roles like Product Marketing Specialist or Associate Product Marketing Manager Let me know what are some of the steps you are taking to break into product marketing 💬 #productmarketing #productmarketingmanager #career #careerchange #careerchanger #careercoach #careercoachingforwomen
Complete these five profile sections today if you Complete these five profile sections today if you haven’t already to stand out in the recruiter search 🙌🏽 #linkedintips #linkedin #resume #portfolio #profile #career #networking #careercoach
What’s the one thing on your work desk that’s What’s the one thing on your work desk that’s most important to you or makes you happy 👇🏽 #workdesk #desksetup #homeoffice #workfromhome #techlife #techjobs #setup #setupwithme #applestudio
Have you completed your LinkedIn profile? 👩🏻 Have you completed your LinkedIn profile? 👩🏻‍💼💼 Did you know that are about 18 sections on LinkedIn that you can make use of to build your online portfolio! 🎬 Start by going through each of them one-by-one and add relevant information or media wherever applicable. 📝 Keeping your LinkedIN profile updated and complete might open up new opportunities that you wouldn’t even have thought of! By doing this, you will be already ahead in the competition as many candidates don’t prioritize updating and completing the profile. 🙌🏽 Data source: LinkedIn blog, content marketing #linkedintips #linkedin #resume #portfolio #profile #career #networking #careercoach
Diamonds or Studio Display? Of course, Studio Disp Diamonds or Studio Display? Of course, Studio Display 🤷🏻‍♀️ Here comes the splurge of the year. I have been biting my nails thinking about whether or not to spend on this and here’s how I convinced myself. Working from home, I spend 70 hours or more on the screen throughout the week. Even if I start going to office, I would go in 1 or max 2 days. So I will still be spending most of time looking at this screen. I have been working on my #acer monitor for more than 5 years now so I thought my desk and I deserved an upgrade. I am loving the #studiodisplay but I would welcome affirmations 🙈 please tell me you’re onboard with my justification 😆 #techgear #techgadgets #techlife #techdeck #apple #display #screen #workfromhome #upgrade #workdesk
Up your product marketing resume game with these a Up your product marketing resume game with these action verbs! 💪🏽💪🏽 🔖Save post for future use! #productmarketing #productmarketingmanager #product #career #productcareer #resume #resumetips #resumebuilding #careercoach #careerwomen
Which one is better for you? Pursuing a part tim Which one is better for you? Pursuing a part time MBA along with a full time job is not uncommon. Many of my MBA batchmates chose to pursue it this way. One big benefit is that it softens the financial pressure. You have a consistent income stream to cover for the MBA costs. The downside is that it can go on for as long as 3 to 4 years. Some people might lose interest and focus over this long period of time. I wouldn’t say there is a significant difference in credibility of the degree but a full time MBA is generally considered more valuable especially when you’re trying to switch your career. It's a high risk, high reward. However, F1 student visa requires you to be enrolled in a full time course. So if you’re thinking of pursuing an MBA in the US on an international student visa, a part time MBA is not a suitable option. However, if you’re working on a H1B visa or currently not in the workforce but have work authorization through a spouse visa (H4EAD or GC), then it’s an option worth considering. I know a few people who wanted to pursue MBA but enrolled in MS initially(3 shots at H1B lottery), and after getting the job and settling in a bit in the technical role, they opted for a part time MBA later on to move to business roles. It’s a long route but people who see MS advancing their career significantly end up choosing this route. What’s your POV on full-time vs part-time MBA? Follow @life.with.shilps for study abroad content #mba #fulltime #parttime #careerchoices #masters #studyabroad #choices #higherstudies #career #careercoach
Change jobs for the right reasons! 💭 ❇️ W Change jobs for the right reasons! 💭 ❇️ When I was a fresh graduate looking for entry-level product marketing jobs, I was motivated to join startups to get hands-on with all the areas of marketing. That’s exactly how the experience turned out and paid off well. ❇️ If you ask me today whether I would be excited to join a startup, the answer is going to be no, unless it’s once in a lifetime type of opportunity. Mainly because I have many avenues available to grow and I’m starting to enjoy the challenging aspect of how we do everything at such a large scale. ❇️ I wouldn’t lie, it is enticing for a second when you see messages from recruiters about job opportunities with titles like Head of Product Marketing, Director of Product Marketing, etc. However, the moment I think it through, I realize it is a temporary excitement. ❇️ My approach to assessing whether I should explore the startup opportunity is to write down 3 key things that could be a big value add to my career growth (and will get me closer to my long-term career growth) and are likely not going to be accessible to me in my current role within the next year. If I’m struggling to come up with those 3 things then the answer is a quick no! What do you think of this approach? Do share some of the reasons you have changed jobs in the past 👇 #careertips #careercoach #careercoaching #jobchange #startups #lifewithshilps #careerdevelopment #careeradvice
Hold your head high and stay positive when you are Hold your head high and stay positive when you are taking a career break. 🤘 ▶️ Nine years ago, I resigned from Accenture and took a career break to transition to the U.S. and enroll in higher studies. My visa process was delayed, extending my career break longer than expected. I didn’t plan for it to go this way and it was hard to face that phase. ▶️ There were days when I was worried as hell thinking the clock is ticking and how am I going to explain the career break on my resume in the interviews. What if I start losing confidence over time. ▶️ Here’s what I experienced in that phase, so sharing if you, or someone you know need to hear this : ▶️ Taking charge of your mindset is I think THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to do during your break. Whether your career break is planned or unplanned, I feel these three things would set you up for a rewarding comeback: 1️⃣ BLOCKING OUT NEGATIVITY: Whether it’s a “not so helpful, and discouraging comment” from people you talked to or a monologue on the internet by a stranger, ignorance has always worked out well for me. 2️⃣ SCHEDULE: Craft monthly, weekly, daily schedule that helps you work backwards from the final goal upon the return to school/workforce. I definitely had my low-key days, but I would break the loop by doing something fun so I don’t get sucked into it. 3️⃣ SELF-REMINDERS: I would remind myself of why I took this decision and how in that moment I was confident I would make the best of whatever comes my way. Keep giving away these little reminders to yourself Have you faced something like this? Would you add any other tips that helped you? #career #careertips #careerbreak #gapyear #motivation #positivity #careerchange #attitude #mindset #growthmindset
I landed all of my three full-time jobs in the U. I landed all of my three full-time jobs in the U.S. (including Cisco) through online applications. ✨ I have heard a lot of people say that large companies do not look at online resumes and that it’s a frustrating experience. ✨ I know submitting hundreds of online job applications is tedious. I remember spending hours applying to jobs every day and receiving automated rejection emails, some of them were a within a day of submissions. It makes you question whether it’s being looked at or considered at all. ✨ So, do large, popular companies fill most spots through networking and on-campus recruitment at select universities? Here’s what I have experienced. ✨ While companies explore all these avenues for recruitment, the truth is they do consider online applications as well. I saw a common thread across all the applications that I got a call back for. ✨ The recruiters would mention in the first call why they thought my background was a GOOD FIT for that particular role. In most cases it was a combination of a few things, for example, experience in similar industry, customer segment, and specific type of projects that was required for the role. ▶️ The bottom line is that you should explore all avenues available to you and continue to iterate your resume to ensure you’re highlighting the elements that would count as a “good fit” for the role you’re seeking. What has worked out best for you in the past when it comes to job searching? #resume #resumetips #jobsearching #onlineapplication #jobapplication #jobhunting
Case in point: negotiating Product marketing job o Case in point: negotiating Product marketing job offers Product Marketing is a sought after role, so once you have demonstrated your value and you know they want you, make sure you do a well-informed analysis to negotiate the salary you deserve! Here’s a data point on the average base salaries based on years of experience in product marketing. Associate PMM: $65K PMM: $86K Senior PMM: $120K People Manager of Product marketing: $122K Director of Product Marketing: $157K VP of Product Marketing: $200K Data Source: Salary survey done by Product Marketing Alliance Remember, these numbers vary based on your skills, location, company, and industries. For instance, ❇️ If you’re able to highlight during the interview how you can add outstanding value to the business, employers are willing to go above the average number they set on their end. ❇️ Software companies generally pay more than hardware companies. ❇️ High-tech industries like IT and Computer Networking have a higher pay scale than others. ❇️ Locations such as the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, and New York are higher-paying cities. When you permanently work remotely from a city, your salary would be based on that city and not where your Office HQ or team is located. ❇️ Based on the region bonus can range from $7K to $13K and stocks can range from $3k to $15K. This number can bump as PMMs go higher up in the grade levels (People manager, director, etc) You can also play around with these filters that apply to you on websites like Glassdoor to get a closer estimate. What aspects of salary negotiation do you find most challenging? #negotiation #negotiations #salary #salarynegotiation #negotiating #research #productmarketing #productmarketingmanager
It’s that time of the year! I remember how start It’s that time of the year! I remember how starting from scratch as an international student with no local professional networks on LinkedIn was so challenging. 🤕 I was uncomfortable reaching out to people and starting a conversation at mixers on campus. So, I researched best practices and just went for it every chance I had. Sometimes it was a hit and other times it was a miss. But I didn’t care. I kept exploring. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Eventually, it got better. I had gotten to a point where I started enjoying it. For me, the driving force was all the inspirations I drew from the people I connected with. ❤️ If you’re starting your Masters/MBA this Fall, don’t hold yourself back when it comes to networking. It is an extremely important skill to have, no matter which stage of your career you are in! 🙌🏽 Tell me one thing you enjoy and one thing you dread about networking! 💬 #internationalstudents #studyabroad #professionalnetworking #professionalnetwork #networking #networkingtips #careertips
Thirty days into my second full-time job in the U. Thirty days into my second full-time job in the U.S., a private equity firm announced the intent to acquire the company. I loved working there, and the coworkers and my manager were great. The company was going to file my H1B. Everything seemed to be falling in place until this news came in. I was worried, disappointed, and insecure. 🤦🏻‍♀️ After weeks of self-denial and coming to terms with the reality, I finally got myself going and started preparing. 🙇🏻‍♀️ Every interviewer asked me why I planned to leave my current job within months of joining. I was upfront about the news, sharing that I have learned a lot here in this short period, and I want to be proactive in using this as a chance to find a new opportunity with increased responsibilities. 👩🏻‍💻 I suffered, but it all paid off. Two months later, I joined Cisco, which turned out to be such a great career move. I would not have thought of a job change so soon if the situation didn't spring on me the way it did. 🎉 If you are ever in the same situation, remember this: ✨ Look at this as an opportunity instead of an unfavorable circumstance because the former can take you to places you would not imagine! ✨ Be authentic with interviewers because they understand that the market situation has nothing to do with your ability to perform. ✨ Do not sell yourself short. If you demonstrate how well you dealt with the situation, it can make you stand out. Working across barriers is a trait everybody respects. Have you come across any other unexpected turns in your career journey? #career #challenges #careeradvice #acquisition #techlife #techjobs #womenintech #jobchange #jobsearching #jobhunting #positivity #grit #resilience
Do you know what’s one of the most common mistak Do you know what’s one of the most common mistakes people make in buiding the MBA resume? It’s the lack of repackaging. Candidates are fixated on not having enough experience to add on their resumes and miss to notice how their past experiences can be repackaged for the career change or career growth. If you’re looking to switch careers to product marketing or product management, you can go through your previous job roles or academic & passiob projects to repackage the responsibilities that highlights these 5 essential skills for product roles. 1️⃣ Product sense: gain foundational knowledge through courses or side gigs 2️⃣ Business sense: share how your past contributions influenced your company’s growth 3️⃣ Customer sense: show how project X led to delivering an improved customer experience 4️⃣ Communication: share ong-form writing, presentation slides, or public speaking samples 5️⃣ Leadership: highlight initiatives that you led at your university or former workplace How are you building your MBA resume? #resume #mba #masters #productcareer #resumetips #resumebuilding #careerchange #careergrowth #skills
What do you think about networking on LinkedIn? 💬 #linkedin #linkedintips #networking #networkingtips #career #careerbuilding #careeropportunities #careertips #careegrowth #jobsearching #jobhunting
I added examples to showcase these skills on my re I added examples to showcase these skills on my resume when I was looking to break into product marketing. I was worried about not having prior experience in product marketing so I tried to make the most of what I could. Here’s what I did and you can do it too if you are a graduate student pursuing a master's degree. 1-5 are transferable skills that I showcased through my previous jobs, internships, side gigs, optional coursework, and certifications 6-10 are functional product marketing skills that I developed during my Masters Program through marketing and product courseworks, projects, and internships What are some of the skills that you are currently building? #career #resumetips #skills #productmarketing #productmarketingmanager #productcareer #careerchange #careerswitch
When I was at a startup with 100 employees, we wer When I was at a startup with 100 employees, we were a 2-person marketing team. We did a bit of everything but for the most part, it was product marketing and partner marketing. If you’re at a 1000-employee or bigger-sized company, chances are you will see many specialized roles within marketing. This is because large firms have many products that together solve problems for global customers in different industries like IT, Retail, healthcare, finance, etc. In my current product marketing role at Cisco, I enjoy collaborating with all of these specialized teams to customize and scale marketing efforts for our customers. Product Marketing Digital Marketing Solution/Audience Marketing Brand Marketing Content Marketing Integrated Marketing Partner Marketing PR/External communication Field marketing Marketing Operations Marketing Analytics Are you currently working in one of these teams or planning to switch to marketing? I would love to meet my marketing fam! Drop a 👋 #career #careeroptions #careerchoices #careerchange #careerswitch #marketing #productmarketing #techjobs
Switching careers or facing an interview after a l Switching careers or facing an interview after a long break? Showcase transferable skills you learned during the gap. Remember, permanent jobs or paid jobs are not the only means to build skills. You can build skills through online courses, side hustle, volunteering, and personal life experiences. Write down scenarios to describe the transferable skills you built using the CAR model. Context Action Result Happy interviewing! #careertips #interviewing #skills #upskilling #careerbreak #careerswitch #careerchange #interviewpreparation
Every time I feel there’s too much on my plate, Every time I feel there’s too much on my plate, I make it a point to discuss it with my manager so we can reprioritize tasks before I get burned out. But instead of just putting it out there, I first assess the situation so I can put it across without sounding like a complainer. I follow a 3-step process. 1️⃣ Frame the problem clearly ❇️ Are there too many projects or tasks on your plate that are too much to manage in regular hours, or keeping you from top priority and impactful projects? ❇️ Is it the lack of resources such as tools, processes, or project manager? ❇️ Are you trying a new skill or project where you need more support or training that can help you do the same task faster? 2️⃣ Propose a solution or a couple of options ❇️ I’ve been feeling overwhelmed keeping up with the number of tasks on my plate right now, and I was hoping we could talk about my role in [project X] and [Y] since these are taking up a lot of time. If we could take [project X] off of my plate and use process P for [project Y], I’m positive that I could be more intentional and thoughtful about [project ABC] as it’s a key objective for us this quarter. 3️⃣ Summarize for alignment ❇️ So to make sure we’re all on the same page, I will focus on A and B for the next week, which means that I won’t be working on C What do you do when feeling overworked 👇🏼 #careergrowth #worklife #worklifebalance #boss #manager #prioritize #work #avoidburnout
I dodged a bullet! 🤷‍♀️ 5 years ago this I dodged a bullet! 🤷‍♀️ 5 years ago this time around, a month after my graduation, I booked tickets to fly back to India should my visa status get invalid in a month. I was interviewing with multiple companies and was in different stages of interviews with each. But, based on visa regulations, I would be out of visa status if I didn’t get the employment offer and start date within the next month (60-day mark after my graduation). Thankfully, I had an offer the next week. I can never forget the pressure in those challenging times. Many companies are reluctant to sponsor work visas, especially for non-STEM candidates, because the process can take a long time, and there is a risk that it might not work out. I know it all feels very daunting because the reality is there is a risk involved. However, it works out well for many people. And that’s why you should maximize doing what’s within your control to minimize the risk. Here are some Dos and don’ts ✅ Prioritize getting a full-time paid summer internship. My internship experience and recommendations played a role in getting the full-time job offer. ✅ Always be looking for internships and jobs. Keep a closer look at companies that sponsor visas and be open to startups. I accepted the first offer received because the clock was ticking and later switched to a company that was able to file for my H1B visa. ❌ Don’t overlook resources provided by the international student office. Reach out to them to discuss potential alternatives for Plan B in advance. ❌ Don’t spend all your time looking through online forums at a handful of examples that didn’t work out as planned. Stay focused on your job search. 👉 What helps you stay focused in stressful times? #internationalstudent #internationalstudents #internships #jobsearching #dosanddonts #workvisa #studyabroad #masters #mba
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Shilpi Sneha