College Experiences That Helped a Director of Product at Stiddle Succeed
Joshua's undergraduate experience involved exploring diverse interests, viewing failures as valuable learning opportunities ("even if I ended up failing...that's more information for me to work with"). This approach, coupled with a proactive effort to network and learn from more experienced individuals, fostered a growth mindset that continues to shape their successful career as a Director of Product.
Career Exploration, Networking, Growth Mindset, Resilience, Mentorship
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Joshua Han
Director of Product
Stiddle
UC Berkeley
N/A
Political Science, American Studies
Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Immigrant, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Explore diverse interests: Experiment across social, professional, and hobby areas to understand your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. This self-discovery is valuable for future career choices.
2. Embrace continuous learning: Maintain a growth mindset and actively seek new knowledge and skills. Don't be afraid to try different things and learn from both successes and failures.
3. Network strategically: Surround yourself with ambitious and knowledgeable people. Reach out to those more experienced and seek mentorship or opportunities; your college connections can be invaluable later in your career path.
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
I can't speak to one specific thing I did in undergrad, and I think that's the point. I did pretty much everything I was curious about: socially, professionally, and as a hobby.
I realized from having done so many different things that even if I ended up failing or not being good at some of them, that's more information for me to work with. I understand what I'm good at, what I'm not good at, what I just don't like, and what kind of people and personalities I mesh well with.
Having a lot of this raw material to experience and develop my interests and skills in, when you have the time, is of great value. Especially when you're at a socially acceptable age to do so. When you're between 18 and your early twenties, no one expects you to have your stuff figured out.
No one expects you to be an expert in anything, make a certain salary, or be an authority on anything. That's ridiculous. Even in your late twenties and thirties, no one's really expecting that. I think just always being on the lookout and ready to learn something is another theme that fueled this.
Sometimes it's better to do these side quests first than just accelerating through the main storyline and realizing you're missing a bunch of things and having a bunch of FOMO. I really have no regrets about how I've done my educational or professional career path up until now. I'm still figuring it out.
Something I've done throughout this journey is always surrounding myself with smarter people than myself. People who are ambitious, kind, and knowledgeable, and ready to share and plug me into their networks or what they're working on. You'd always be surprised by that friend you made in college who is now the VP of some large company or working on their startup and can give you a job opportunity. You never know.
I was always good at reaching out to more experienced people or people who had some kind of knowledge I was seeking, and asking for help and opportunities. I think just having that kind of growth and learning mindset as a student is the best thing you could do.