October 2021
Kat Klein
Program Manager - Product Launch Readiness at Apple
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Hi Kat! So you graduated the program in Spring 2021, what have you been up to since then?
Short answer…working, haha! I received my official offer the day after graduation and not even 3 weeks later I started working. It was a quick turnaround, but I was excited to dive in and start working, especially given I started remote. Other than that, Billy (my golden retriever) and I made the big move from East Lansing to Austin, TX and have enjoyed exploring the area.
What was your path to landing a position at Apple? Do you have any tips for current students going through recruitment right now?
My path to Apple was a long one that candidly, involved a great deal of persistence. I first connected with an Apple recruiter at the virtual ROMBA conference in 2020. We stayed in touch via LinkedIn and months later I sent her a role I was interested in applying for which jumpstarted the conversation and transitioned into the interview process (lots & lots of interviews… 12 interviews over 4 days) and ultimately the offer.
One piece of advice I would offer to students going through the process is to be bold. Keep in mind, being too bold is most definitely something you want to avoid but if you can manage the balance then it will lead you to success. I can’t tell you how many people complimented me for being bold enough to reach out whether that was to learn more about their role, the company, interview tips, etc. – don’t be shy!
You attended the ROMBA conference during your time at MSU, can you talk a little bit about your experience at ROMBA and how a DE&I-focused career fair experience is different from a large-scale career fair?
I attended ROMBA both years and from my experience the key differentiator lies in the structure. ROMBA is much more focused on many small breakout sessions that provide you the opportunity to learn about various elements of different industries and DE&I focused experiences/perspectives. Yes, there is also a “career fair” and that felt much more intimate that any other career fair I had been to.
During your time in the program you were an exec board member of Spartan Pride, do you have any advice for current students to get the most out of their student resource group memberships?
At the end of the day, your MBA experience will fly by. My advice to current students is to pause and take a moment to think about how you’d like to spread yourself throughout the two years. I think it’s extremely important to have a healthy balance with your time. For me, yes my coursework was important but I also valued the relationships I made and the impact I worked to make; therefore I sought out the student resource groups that I felt passionately about (Spartan Pride being one) and worked diligently to make an impact on my peers and the Broad MBA program as a whole.
October is LGBTQ+ History Month and with that theme in mind do you have any authors, podcasters, artists, musicians, content creators, movies, etc. that you’d want to recommend for people to check out?
Call me mainstream, but I will also be a Sam Smith & King Princess fan.