Jimmy Ren
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia (39.9° N, 75.1° W)

featuring Connor Hayes, Head of Product, Jumpstart, San Francisco (37.7° N, 122.4° W)

Connor Hayes’s bright career as a manager in Silicon Valley was only beginning to blossom during his time as a student at Rice University, where he operated a business with his friends to sell food to students across campus. Connor graduated from Rice in 2009 with a bachelor of arts in philosophy and policy studies. Unlike the strong STEM background people usually pursue to obtain a job in the technology sector, Connor utilized his own skills to go on a unique path—a leap of faith—on his journey to work at big technology companies like Facebook.

Connor Hayes has spent the past decade working on a variety of major projects in companies like Facebook and Instagram as a product manager, and he recently moved on toward a new job as the head of product at a new startup, JumpStart, a company that offers undergraduates an easily accessible platform to look for jobs. As a product manager, he manages a diverse team of individuals, each holding their own expertise and special way of thinking that allows them to develop the ever-evolving features on apps like Instagram Direct Messaging. In general, he partakes in an essential professional role that takes control of ensuring new features launch successfully. To reach this point in his career, he has utilized different aspects of the college education he received from 2007-2011; most of all, he was open to trying new things.

When thinking about those working in Silicon Valley, an image instantly comes to mind for me—a person with a strong technical background or a new, groundbreaking entrepreneur coming in with an industry-disrupting idea turned into a business venture. A background like Connor’s is something that may, on the surface, seem unconventional, but is now becoming essential in the tech industry.

While speaking about impactful experiences throughout his life, Connor said that one of his biggest strengths as a product manager is gaining insight into how people think and how they might interact with each other. This perspective is what gave him the basis for his job as a product manager, and it later became a fundamental part of how he works successfully with his team today. Alongside the mentorship he received from his employers and colleagues, Connor was able to flourish at a job where roles seemed to grow and change the longer he was there.

Starting off in a new position at Facebook after applying to hundreds of jobs, Connor took the opportunity to work in a job role that he had never even heard of; that choice eventually led him to become a product manager, a new role at the company. Connor has become a pioneer in the role, working tirelessly over the past 10 years to make sure that the products he and his team are putting out are of high quality and have excellent service. 

In the growing world of technology, the number of product management jobs have increased exponentially in the past decade; the role went from being almost unheard of when Connor entered the industry to becoming an exciting and popular job role many students currently aspire to become a part of. While colleges and universities across the world do not offer a specific major or field of study for the job, Connor offered some fair advice about entering the role. For current students looking to become a product manager, entering a technical role at a company for the first year or two may offer more insight and experience into the role; in reality, there isn’t much to prepare you for this role, other than taking on the responsibility. The only way to take on such a job is by gaining experience in the company and being able to take that leap of faith that you can properly manage a team to create an amazing product.

Connor’s unique path toward his current career may reflect the current need for unique backgrounds in a tech-savvy environment; his career path offers insight into potential backgrounds for more of the management roles in the field and could open up new doors for people to walk through. Taking chances and being able to adapt to one’s new environment can offer success on the “road less travelled.” Perhaps, that leap of faith to pursue the new paths that open up to you is what leads toward new discoveries and advancements in the current startup environment.