Leave a Legacy Podcast with Rabiah Damji
There are always new things to try out in the world. Whether it’s food, a new restaurant, or even a new style of clothing, trying out new things is always fun, yet a little scary.
That’s why when we spoke with Rabiah Damji on our podcast, Leave a Legacy, we talked all about stepping outside of your field of work and trying something new.
Rabiah is currently a Product Marketing Manager at Instagram, bridging the gap between people and products and leading work on Instagram’s Camera and Reels products. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Communication and Media studies.
Rabiah was also a guest speaker at the 2021 Legacy Conference.
How to Land That Marketing Position
Rabiah’s love for marketing began in college, and she was determined to bring that into her career. It wasn’t on a whim that she found jobs at top companies like Twitter and Instagram. She had to make herself stand out in a way that couldn’t be compared to others.
One key tip for finding a job in these amazing companies is to make connections. How do you do that? Well, it isn’t easy.
She explains that she was reaching out to so many people - cold emailing them to make connections and try to land an interview for a job.
Although Rabiah didn’t think cold reach outs were a thing anymore, the Legacy team reassured her that that’s one of the ways we get our speakers (aka Rabiah😉)! Cold reach outs were also a key factor in getting other amazing speakers like Sal Khan and Michael Seibel to join us at Legacy 2021.
Another key tip for finding your way into a good marketing position is to make yourself stand out. With companies like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook/Meta (and no, we will never get used to the new name) receiving thousands of applications, there has to be a way to put yourself out there.
And Rabiah reassures us there is. Take a listen!
Love Marketing, But Don’t Know Which Role is For You?
That’s ok! In our episode with Rabiah, she explains her role as a Product Marketing Manager as basically the integration between consumer product marketing, the management, and the actual product itself.
Rabiah also explained that people with a marketing background sometimes have to fight for a role in the product management field. A lot of product management positions tend to be taken by people from an engineering or business background, but people in marketing and communications have just as much value to bring to the table.
Let us just say that we didn’t even know that role existed up until now, which goes to show that there are so many roles and opportunities out there for anyone. Even better, our world today is becoming much more focused on the skills you know rather than the degree you have. A course on EdX or a volunteer internship might teach you more than a couple of university courses as part of your program.
Get Yourself Out There
There is no right way to put yourself out there and make people notice you, but we hope that you can pull a few ideas from Rabiah’s insight.
Thinking outside of the box is never easy, but once you’ve done it once or twice it becomes a lot easier! Apply for that job, internship, or project proposal. You never know what’ll come out of it.
Rabiah had a lot more tips and tricks for us.👀 Want to hear more? ⬇️