Summer Interns: Nirav Sanghani
First in our series of posts by PowerPoint's summer interns is Program Manager Nirav Sanghani.
Hi, I’m Nirav Sanghani, a Program Manager intern on PowerPoint for the summer. I can’t talk about exactly what I’m doing at PowerPoint (top secret!) but I’d like to talk a bit about my background, what an intern can expect in this type of internship, and what I like most about Microsoft.
I just finished my sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania way over in Philadelphia. After having me interview on campus, my college recruiter sent me over to California to interview and later intern with the awesome PowerPoint team.
I asked a lot of questions before I came to Microsoft’s Mountain View offices, and one of the most frequent was, “But what does a Program Manager actually do?” The answer is complicated, which is what makes it such an interesting job. The title “Program Manager”, or “PM” for short, is misleading; we neither program nor manage. A better description would be that PMs work to ship the right product at the right time. PMs also can be thought of to look at the product from a user perspective, as opposed to a technical or QA perspective.
As a PM, you “own” certain features; the ones that you’re responsible for. I sometimes think of my job as to aggregate all of the information about a feature: how it will be used, what the technical constraints are, how much it will cost, and what other products do it.
Since the information involved spans so many disciplines, being a PM really gives you a lot of variety in your everyday job. You could talk with a developer in the morning, exchange emails with user interface designers before lunch, and brainstorm ideas for wild new features in the afternoon.
My second favorite part about working at Microsoft is how well the company takes care of you. The intern program is polished and teaches you a lot, not just about working in the industry, but also about your own goals, strengths, and weaknesses.
However, the best thing about working here is the people. I’ve seen nothing but extremely smart, dedicated (and funny!) people at Microsoft. Collaborating with them is a joy, especially after middle school group projects. Your co-workers are willing to help you out with anything, and the company pairs you up with a full-time employee in an unparalleled mentoring program.
It’s not all work, of course: in my time here in California, I’ve made a couple of trips up to San Francisco, been boating on a lake near Napa, and made good friends with my fellow interns and colleagues. All in all, it’s been tons of fun and a great experience.
Nirav blogs unofficially and regularly at iamnirav.com. He will be returning to the University of Pennsylvania this fall as a junior in the Digital Media Design program.
