Published on 28 March 2025

I spent six months (September 2024 to February 2025) actively searching for Associate Product Manager (APM) roles through off-campus channels. During this time, I made several mistakes and learned valuable lessons. In this blog, I aim to document my learnings and share the resources I used throughout my journey.

Relevant Links & Resources

(Detailed description of all resources are mentioned below in the blog)

Resource Database

My Off-Campus Statistics

Overall Summary

Total Job Applications: 317
Total Interview Calls: 28 (1 in 8 applications converted to an interview)
Total Offers Received: 4 (1 in 7 interviews converted to an offer)

Assignment Performance

Assignments Submitted: 10
Assignments Selected for the Next Round: 7 (70% selection rate)

Interview Performance Breakdown

Interview Stage	Given	Selected	Selection Rate
Total Interviews	40	19	48%
Round 1 Interviews	28	11	39%
Round 2 Interviews	9	5	55%
Round 3 Interviews	3	3	100%

⚡ Conclusion

The data above highlights that I faced numerous rejections. However, this does not mean that your journey will follow the same path. My rejections were genuine and resulted from shortcomings that I failed to address due to my own mistakes. Through this blog, I aim to share valuable insights, helping you learn the dos and don’ts of an off-campus job search and avoid the missteps I made.