Episode 101
How To Crack Your First US AI PM Internship (With No Prior PM Experience, Purdue MEM POV) - w/ Aryan
Two weeks into my first semester in the U.S., I remember sitting at my desk refreshing LinkedIn like it was a slot machine. At some point you start asking yourself the obvious question: is this just how it works here… or am I doing it wrong?
Who this is for
- You are breaking into a new lane and need proof before the story looks obvious.
- You would rather hear Aryan's version while the mess is still fresh than get another polished hindsight sermon.
Key takeaways
- Crack Your First US AI PM Internship (With No Prior PM Experience, Purdue MEM POV) - w/ Aryan
- Building a high-converting PM resume that stands out
- Using cold outreach and LinkedIn messaging to create opportunities
- Networking and Job Application Strategies
- At some point you start asking yourself the obvious question: is this just how it works here… or am I doing it wrong?
- biggest signal that you're applying to the right role for that your plan is making sense when you can just come up with...
Need the cleaner version?
I pulled the sharpest parts of this lane into a guide so you do not have to reconstruct the answer from memory later.
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Transcript-backed moments
A few lines worth stealing before you hand over the full hour.
This Purdue MEM student applied to a job posting that was already closed and still landed the AIPM role. The founder Sanjayi had sort of just put a job posting on LinkedIn. By the time I reached there, it was already closed.
So I was like, "Yeah, sure, why not?" I might just message him and ask him, like, "Is this it open? I used to look for everything. I'm just happy to learn." A few weeks later, Sanjay just responded, "Yeah, so tell me about yourself." And then we had a quick chat.
Aryan went from data engineering at Shell to an AIPM role at an agentic AI startup in the US through Purdue's MEM program within a few months of starting his course. I get to work on marketing. I get to work on sales. I get to work on printing the product. I get to talk to customers. I get to do many things that I wouldn't get to do in a big company.
Cold applications do work. A lot of people say that it doesn't work, but they do work. It's definitely reaching out to EMs, reaching out to founders of startups. That is something that I did a lot.
The biggest signal that you're applying to the right role for that your plan is making sense when you can just come up with the one resume that you can use to apply everywhere. Subscribe on YouTube and Spotify or anywhere you get your podcast for weekly episodes. Let's dive in. Aryan, welcome.
Show notes
Two weeks into my first semester in the U.S., I remember sitting at my desk refreshing LinkedIn like it was a slot machine. At some point you start asking yourself the obvious question: is this just how it works here… or am I doing it wrong? This episode is the answer I wish I had back then. I sat down with Aryan Vaidya — a Purdue MEM (Master of Engineering Management) student who pulled off something most people spend years chasing.
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