Alumni Panel on Careers in Product

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Thoughts from Millie Lin ‘22, Annie Ma ‘24

SymSys Society spoke with 3 alumni today, who are currently working in product (specifically: product management, product design) in companies around the world: Instagram, Optoro, and Boston Consulting Group. Among giving class recommendations, praising the classes and recording studio at CCRMA, and sharing three different interpretations of the meaning of Symbolic Systems, one theme emerged about the purpose of the SymSys major: The systems and representations we learn in SymSys allow us the flexibility to solve all kinds of problems and switch between all sorts of subjects. Data wrangling in the morning and product design in the afternoon? No sweat. A job asks for experience in user research or engineering? Check out all the psychology and CS classes we’ve taken! Sure, majoring in SymSys doesn’t guarantee we’ll remember how to code CS107’s heap allocator, but the computational systems underlying computers, language, philosophy, and psychology have the real staying power.

Our speakers:

  • Katherine Liu: Katherine Liu graduated with a Symbolic Systems degree in 2018, and is now a product designer at Instagram, where she designs systems to prevent bullying and empower targets of harassment. On the side, she also runs her own small business illustrating and creating motivational wall art and home decor.

  • John Liu: John is from Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and graduated in 2019 from the Symbolic Systems program. He is now based in Washington D.C. working as a Product Manager at Optoro, a startup that helps retailers route their returned and excess inventory to reduce waste and improve profitability. Outside of work, he is trying to figure out how to stay in America when his visa expires.

  • Niall Sohan: Niall graduated in 2019 with a SymSys degree (Cognitive Science) with minors in German Studies and Slavic Languages & Literature. After graduation, he started as a Product Manager at BCG Digital Ventures in LA and will soon transition to a new Product role at Endpoint, a startup that aims to revolutionise the home ownership process.

Thank you to our wise speakers, and thank you to everyone who attended!

In the corner, Steve Carell offers his opinion on whether photogenic people’s faces/names are on Zoom.

In the corner, Steve Carell offers his opinion on whether photogenic people’s faces/names are on Zoom.