Success stories from our community
Landed a job
SIDE PRJCT played a huge part in my career when I was an aspiring Product Manager! Here, I found my first product team, and we got together to ideate, build, test, and demo a more inclusive solution to an actual problem. SIDE PRJCT gave me a setting where I could shift into a “grow by trying” mindset, building the practical experience I needed to help bring PMs, designers, and engineers together. I talked about it at least 75% in my interviews. Call me a power user, but I love the community SIDE PRJCT inspires best of all.
Karen Kim
Product Manager at Mozilla
Gained real-world experience
Joining SIDE PRJCT was one of the best decisions I've made as a junior software engineer coming out of a coding bootcamp. I was able to gain real-world experience working in a structured team environment with a project manager, designers, and experienced mentors. This filled in the missing gap from coding bootcamp.
Michael Chen
Software Developer at Whiplash Fulfillment
Better prepared for behavioral interviews
Coming into software development from a non-traditional background, I always struggled to find answers to behavioral interview questions related to collaborating. SIDE PRJCT gave me a database of relevant and real experiences working in a team on a technology product that I could draw from and start answering these questions more effectively.
Evan Smith
Software Engineer at Microsoft
Brought actual product case studies to interviews
SIDE PRJCT was the one thing that worked for me. It helped me understand a) what PM actually is, b) the importance of PM, and c) if this was something I really wanted as my next step. Even as I was coming out of 3 years in another field, my work in SIDE PRJCT was pretty much the only thing I talked about during interviews.
All that being said, it was just plain fun. You meet and work closely with people who are roughly in the same boat as you- aspiring creators who only semi-know what they're doing, but are eager to learn and build something great.
Sydney Lim
Digital Product Manager at Under Armour
Launched into a broader network and more opportunities
As a self taught designer, SIDE PRJCT was a launching pad for me. The holistic experience of how to ideate and build a product gave me the opportunity to be hands-on and test my skills. It was exciting chaos and it was empowering to make sense of it all through process, guidance, and collaboration. I met some incredible people both peers and mentors that have turned into long-lasting friendships. As an unexpected plus, I've had some great freelancing opportunities that came from the cohort. SIDE PRJCT, for me, was such a valuable learning experience with
a supportive network.
Whitmire Vo
UX Designer and Co-owner of Stage Presence
Hit the ground running to build a product from
the ground up
I highly recommend SidePrjct if you are looking for hands-on experience as a product manager, designer, or software engineer. From Day One, you hit the ground running working to build a product from the ground up. SidePrjct gives you hands-on experience, mentors who guide you, experts who host weekly workshops, connections with talented like-minded individuals, and a runway for your own startup. Really challenging and fun experience!
Daniel Griego
Product Manager and Web Developer at Livongo (part of Teladoc Health)
Took a stepping stone to get my first product design role
Participating in SIDE PRJCT was absolutely invaluable as a stepping stone to getting my first product design role at Microsoft. I only wish I had known about it sooner! Working with a product manager from the initial concept stage to understand and define our problem was something I hadn’t learned in school—but it made the development of our product, and solution—even more meaningful. I have a greater understanding of the entire UX process before the wireframe and prototyping stages, because of SIDE PRJCT. This experience also allowed me to talk about working with developers, and share in interviews how I am an experience innovator! I am also very grateful for the wonderful mentors who guided me along the way.
Nina Barnett
Product Designer at Microsoft and then Liberty Mutual Insurance