Blending Strategy and Creativity: Sierra Fredenrich’s Internship at Microsoft

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Internship Company: Microsoft    

Internship Department: Commercial Cloud & AI

Internship Location: Seattle, WA

Position Before MBA: 

• Title: Account Development, Internet of Things
• Company: Canonical Ltd.
• Location: Austin, TX

How did you secure your internship?

I applied directly online with the Microsoft recruiting portal in August of 2024. While it felt early at the time, I had a well-reviewed resume on hand and an eye on the available product roles. Almost exactly a month later, I received an email asking to secure an interview time over the coming weeks.

During this time, I prepared with mock interviews from the Career Development Office, researched the role intensely and even used AI to draft mock interview questions for practice. Less than a week later, I had an offer in hand from the recruiters and a short deadline to confirm my acceptance.

What is your role and responsibilities during the internship?

As a product marketing manager, I worked on understanding the competitive position of a mature product that was in a mature market transition. Over the course of my 12-week internship, I had a major and minor project to complete. 

Primary daily activities consisted of deep research to understand our current positioning, product sentiment, user experience and an analysis to compile my findings for the leadership team. My major project included tangible deliverables such as updating certain documentation and presenting my final analysis that will be utilized by cross-functional teams moving forward as they build out later stages for their strategies.

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How did your MBA coursework prepare you for this internship?

MBA coursework centered around marketing and financial analysis was pivotal for this role. While one may not anticipate strong accounting or financial emphasis on a marketing project, it’s extremely important to understand the financial implication of products over time. Accounting and data analysis courses prepared me to interpret and understand the trends in product use and revenue and identify corollary trends.

Of course, this being a marketing role, I heavily referred to and relied on my product management and marketing courses to map the target customer for our products. Before taking these courses in the MBA, I had a high-level understanding of each of these topics, but these courses provided the structure and detailed understanding needed to take it a level deeper. 

How does the internship align with your career goals?

Before the MBA, I was exploring product-related roles. Up until this internship, I was equally split between consulting, product management and product marketing. I was ideally looking for a rotational program of some kind to continue exploring various subject matters before honing in on a discipline. Strategy remained top of mind throughout my recruiting season due to my strong interest in variable work and desire to learn a lot about diverse technologies. Originally, I thought the only path to fulfilling these interests was through consulting, but this could not be more incorrect. 

This internship allowed me to realize how incredibly diverse the work of a product marketer is. Strategy is central to the role I interned with. It often felt like a consulting project along with a marketing focus which I really enjoyed. Connecting with other individuals across the marketing organization opened my eyes to the possibilities of a product marketer — from pricing strategy development to influencer marketing and even strategic partner co-marketing relationships. I felt like a kid in a marketing candy shop, eager to keep exploring the profession.  

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What is your favorite part of your internship experience?

The personal growth it inspired. At a certain point, you get stuck in your business school grind, thinking narrowly about the day-to-day of the MBA. This summer I dug deep to ask what I wanted my everyday routine to look like. Was it performing research? Or developing creative campaigns? Did I want to stay in Seattle? Could I see myself building a career and a family in this profession? I learned a lot about my interests, passions, hobbies, motivators and more. Oh, and getting to meet Clippy, Microsoft’s mascot, in real life was pretty cool too. 

What advice do you have for prospective students?

Remember your ‘Why MBA’ and remain cognizant of your fit within a culture — even early on in your recruiting process. There were times I thought, “This just isn’t for me…”, when networking with certain firms, until I interviewed with Microsoft. The right role will come along, and everything will fall into place.