Digital Product School — Introductory Session

Highlights from the session

On Sunday, June 13, 2021, PWiC Islamabad Chapter conducted a session regarding Digital Product School with Aisha Javed and Mahnoor Fatima. Aisha Javed is a Software Engineer at Emumba and an AI Engineer at DPS. Mahnoor Fatima is a Software Developer at Technology Spirits and a Software Engineer at DPS. This session was hosted by Ayesha Akhtar, PWiC Islamabad chapter lead.

About the Speakers:

Mahnoor Fatima

She is a Software Developer and a proud DPS Batch # 10 Alumni. She loves to code, read books, speak about different technologies and share her awesome experience about her journey at DPS.

Aisha Javed

She is the Global Scholarship Lead for the Global Academia Program at PWiC. She strives to strengthen her outreach to Students in providing Scholarship Opportunities and beyond. She is a Data Science enthusiast from Pakistan who came a long way to set the stage for many. Following her graduation as a Computer Scientist from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST — Islamabad), she served as a Data Scientist in MTBC, Inc. (U.S. based Health Care IT company) & Metis PVT LTD. Presently, she is working as a Software Engineer in Emumba Private Limited (A Silicon Valley-based startup). Additionally, she is a passionate blogger in “Towards Data Science” on Medium and is serving as the Islamabad chapter lead of Pakistan.AI Community where she has built her own team to transfer Data Science knowledge. As a chapter leader, she is leading two Machine Learning initiatives in FAST and Fatima Jinnah Women University.

Digital Product School Program Highlights:

• DPS is a full-time fully funded three months program where there are worldwide applicants.
• Students, graduates, researchers, and industry experts come together under one roof to gain lots of practical working experience—provided through collaboration with experienced product teams and industry experts.
• Generally, it is an on-site program but due to pandemic, DPS started to conduct the program remotely.
• Not only do you get to enhance your technical skills but also your interpersonal skills.

Apart from your technical side, you get to polish your business innovation skills and entrepreneurial verticals as well.

• Team structure: four members with a diversified background in every team; Artificial Intelligence Engineer, Software Engineer, Product Manager, and a UX Designer.
• The applicants are generally divided into five–seven teams. Five of which are company teams and the rest are the wild teams.
• Every company team will have a partner company and a problem statement and this problem statement is assigned to the new batch. The new batch will then build an MVP which will be revolving around that problem.
• Wild team consists of graduates only and are not bound by a problem space set by a partner. They will pitch an idea that they think is worth proceeding with and then they will build an MVP against that particular idea.
• Team will have to go through the customer journey and extract some user pinpoints which will be the main focus for the first month. For the rest of two months, they will have to build the MVP using the extracted user pinpoints.

What DPS adds to your CV is a huge impact.

Application and Interview Procedure:

DPS looks for a candidate with a diverse background; hence diversity and inclusion was the first thing that came into my mind while writing my cover letter.

• Make sure to stand out in your application as a tremendous amount of applicants for every batch.
• DPS offers a US scholarship for 750 Euros per month along with the exposure of interacting with international companies inclusive of BMW.
• Don’t forget to research the skills DPS is looking for, it is mentioned in detail on the DPS website.
• Your application will consist of; answering general questions and also submitting your CV and cover letter. Even though submitting the cover letter is optional but it has a positive impact on your application.
• Make sure you’re not repeating your CV in your cover letter.
• The cover letter should reflect how dedicated and persistent an applicant is, the experiences and extracurricular activities, passion for the track, what was your motivation to apply and how can you contribute for DPS.
• Highlight in your cover letter as how you are perfect for DPS and highlight your technical skills as well as managerial skills. If you don’t have experience in the industry, then you can showcase your projects. You can also highlight your extracurricular activities.

They are looking for diverse people who are not only good in their academics but also in their extracurricular activities.

• No matter which track you select, it is essential to present yourself in the best possible way.
• Tracks are inclusive of; Product Managers, Interaction Designers, Software Engineers, and Artificial Intelligence Engineers. Two other tracks also added; Agile Team Coach and Marketing and Communication Manager.
• Agile Team Coach handles cross-functional and diverse teams. The Marketing and Communication Manager is responsible for the communications amongst the product.
• If you are selected for the interview, you’ll be emailed and the interviewer could be the director of the DPS or anyone. Interview is usually a combination of technical and non-technical questions. Interview will include scenario-based questions as well.

If you come across a hard question, don’t hesitate as not everyone can know everything regarding the program. So show them that at least you’re trying to solve the question.

• They will see your approach and mindset for solving the problem. Some of the questions are not asked for solutions but to test your problem-solving abilities.
• Interviewer will inform you about what DPS looks like, what they offer, what is a wild game, how they work, and everything related from the ideation to the product development process.

Further Takeaways:

• Technically you can apply for one track only. Furthermore, mentioning more than one would convey that the applicant is not clear about the track that they want to apply for. Hence choose one track and tailor your entire application against that.
• A cover letter increases the chances of selection despite of it being optional as it conveys the seriousness of the candidate.

Video Recording link:

Live video link of Digital Product School session

Social Media:

PWiC Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

About the Author: Mahnoor Jamil

Mahnoor Jamil is PWiC Islamabad Chapter Content Lead. She is a computer scientist with 60+ certifications and recognition badges from organizations inclusive of Microsoft, Google, CISCO, and IBM. She has worked in Project Management and Information Security in many countries across the world inclusive of Pakistan, China, Italy, and the Netherlands. With her tremendous passion of achieving her goals, she strives to be a positive contribution to the global tech community and grow disruptively.