What’s it really like to work with the team that made Tinder? University of Chicago student Katherine Clement shares how she got a job at Match Group developing the next Tinder and how she saw beyond the boundaries of her major to find a job she really loves. She speaks to the things she’s learned about having a job in tech, and what it means to her to work for a company with the highest percentage of female leadership!
Name: Katherine Clement
Job Title: Product Management Intern, Match Group
Location: Dallas, Texas
College: University of Chicago
Year: Rising Junior
Major: Economics and Sociology
What are you doing this summer?
I work as a Product Management Intern in the Emerging Brands section of Match Group.
Match Group is the leader in the online dating sphere, fostering hundreds of millions of connections. Match pioneered the concept of online dating over 20 years ago and continues to innovate the industry through brands such as Tinder.
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What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to continue my work in Product Management at Match and create new features and products within the online dating space. I am fortunate that I figured out during the winter of my sophomore year that my heart was not in finance and I preferred a field that implements more of what I was studying, behavioral economics. Match truly upholds their value of “do what you love” in allowing me to parlay the subjects I love to learn, like behavioral economics, into a profession.
How did you get your internship?
Unless you are in development or another heavily-recruited field, internships in other positions in tech can be a bit of a black box. I was able to utilize my high school’s alumnae network to contact company representatives about becoming an intern, although I had minimal knowledge about what area I specifically wanted to pursue. However, HR decided I would be a good fit for Product Management, based on my background.
What do you wish you had known during your internship search?
I wish I had known earlier to follow your passions. UChicago’s Economics Department has a big culture around finance. To try and fit the mold, I joined The Blue Chips, our investment club, and convinced myself I could be a “finance girl.” I wish I had known not all Economics majors are limited to finance like not all tech jobs require Computer Science skills.
What does a day in the life look like?
I am really lucky I am from Dallas, so I am living at home this summer.
7:45 a.m. – If my alarm doesn’t wake me up, my mother calls me down for family breakfast. The best part of living at home this summer is that I get to spend more time with my family.
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8:30 a.m. – Leave for work. My commute is fairly short by Dallas standards, usually 30 minutes on a normal traffic day.
9:00 a.m. – Arrive at work. Match has a “tech” dress code, essentially you can wear whatever you are comfortable in. The men on my team wear a t-shirt and jeans, whereas I usually prefer to wear a casual dress or jeans and a nice top.
9:30 a.m. – Every morning, our team has ‘stand-up’ where Product and Development check in on our various goals and stand-up so that it is as efficient as possible.
After stand-up, we are usually on our own for the rest of the day. I have two big projects that I am currently working on. One is a new feature for an existing app and the other is in conjunction with marketing for our apps.
Today, I had a women in tech meeting that involved all the women who work at our Dallas office. Match Group is unique amongst tech companies in that our CEO and President, who led the meeting, are women. Match leads in public tech companies with female leadership at 35 percent, fostering an extremely welcoming and nurturing environment for everyone.
12:00 p.m. – Lunch is a desk affair at Match. Whole Foods is across the street, so some of the office goes there on their own time. I sometimes join them, but I usually bring my lunch from Snap Kitchen, which are healthy prepared meals on-the-go and based in Texas.
After lunch, I continue working on my projects.
6:00 p.m. – I always try and leave work around 6 p.m. so that I can make it to my workout. I go to Lync Cycling, a Dallas Spin studio with a cheap student rate and membership, four days a week. I also attend Hot Power Fusion at Corepower Yoga once a week and try and run two days a week. The best part about Match is its emphasis on work-life balance. I actually ran into one of their executives trying out my spin studio one afternoon!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJWm7smDp1a/?taken-by=kate.clement
8 p.m. – I’m home for the night and usually help my mom make dinner. I always follow-up on my specific projects as needed once I get home and catch up on the day’s news.
How has this job changed what you see yourself doing in the future?
This internship has only helped confirm that this is my calling and an industry I want to be in long term. This summer has been a crash course in everything a Product Manager does, and I have been so grateful to have amazing mentors at Match. Interning has also changed my outlook on love itself. After being mostly single in college, I had become a bit of a cynic when it came to love. But, people at Match believe that everyone can find love, per their mission, which is to spark meaningful connections in every single person.
You can follow Katherine on Instagram @kate.clement.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm_ZgSnBeMU/?taken-by=kate.clement
