My Redfin Internship: Tim Guan - Redfin Real Estate News

My Redfin Internship: Tim Guan

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Updated on October 5th, 2020
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In the spring of my sophomore year, I experienced something like a mid-undergrad crisis. I’d enrolled in introductory computer science on a dare and was starting to really love it. Though this would normally be a good thing, I felt like I faced a sudden choice: do I dedicate time to learning more about an exciting field or do I focus on my majors? I struggled with the decision for a few months before deciding, “¿Porque no los dos?” and going all in.

So what’s a Cognitive Science/Molecular Biology/Computer Science student supposed to do after graduation? This question underlay the decisions that led me to product management, Redfin, and an unforgettable summer.

I had very little idea of what to expect from my summer on my first day at Redfin. It was, after all, my first internship, and I started with a fair amount of self-diagnosed imposter syndrome. How could I, who’d never worked at a tech company, who wasn’t a computer science major, possibly provide value to Redfin in this role?

I couldn’t have been more wrong. From my first day at Redfin to my last, skills and experiences I never dreamed would be relevant to product management helped me and the team make strong and meaningful decisions. It started with my first project: adding breadcrumbs to our map pages to improve website interlinking. Eager to prove myself, I went from my initial Google search for “SEO breadcrumbs” to an 18-page report on the history, implementation, and competitive assessment of breadcrumbs on search result pages. I even cited academic journals and industry reports. In retrospect, I may have gone a little overboard, but I learned there was an important place for my unique background in product management and at Redfin.

Redfin may be over 10 years old, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the culture. Ideas come from every level — even from interns! I was given an enormous amount of autonomy over how I approached problems. I spoke up about things I didn’t agree with or understand, and felt welcome to propose alternatives. The mutual respect I felt with every member of my team made Redfin a truly special learning environment.

Without a doubt, I learned a lot this summer, but above all, Redfin taught me it’s possible to be effective and respectful at the same time. I cannot thank the team at Redfin enough for what was undeniably a transformative experience.

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Tim Guan

Tim was a Redfin Product Manager intern on the Search Team in San Francisco.

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