Review Request for Exceptional Talent (Product Manager)

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Hey everyone! Thank you all for the wonderful community on this forum. I am finally getting started on my application for Exceptional Talent and would love your feedback:

My background:

I work at a FAANG company (Company G) as a Senior Product Manager in the US, and have 12 years of experience (8 years of product management experience). I also have 2 years of entrepreneurial experience before becoming a product manager.

Strategy:

  1. Statement of purpose: I currently work as a Product Manager in the US (on AI products), and would like to move to the UK to get more freedom to pursue AI based entrepreneurial ventures alongside employment as a product manager.

  2. LORs:

a. Product VP at G : worked with them over the last 4 years
b. Product Director at G : worked with them over the last 2 years
c. Product Director at a previous company A (now a VP at a different company in the US): worked with them very closely 6+ years ago

  1. Mandatory Criteria Evidence

a. Letter from Group Product Manager at G detailing my leadership of multiple new innovative products at G
b. Bunch of press clippings and blog posts from various outlets detailing their coverage of all these product (do not mention my name, but connected by the letter above)
c. Documents showing details of funding requirements, strategy, impact etc. for these products that I authored (redacted to remove sensitive details)
d. Salary letter showing that my salary is >90th percentile for Product Managers in the US.

  1. Optional Criteria 1 (Innovation)

a. Letter from Group Product Manager as G (same person as MC), confirming that I was the product manager leading the development of a new innovative AI product (different from the products covered in MC)
b. Press clippings from public launch announcements covering this specific product (does not include my name but I am linked to this by the letter above)
c. Document detailing the unique technical approach to this product that showcases AI innovation

  1. Option Criteria 3 (Impact)

a. Letter from Director at G (same person as LOR 2) confirming that I was the product leader for a specific impactful product initiative (different from the ones listed in MC and OC1)
b. Press clipping/public launch blogpost with the name of this director about this product (i.e. it does not include my name but includes the name of this director, and their letter above connects me to this work)

Questions:

  1. Can I use letters of recommendation from people who worked with me more than 5 years ago? I want to diversify my LORs but since I worked at G for 4+ years, the people I knew before knew me more than 5 years ago.
  2. All my MC and OC documents are letters, internal documents or press clippings that are connected to me only via the letters from company leaders. Is that sufficient evidence?
  3. How can I strengthen my statement of purpose? Is it better to get a job offer first and then apply?
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Hi @saarp

MC is weak:

  • since the press clippings and blogs don’t mention your name it can’t be attributed fully to you
  • funding requirement docs are not valid: what will be valid is proof of funding itself, audited accounts, financial reports. What do you mean by impact here? Is this actual impact or forecasted?
  • Salary doc is a weak one and if your MC doesn’t stand out without this then it will be weak.
  • Your MC evidences show your good work at the company but this criteria needs a larger impact and scale in the industry.

OC1

  • are these documents/work same as one in MC? If so it will be redundant.
  • You need to establish what exactly was innovative and your contribution to the innovation itself
  • The letter just to confirm you were leading won’t suffice, letter should be more detailed talking about your contribution

OC3

  • OC3 is weak. You are essentially showing just one impact story split into 2 docs.

  • additionally, you can’t have multiple letters from same people in diff criteria. It is breach of guidelines.

  • only letters, self-claims are not sufficient. In the lack of any third-party evidence, it will be a risk.

  • you don’t need a job offer to apply. The application is based on your work of last 5 years. Please refer to the TN guidelines to cover all points highlighted by TN for Personal statement.

3

Your application shows strong potential but needs adjustments in evidence selection and recommendation letters. Letters from colleagues who last worked with you over five years ago carry less weight unless they can demonstrate ongoing recognition of your recent work. Prioritize current professional relationships that can speak to your leadership in the last 5 years.

Evidence relying solely on internal letters and unnamed press clippings risks being deemed insufficiently verifiable. Include at least two pieces of third-party validated evidence like public conference talks, industry awards, or open-source contributions where your role is explicitly acknowledged. Metrics showing product adoption rates or revenue impact would strengthen OC3 claims.

The statement of purpose should focus less on future plans and more on concrete past achievements that align with UK tech priorities. Emphasize specific AI innovations you’ve led, their measurable impact, and how your expertise fills gaps in the UK’s digital ecosystem. A job offer is not required but demonstrating active engagement with UK tech networks (through events, collaborations, or mentorship) would add credibility.

4

Thank you folks for spending the time to review this! What I am taking away overall is that this application may not meet the bar yet. I probably need to invest more time and effort in getting external recognition etc. first and then apply. Will focus on that :slight_smile:

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