Most job searches begin with a résumé review and LinkedIn profile update. Saule Kasen’s (MBA ’20) began with months of intentional curiosity. Rather than rushing into a job search, she slowed down.
What do I really want, and what’s my strategy to get there?
After her 2022 layoff, Saule answered those questions by leaning on the Darden community and resources that had shaped her as a student, eventually layering AI into the process.
Beginning with Clarity
Professor Jeanne Liedtka’s work on design thinking greatly influenced Saule while at Darden. After the layoff, she returned to those principles, managing her career transition with discovery and prototyping before submitting a single application.
Saule also worked closely with ACS coach Stacey Milne and leaned on several ACS job search resources as well as takeaways from the Designing Your Life workshop she had previously completed.
As she explains, slowing down the search process kept her from “going down the rabbit hole of applying for a bunch of jobs out of desperation.” It also rekindled her interest in product management and reinforced the methodical approach she would use throughout her search. Saule recalls, “I committed to a very targeted application process which meant avoiding randomly applying for jobs which would have been totally demotivating for me.”
Embracing Curiosity
As part of her discovery phase, Saule networked heavily with Darden alumni, noting, “alumni were super receptive to talk, especially when the call wasn’t transactional but more info-seeking.” From these connections, Saule began to curate a list of companies that would be a good culture fit.
“My intention was not really to get a job. I wanted to learn what the company was like internally.”
Beyond networking, Saule advocates for prototyping new ideas through side ventures and volunteer projects. Focused on product management leadership roles, Saule did pro bono work as a product manager of an app supporting caregivers of cancer patients. Later, after landing a new role at Target, she founded a business with a Darden classmate.
“Through design thinking and the Design Your Life approach, I learned that you could try something but need to know your risk tolerance.” Saule discovered her risk tolerance wouldn’t allow her to go all in with the business, but without the design thinking process, she could easily have missed out on untapped possibilities.
Saule’s commitment to design thinking heavily influenced her work at Target. “As we were shifting to a more experimentation mindset, I suggested we think about hypothesis-driven development that I learned in [Professor] Alex Cowan’s classes.” Recognized as the “product geeky person,” Saule laughed sharing that when Cowan was a keynote speaker at Target’s Product DNA conference, “he definitely called me out during the whole event as one of his former students!”
Eventually, as Saule evaluated whether it was time for another transition, she returned to the same intentional approach, but this time she added a carefully designed AI strategy to support her search.
AI as Support System
When Saule incorporated AI into her search, she wasn’t starting over. She was building on a system that had already worked. The design thinking process, coaching from ACS and sustained networking provided the context for AI to generate meaningful insights and accelerate her search. AI wasn’t there to tell her what to do; it was there to support a strategy she had already developed.
“People will get more impatient with AI…we get semi-good-looking output really fast. But I just don’t know if the substance is there.”
Rather than relying on AI to write cover letters or generate résumés, Saule built a series of specialized AI assistants, each designed to reinforce a different aspect of her job-search process.
Most surprising was her accountability agent which she says stopped her from “casting too wide a net” and applying for random, ill-suited jobs. Although creating the AI assistants required significant time, Saule stresses that “technology is an upfront investment, but it makes the entire process a lot easier.”
Saule didn’t use AI to replace the job search. She used it to become a better job seeker.
Know Your Value and Ask for It
Saule genuinely enjoyed working at Target, but a high employee retention rate made advancement challenging. Leaving Target was a difficult decision. She had never felt guilty about leaving a role, but this one was tough. Her manager advocated for her, and she knew she was valued by the senior leaders. In the end, however, she pursued the opportunity that offered greater level and scope.
After receiving an offer from Group 1001, it was time to negotiate. Drawing on lessons from Darden’s negotiation course and Lenny’s Podcast, a project management community, Saule decided it was time to strengthen her negotiation skills. As she puts it, “I realized this was a good muscle to start building, so I prepared my asks and thought carefully about how I wanted to frame them.”
By approaching the negotiation as thoughtfully as the rest of her job search, Saule secured a compensation package that aligned with her experience and market value.
Never Underestimate the Darden “Blast Radius”
The tools will change. The strategy won’t. Every tool Saule used – from career coaching and networking to design thinking and AI – strengthened her job search, but none replaced the work of first understanding herself. It’s why Saule encourages fellow alumni not to underestimate what she calls Darden’s “blast radius,” the lasting influence of its people and ideas long after graduation.
