Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work for Google? I have! That’s why I attended the career panel they hosted on my campus tonight. One of the benefits of attending school at Georgia Tech is that we’re able to attract some very high-profile employers. Companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo regularly visit our campus to talk with students at career fairs and job interviews. Some companies, like Google, even have special events where they give a presentation or answer students’ questions. This particular event was held at the Klaus Advanced Computing Building, and seven Google employees (mostly software engineers) showed up for a little Q & A.
Getting ready to start.
It’s worth mentioning that I have attended one other Google campus event, and it was a very different experience from this one. The first time was last fall, and it was more of a presentation format. Unfortunately, they underestimated the number of students attending, and the auditorium was filled to about double its capacity. (This is probably because it was open to everyone, and half the people that showed up hadn’t RSVP’ed. It was very entertaining to watch the stampede for T-Shirts at the end.)
This time around, Google really had it together. There were still several non-RSVP attendees, but it was actually pretty comfortable in the room. Furthermore, the question & answer format was very informative and relaxed. In this particular meeting, only graduate students were allowed to attend, which made the setting a lot more focused. (Last time, I bumped into freshmen. Seriously? Well, they did say “free pizza”.)
The panel in full swing.
One of the highlights of the talk was when the panelists discussed their favorite and least favorite parts of working for Google. Some of the answers are listed below:
+ “Good people”
+ “Smart, self-motivated people”
+ “Exposure to all different types of problems”
+ “You’re not a cog.”
+ “You’re allowed to be creative.”
- “There aren’t enough hours in the day to work on all the projects that I’m interested in.”
- “The company is very tight in keeping secrets, so sometimes we can’t talk about the cool projects we’re working on.”
- “Keeping up with email is overwhelming.”
If you’re thinking of working for Google, check and see if they’re headed to your campus any time soon. If so, they may already have job postings on your university’s career system. If not, simply head on over to Google Jobs. They have both full-time opportunities and internships for students. If Google is visiting your campus any time soon, I would highly recommend that you attend the job talk. Even if you don’t get there in time for pizza, you may walk away with a free T-Shirt!
*Note: I was given permission to take the above photos and write about the career panel by one of the attending Google University Program employees. Further information can be made available upon request. All Google logos and trademarks are the property of Google.
Jan 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I was just reading an article today about how Google is supposed to be one of the best companies in the world to work for…they have amazing perks for their workers.
Jan 30th, 2008 at 7:28 am
During my last semester at Tech, my software engineering professor had a friend of his come and give a talk to us about working for Google. She had been working there for as a software engineer for several years - said a lot of positive things about it, and touched on some cool projects that are currently in development.
After reading things online, hearing talks, and then reading your most recent entry as well as others like it, you’d swear up and down that nothing ever goes wrong at Google (which is great!), but I’m sure it has some downsides just like any other workplace does. I wonder what they are … ?
Lastly, I’m jealous of your Google shirt. I’ve always wanted a black one.
Jan 30th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Kristen, I’ve also heard some pretty great things about the working environment (in addition to the articles I’ve read). I’m interested in some of their UX internships (User Experience Research, User Experience Design). I don’t really know what kind of chances I have, since they probably get thousands of applications every month. I figured it was worth a shot, though, so we’ll see how it works out.
Tom, I’m sure you’re right about there being some difficulties that go unmentioned. The biggest “problem” that most of them talked about was way too much email to go through. (I think every single one of them said so.)
Also, I managed to get a shirt last time too. (There really was a stampede!)