I decided to create a specific post about lunch because,due to the fact that everyday we got to spend lunch with a Googler,it was an important aspect of working here.
It was really cool to have an hour a day where we could just sit and ask a Googler as many questions as we like about their job,their background,Googly culture and just about what working here is like in general.It was really beneficial because it was an opportunity to discover what type of job I'd like to do if I decided to apply to Google in my future,it was really interesting to hear the inside scoop on what it's like working here from their first hand experience.
All three Googlers I had lunch with were exceptionally nice,very informative/open,interesting and willing to answer all my questions,random or not.It was so beneficial and I think I learnt almost as much at lunch as I did at the Career Spotlight sessions!
It was a really cool,well implemented system :)
Friday, 3 May 2013
Google merchandise AKA "Google Swag"??!? :O
Yeah...there was a lot.
No swag for me on Wednesday.
Monday
- Carrrier bag
- Magnets
- Android sticker
- Notebook
- Sweatband
- Google sillyband
- Wristband
- Google pen
- Google beaker
Tuesday
- Google keychain
- Google+ bag
No swag for me on Wednesday.
Thursday
- Google sunglasses
- Leatherbound Google notebook
- Google keychain
Ya know,that's other than the limitless supply of free food,the free travel and the Chromebooks we got to use all week...
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Thursday
Thursday was definitely the day I was most excited about when I saw my schedule because today we did the YouTube challenge!!!! We had a speaker from the team do a session with us on the history of YouTube,their policies and just basically how they want to rival TV into the future.Then we were given the challenge to create a YouTube video with the ever so mysterious theme of "YouTube:Past,Present and Future".So naturally,my team went with our Googler to the top floor of the Google Docks building,filmed ourselves pretending to be cats,parodying our favourite YouTubers and running into walls-then proceeded to lose the challenge.As you do.And there was such cool swag :( No,I'm sad we lost but honestly it was such unbelievable fun,I loved getting to do something like that and then seeing all the other teams videos later on in the day,they were all great and I laughed so hard at them all! :)
Then,after a quick 15 minutes sneaky work on our CV in preparation for interviews tomorrow (eeeeeeeek!),it was time for the Social Action Challenge! We were given just under an hour to put together a pitch to convince a member of Google's CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) team that Google should have a CSR team...Yeah.My team shared a presentation on Google Drives and got some really good advice/information from the Googler who set the challenge so we were quite confident when we got up to pitch.We won the challenge,Google coffee mugs (almost) all around,and I went home with a fancy notebook and keychain,so I mean,I got the best prize ^.^ I really enjoyed the challenge,especially using the share presentation feature-it was so easy and useful to be able to all work on it at the same time and have a chat room open,we didn't even have to talk to each other in reality,though we did cause ya know,social convention.
To round the day off well we ended with a Career Spotlight,we had the lovely Maria Laura in with us and honestly she probably had one of the two jobs I'd love to do if I ever work at Google (the other being,ya know,YouTube team),programs manager.I found the session really useful,she talked all about what she does on a day to day basis which was mostly analysing data,which sounds very challenging but also worthwhile and important.I found it interesting that her desire to work in technology started so young and so simple,and that she didn't do too mathematical of a college course...Overall it convinced me to want her job or at least one like it so it must have been beneficial! :)
I had a blast and I'm so sad tomorrow is the end :(
Then,after a quick 15 minutes sneaky work on our CV in preparation for interviews tomorrow (eeeeeeeek!),it was time for the Social Action Challenge! We were given just under an hour to put together a pitch to convince a member of Google's CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) team that Google should have a CSR team...Yeah.My team shared a presentation on Google Drives and got some really good advice/information from the Googler who set the challenge so we were quite confident when we got up to pitch.We won the challenge,Google coffee mugs (almost) all around,and I went home with a fancy notebook and keychain,so I mean,I got the best prize ^.^ I really enjoyed the challenge,especially using the share presentation feature-it was so easy and useful to be able to all work on it at the same time and have a chat room open,we didn't even have to talk to each other in reality,though we did cause ya know,social convention.
To round the day off well we ended with a Career Spotlight,we had the lovely Maria Laura in with us and honestly she probably had one of the two jobs I'd love to do if I ever work at Google (the other being,ya know,YouTube team),programs manager.I found the session really useful,she talked all about what she does on a day to day basis which was mostly analysing data,which sounds very challenging but also worthwhile and important.I found it interesting that her desire to work in technology started so young and so simple,and that she didn't do too mathematical of a college course...Overall it convinced me to want her job or at least one like it so it must have been beneficial! :)
I had a blast and I'm so sad tomorrow is the end :(
Wednesday
Wednesday began with a Google Products session.We learnt all about Google Maps and the Google browser,Google Chrome.We were given a challenge to complete a worksheet full of questions we could find the answer to using the app.It was interesting because I now know the most effective,fast way to find places and information online.
Then we had a CV/Interview workshop,we got to meet with members of the Google staffing team who read our CV's and offered advice on what we could do to improve them.
My favourite part of the day was the Enterprise Challenge,we had Anna,a lovely member of the sales team in to teach us about Google Apps and the way her team go about selling it to business who need a better communication system on and offline.We were then given a small amount of time to prepare and then we had to pitch Google Apps to her,pretending she was the owner of a business looking for a better email/communicaton solution (we were given a sheet with a briefing on the problems the owner was having).I didn't stand up and pitch but it was cool to have to do the research and try and match up the Google products to what the customer wanted and needed.It was an interesting experience in dealing with customer care.
We ended the day with a Career Spotlight session with a woman called Margaux from the sales team.She talked all about her job and I found it interesting because when we got to ask her questions she had a completely normal background,she didn't get her job through referal and she just seemed to genuinely love getting out of bed in the morning to go to work.
Overall,a good day and I learnt an awful lot about Google products in paticular.
Then we had a CV/Interview workshop,we got to meet with members of the Google staffing team who read our CV's and offered advice on what we could do to improve them.
My favourite part of the day was the Enterprise Challenge,we had Anna,a lovely member of the sales team in to teach us about Google Apps and the way her team go about selling it to business who need a better communication system on and offline.We were then given a small amount of time to prepare and then we had to pitch Google Apps to her,pretending she was the owner of a business looking for a better email/communicaton solution (we were given a sheet with a briefing on the problems the owner was having).I didn't stand up and pitch but it was cool to have to do the research and try and match up the Google products to what the customer wanted and needed.It was an interesting experience in dealing with customer care.
We ended the day with a Career Spotlight session with a woman called Margaux from the sales team.She talked all about her job and I found it interesting because when we got to ask her questions she had a completely normal background,she didn't get her job through referal and she just seemed to genuinely love getting out of bed in the morning to go to work.
Overall,a good day and I learnt an awful lot about Google products in paticular.
Tuesday
I was so excited and just ready for more when I arrived at Google my second morning.I was also slightly nervous because I knew we had an IT session and I get very frustrated when I try to code! BUT the day started out really well,we began we a session all about the Google product I'm currently using-Blogger!
We were taught all about how to use the site and create our own blog about our experience on the OneWeek@Google programme.I really enjoyed the session,despite my many technical difficulties....whoops.
Next came the infamous IT session,which actually turned out to be completely amazing and one of my favourite sessions of the entire week (tied with YouTube - but that's for Thursday's post!).Anyways it was so cool,we learnt all about the hardware and what's actually going on inside a desktop,then best of all-we got to break one open and pull everything out to see for ourselves! It was so unique and cool to be able to actually hold the pieces in our hands,the process of trying to get all the pieces loose was so interesting and it required a lot of teamwork which was fun.Once we'd finished that we got to the hard part,putting it all back together! My team put the everything back in place first,winning the challenge to do so by a landslide and got some pretty cool swag for our efforts :))
We also got to learn a little bit about coding during the session which was really difficult (as I had anticipated) but also really good and I wasn't nearly as frustrated and terrible at it as I taught I would be.
< My team attempting to disassemble the desktop
Next we had an interview and CV workshop,we were given tips on how to create an effective,simple,to the point CV.We were given a template and some time to create our own CV's.
Finally we had a session on Adwords,how Google makes it's money.It was informative because I had no idea how specialised the job actually is and the work that goes into making sure the client gets the most traffic to their site.
I really enjoyed the day and I learnt a lot about the inner workings of Google and how to get a job here!
We were taught all about how to use the site and create our own blog about our experience on the OneWeek@Google programme.I really enjoyed the session,despite my many technical difficulties....whoops.
Next came the infamous IT session,which actually turned out to be completely amazing and one of my favourite sessions of the entire week (tied with YouTube - but that's for Thursday's post!).Anyways it was so cool,we learnt all about the hardware and what's actually going on inside a desktop,then best of all-we got to break one open and pull everything out to see for ourselves! It was so unique and cool to be able to actually hold the pieces in our hands,the process of trying to get all the pieces loose was so interesting and it required a lot of teamwork which was fun.Once we'd finished that we got to the hard part,putting it all back together! My team put the everything back in place first,winning the challenge to do so by a landslide and got some pretty cool swag for our efforts :))
We also got to learn a little bit about coding during the session which was really difficult (as I had anticipated) but also really good and I wasn't nearly as frustrated and terrible at it as I taught I would be.
< My team attempting to disassemble the desktopNext we had an interview and CV workshop,we were given tips on how to create an effective,simple,to the point CV.We were given a template and some time to create our own CV's.
Finally we had a session on Adwords,how Google makes it's money.It was informative because I had no idea how specialised the job actually is and the work that goes into making sure the client gets the most traffic to their site.
I really enjoyed the day and I learnt a lot about the inner workings of Google and how to get a job here!
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Google Do's and Don'ts
So,it's your first day on the OneWeek@Google programme! Congrats,now here are so crucial do and don'ts to make sure to leave a great impression!
(All are opinions and based on my personal experience and views)
DO
(All are opinions and based on my personal experience and views)
DO
- Get a good night's sleep the night before.It sounds cliche but seriously,zombie is not a good look
- Come right out of that comfort zone-socialize,socialize,socialize and jump in head first
- Ask as many questions as you can possibly think of during sessions and at lunch
- Speak first! It's the most effective way to get "Google Swag"
- Enjoy yourself,relax and be Googly!
DON'T
(These apply to the entire week but your first day is when ya gotta know it)
- Overdress,wear what's most comfortable on you
- Be late!
- Disrespect any Googler,it's pretty cool that they're giving up their time to come talk to you
- Not ask a question because you think it's stupid,there's no such think as a stupid question
- Waste it or take advantage,enjoy!
Monday
MONDAY: Monday April 29th was my very first day as an honorary "noogler".
< My pass!
I travelled to Google's offices by train with two fellow OneWeekers. We we went into the Google Docks building and we got to meet everyone else on the programme, we were handed our passes and Debbie brought us over to the Kelvin room in the Engineering Building.
< The table of people I sat with on Day 1 ^.^
First, we were given a rough overview of what we would be doing of the course of the week and we played an ice breaking game - we had to talk to the person next to us and then introduce them to the rest of the group.
We then had a welcome session from a member of the senior management team,a session on "Being Googly:The Culture and Community" and a session on Health and Safety
John Hurley giving us a warm,temporary welcome to the world of Google's EU Headquarters
Don Cunningham for H&S!
Carl Ryan on adapting to Google culture and the different Google offices around the world
Then we were split into group and brought by a Googler to lunch,it was an amazing opportunity to ask them a million questions about their job and what it's like to work at Google Dublin.The Googler I sat with was incredibly nice,he was very friendly and answered all my questions (where did you go to college and what did you study,what's you job title,where are you from,is it hard to adapt to life at Google? etc.) and he taught us some more Google slang eg. the "Google Ghetto".I found it really beneficial to get to ask any relevant questions to an experienced Googler in an informal setting.
After lunch we were again split into groups,this time were brought by two Googlers on a tour around the Engineering Building and Google Docks.It was truly amazing getting to see all the different floors,I taught all the different themes were so quirky and unique! It definitely made me want to come back as a Google employee in the future!
View from one of the higher floors of the Google Docks Building
John Hurley giving us a warm,temporary welcome to the world of Google's EU Headquarters
Don Cunningham for H&S!
Carl Ryan on adapting to Google culture and the different Google offices around the world
Then we were split into group and brought by a Googler to lunch,it was an amazing opportunity to ask them a million questions about their job and what it's like to work at Google Dublin.The Googler I sat with was incredibly nice,he was very friendly and answered all my questions (where did you go to college and what did you study,what's you job title,where are you from,is it hard to adapt to life at Google? etc.) and he taught us some more Google slang eg. the "Google Ghetto".I found it really beneficial to get to ask any relevant questions to an experienced Googler in an informal setting.
After lunch we were again split into groups,this time were brought by two Googlers on a tour around the Engineering Building and Google Docks.It was truly amazing getting to see all the different floors,I taught all the different themes were so quirky and unique! It definitely made me want to come back as a Google employee in the future!
View from one of the higher floors of the Google Docks Building
The last session of the day was a Google Sites session,led up by a woman called Sandra.She taught us how to create a Google Site and we were told we would have to create either a blog (such as this one) or a Google Site to document our experience of the OneWeek@Google programme,it was a really informative session and I learnt a lot about the most effective and attractive way to present my experience (voila!).
The day ended and I went home tired,excited and definitely craving more!
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