When you dream about working at Google, your inner self tells you how unique perks Google provided you while working like unlimited free food, slides, nap pods, massage room, and what not else?
Who would not like to work with all these perks? So, in this article, I’m going to share all the tips, strategies, and techniques you can apply to get a job on Google.
You must be wondering by now how difficult it is to get a job at Google? Let’s get a reality check first and then proceed further.
Is it difficult to bag a job at Google?
Google is not a static organization. By static here, I mean, it is growing vastly. It is a big company with lots of momentum.
It is easier to get a job at Google than you think. Google constantly hires people. They often visit college campuses to hire young and fresh talent for their organization. If you get a chance to sit in their interview and you somehow manage to dodge all those questions being bombed at you one by one, with ease, you’re likely to be offered a job.
What makes it hard for some people is that they don’t meet the requirements and don’t understand it. For better or worse, Google has a type. It is hard to get through their interview process if you don’t meet that type. Google’s process produces few false positives. The downside is that it probably increases false negatives.
The best way to describe the type is “generalist.” Software engineers are typically not hired for a specific position. They are interviewed for an absolute breadth of know, edge, and ability to solve the problems. They type selects for the more systems-oriented people.
Often, candidates are rejected because they are not ready to work at Google yet. That mainly happens because of a lack of proper knowledge. You have to match your skills with the company’s expectations to secure a position. So now, let us know about the skills and experiences you should possess to work at Google.
Note: You might want to read an article written by me on how to write a resume. Read it here: /how-to-write-a-resume-6-things-you-should-know/.
What Google seeks for in an employee? (My Take)
Nowadays, Google receives 2 million job applications in a year and accepts only 4000 of them. This makes this acceptance rate even lower than that of Havard or Yale.
So here’s a list of skills you should have for getting accepted from Google according to me:
- Googlyness: Yes, you heard it right. In Google’s workbook, there’s a quality mentioned as Googlyness. It is defined as attributes like enjoying fun, intelligence, strong measures of conscientiousness, comfort with ambiguity, and courage. This thing togetherly defines Googlyness.
- Role-related knowledge: One must have a safe and sound understanding of the job they’re working for. People become knowledgeable in certain specific situations and apply the knowledge to solve some other area’s problem. Of course, Google doesn’t want that. So one should have an overall understanding of the jobs instead of being specialized in a specific area.
- Leadership: One should have leadership quality such that when the other person is facing any difficulty, help them, not like overruling anyone.
- Cognitive ability: Nobody has full knowledge of anything in the world. Google wants to hire such candidates who are bright and are still exploring and curious about everything. They recruit for aptitude, for the ability to learn new things.
- Diversity: Google often asks people to bring something new and diverse in terms of their life experiences.
- Handling difficulty: Google interview includes questions like ” give me an example of a time when you solved an analytically difficult problem.”
- Meeting high standards: Often, Google’s employees meet high standard people and problems because it is such a big firm.
Now that you’re clear with all the skills, I want to tell you good news. Google doesn’t care about GPA! Yes!
Low GPA? No problem. Follow these tips to get a job at Google with a low GPA.
Mr. Bock (helped Google to grow from 3000 employees to 53,00 employees) says GPA and test scores don’t correlate with success at the company.
He quotes,
“Academic environments are artificial environments. People who succeed there are sort of finely trained; they’re conditioned to succeed in that environment.”
GPAs are still asked for the hiring process.
Here are some tips to get a job at Google with a low GPA:
- Get a professional experience.
- Have relevant coding skills.
- Don’t apply externally. Focus on on-campus placements and referrals.
- Reach out to Google recruiter.
- If your GPA is too low, don’t bother to write it on your resume.
- Make your resume polished with other extra-curricular activities.
- Showcase your engineering skills.
- Have a track record of open source projects.
- Showcase your passion for company and technology.
- Mention how you can help the company.
Note: You might want to read an article written by me on how to write an email for a job. Read it here: /how-to-write-an-email-for-a-job-6-things-you-should-know/.
Types of jobs under Google:
Google offers jobs in the following three main categories mainly:
A. Engineering: Technical roles like software engineer, STA engineer, application development and product management, etc.
B. Business: These include quantitative business analysis, business operations, sales strategy, etc.
C. Design: Roles like UI/UX designer, UX writer, visual designer, UX researcher, etc.
If you’re qualified in any of fields mentioned above, then proceed ahead to the application tips at Google:
1. Talk to a Google recruiter:
Google organizes outreach events at hundreds of universities worldwide to spread the word about their internships and other recent graduates’ opportunities.
Google has mentioned on its website that “check with your university’s career’s center to see if a Google representative will be visiting your campus. And though we can’t visit every school and university, you can find and apply for all our open roles on our student’s site.”
You can also impress Google recruiters by asking them some out-of-the-box questions. You can thus, share your knowledge and skills with them and define your capabilities according to the job role you’re offered with.
2. Apply online:
You can directly apply to Google by their website. Simply enter your preferences, location, and skills relevant to the job you’re aiming for. Google will filter jobs according to your selections.
You can directly apply via this link: https://careers.google.com/jobs/.
You also use online job searching sites like KillerLaunch.com.
Killerlaunch is a perfect platform where you can find several jobs that are just one click away! Just add your preferences and qualifications and get ready for your dream job. So visit KillerLaunch.com now!
3. Campus placements:
Google visits India’s top colleges like IITs, NITs, DTU, etc. for hiring the students matching their criteria.
4. APAC Tests:
Google organizes Kick Start, a coding contest for programmers in the Asia-Pacific region. It is held throughout the year. Interested people can enter any 3 hours round they wish to.
If you’re able to impress them with your skills, congrats, you may get a chance to be interviewed by Google!
Now that you’re done with the application process, it’s time for an interview.
After you’ve applied, it takes 6 weeks to go through the entire process. Recruiters focus more on the candidate than on the process, so make sure to impress them thoroughly.
Google conducts two types of interviews:
- Telephonic/Hangout interview: If the recruiter is impressed by your application, they will interview you via hangout or phone call. If you’ve applied for technical roles, they may ask you many coding and algorithm questions. So prepare accordingly.
- On-site interviews: After the first round of interview is done, they will call you for a face to face interview. It may last up to 30-45 minutes. Google will cover all your transport and accommodation costs. And don’t forget to impress the recruiters with your “Googlyness”!
Here is the list of questions that the interviewer might ask you:
- Why do you want to work with our company?
- Explain how you’re good at this role?
- Describe yourself.
- What is your most significant achievement to date?
- Tell us how you handle feedback?
- What is your favorite Google product, and can you modify it?
- How can you increase Google revenues?
- How can you launch a local product? How can you check for fraud?
Now that you’ve aced the interview, it’s time for the real deal, salary negotiation.
Salary negotiation for Google job.
It’s worthwhile to negotiate any payroll from Google. Why? As wage negotiation coach Josh Doddy writes, “offers from Google can be improved anywhere from somehow or more.”
Of course, some positions may be more effective in negotiating offers with Google. For example, Doddy says that data scientists and machine learning experts, who helped Google dominate its industry, can maximize software developers’ initial offerings.
Doddy also says, “if no sign-up bonus is included with your first offer, there may be still one available. Login bonuses, such as equity, can range from fairly small amounts to six figures.”
What should you expect from a Google job?
For the past 10 years, Google has reached the top 100 of the best companies to work for, as only three companies have done so. Google has four offices throughout India – Gurgaon, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, each showing Google’s diversity differently. Google has some of the best benefits for employees globally, with the least amount of free food at any time of the day, entertainment rooms (including video games, bedrooms, house games, etc.) finance.
‘Good enough is not good enough’ is one of Google’s fundamental values , and Google needs to think critically. They are always trying new ideas and challenging themselves to come up with something new. Google has a ‘Googler-to-Googler’ program where employees interact and train each other in skills such as management, public speaking, etc. Another reason why Google is one of the best places to work its policy is flexible working hours. There is no set program, and employees are encouraged to use within their terms. This gives Google the freedom to think creatively as much as possible, without being caught up in tight work hours.
So, getting a job at Google is easy if the right approach is taken. You can ace the interview with the tips and techniques I’ve mentioned above. Good luck! Show off your Googlyness!
