"True guidance is like a small torch in dark forest. It does not show everything at once.But gives enough light for the next step to be safe"
There are people who know their goals ,there are people who are still figuring it out and then there are people looking for sheer guidance. Amidst such rush it is no less than pure delight to find someone who walks you through the places you wish to be at by sharing their experiences.
This is the candid interview of Palak Jain who belongs to Udaipur. She narrates her jubilant experience of internship at GOOGLE.
Q)Share a bit about yourself.
Congratulations! Each and every time you have made Udaipur immensely proud.
Q) What do you think on the students' belief that they must belong to IITs ,NITs to land at such internships?
I know students from IIIT who have been here. Non IIT students certainly have the caliber to get in. The major hurdle would be getting past the resume screening. For that you either need a very strong profile (projects on git, open source contributions etc.) or a good recommendation. As for skills, hone your coding skills. The resources available online should suffice.
Q) Does the quantity of computer languages learned - a necessity?
Not at all. Just know one, know it well.
Q)So,how did you prepare yourself for various rounds involved?
Getting In Google has an open portal for intern application.
1. Resume Screening
Having a strong profile, is vital for the initial screening. A recognized university label, a decent GPA (no cutoffs, but it is inevitable to ignore), your past projects would help.
2. Interview
If your application (essentially resume) gets shortlisted, you have 2 telephonic coding interviews of 45min-1hr each. The tech interviews are of moderate difficulty level. The book 'Cracking the Coding Interview' by Gayle Lackmann should give a good overview.
3. Host matching
Once, you are though this you are almost selected. You have a project matching round piled up next, where your interests and capabilities are matched against potential projects for you.
Q) Would you mind sharing your GitHub profile?
Here’s a description about my work https://github.com/palak-jain/IndexedDBObservers and here’s the complete work itself https://codereview.chromium.org/search?closed=1&owner=palakj1&reviewer=&cc=&repo_guid=&base=&project=&private=1&commit=1&created_before=&created_after=&modified_before=&modified_after=&order=&format=html&keys_only=False&with_messages=False&cursor=&limit=30
Q) What fascinated you the most at Google?
'Work ethics' . That is one thing I must emphasize. At Google, my notion of hierarchy, of bosses and employees, that I had always preconceived as a part of workplace, was shattered. I realized that while experience did impose a natural hierarchy, it needn’t be translated into intellectual hierarchy. Your opinion is treated to be of considerable significance ( pertaining to your own domain )
It's the way the employers interact at Google, the way I can talk to a person much more senior to me and ask him for advice on a trivial piece of code that impressed me. They say here, no one knows everything. We are all learning. There’s humility here and I understand how vital this is for newbies to grow.
Well, Believe it or not people at Google gossip a lot about all that is wrong with Google. And it’s so much fun to hear a company so giant, so ubiquitous in our lives, making blunders.
Q)How would you describe your experience at Google?
Google pampers its interns, it really does.
There are dozens of intern events ranging from amusement parks, baseball games to science museums and tech talks. The food is simply amazing; there’s gym, pool, game rooms and everything else you demand.
Work Hours: I have seen people come at 10 to work and leave at 4, and I have scene some working 12hrs! The office is deserted on weekends.
Google doesn’t worry how much time you spend in the office, until you are meeting your targets. But most people here are dedicated and hard-working.
Compiled by -Isha Chandaliya
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