How to Get Internship and Job at Google

Google dream companies for all students to do internship and for every graduate, the dream place to work.

For the college students all over the world, having internship at companies like Google and is one of the most prestigious internship opportunities.

But, getting an internship offer at Google is not an easy thing.  About internship opportunity at Google, there has been a saying that getting at Google is even harder than getting admission into top colleges like Harvard and Stanford.

Probably because, every month Google receives approx. 50000 plus applications for internship and only about 27000 get the first interview.

So, if you are applying, you need to make sure that you get that first interview.

Well, easier to say than doing.

 Here are some tips, advice, and other helpful articles to increase your chances of getting selected.

1. Preparation and the application.

The journey to getting internship in Google starts with an effective application process.

When you submit your application, you need three things: resume, cover letter, and transcript.

1)     Resume

Think to answer these questions :

What do recruiters see when they look at your resume?  How can you take your resume to next level?

Here are some of her ideas that can help you in building your resume.

a)     Be Specific :

Include how you impacted the company or organization you worked for.

This is important because many people only describe their past jobs. What's more important is demonstrating how you contributed to that job.

b)    Be Concise and to-the-point

Recruiters only spend about seven seconds on average glancing at a resume so that means you want to keep your resume at a maximum of one page.

c)     Let the numbers talk:

It is very important to quantify your achievements when possible. Rather than telling you were exceptional in your previous job, let your achievements do the talking.

For example, if you saved the company $25,000, put that number in your resume.

The tangible, concrete, and quantifiable data really grabs attention of recruiter.  

d)    Prefer Using Action Verbs

Use of action verbs really matter. It represents your go getter attitude.

For example, instead of saying ‘I made a new algorithm that increased traffic,’ it would be better to say ‘Initiated a new program that increased traffic by 25 percent.

e)     Never, ever embellish

If you are uncomfortable in talking about something during an interview, never ever mention that in your resume.

For example, mentioning your knowledge about multiple programming languages might lead interviewer to put some questions about that.

f)      Don’t put an objective statement :

Everyone knows you’re looking for an internship or else you wouldn’t be applying for it, then why to waste space by putting irrelevant information on it.

g)     Don’t put images of yourself :

Putting images in resume doesn’t help at all. Instead it takes more of your valuable place.

h)    Mention Accomplishments not JD :

What you do want to put, is your results and accomplishments, not your job descriptions. What did you do differently from the last person who was in your position?

i)       Tailor your resume to the particular internship you are applying for :

Go on the website and check out what words they are using to describe what they want and copy it. This will make sure Google sees that you are the perfect match.

j)      Mention Side Projects

Yes, I agree, a high GPA or name of a top-tier school in resume does sure help, but what recruiters like Google really looking for are people who have builders attribute. Show them that you have a passion outside of the classroom.

It can be anything from starting a little side project like a simple website to launching a full on startup.

Demonstrate your creativity, passion, and drive to start something from beginning to end. Recruiters are going to love that.

The question that you must be prepared to answer is :

How did you increase your productivity on your side projects at the end of the day when you were tired from work/college?

2. Your Digital Footprint  (Online Presence) :

Recruiters spend a lot of time online looking for candidates and finding out the activities of applicants.

First of all you need to improve your digital footprint by optimizing your social media profiles and pages. 

Also, be active on the relevant platform that matches your skills, for e.g., Engineers can put their work on Github. For designers, there is Behance and Pintrest. 

Sites like Career Cup or Collegefeed Connect can help you with some practice interview questions.

Get involved in the relevant community through Twitter , Quora etc.

Love writing, get started with your blog on wordpress.

End of the day, make sure that along with your other social media profiles, your LinkedIn is also up to date you are engaged with relevant groups and discussions on it.

3. Connections

This is probably one of the best ways to make it into Google. A candidate referred by a Googler or a Xoogler has a much higher chance at getting in the right hands than a candidate that comes out of the blue. Check in your Linkedin profile, if you have any 2nd or 3rd degree connections.

If not, don’t be sad. There are still plenty of people, who got in without connections; they just had to put in a little more work.

So, how to improve your connections :

You can start it by attending networking events and talks. Instead of wasting your weekend in random stuff, participate in weekend startup Meetups, compete in a hackathon, or attend other Meetups of your interest.

There are so many people at events like these and chances are you might run into the right person at the right time.

4. The Application

Check the careers page of Google here for open positions.

https://careers.google.com/students

If, the position you are looking for is not open, have patience and wait. Keep on checking. Once the position is open, apply and now hope that all the preparation work. If all goes right, you may get a call in next 2-3 days.

5. Interviews:

The interview process varies with the position. For a programmer the process and number of interviews will be totally different than that for a UI UX designer.

The solution to this problem is : Practice, Practice and Practice

There is no shortcut to it. You need to practice for your interviews irrespective of the position you are applying to.

Practice at your school/college career center with mock interviews and seek help if your friends.

Work on making mock interviews as realistic as possible.

You’re going to have phone interviews so try to practice at the location you’ll be at and how you’ll be setup during that interview.

Demonstrate Your True Self -  Who You Really Are

A major part of interview is to see if you’d be a great cultural fit. It’s not going to be 100% technical.

Don’t answer scripted answers. Get involved, be personal, show you care about the fit as much as the company does.

Your interview is not one sided, its both way. You are interviewing them as well to see if they are a good fit for you.

Do your homework and prepare questions showing that you really want to be there. Use the opportunity of “Do you have any questions for me?” to shoot your questions.

Hiring Committee:

Members of the hiring committee review the feedback from your interviewers, your resume, and other related documents. If you appear to be a strong candidate, your information is placed in a pool for host matching.

6. Host-Matching Stage.

This is the place where you need to have a lot of patience. There is no way to speed it up.

Projects and teams play a big priority in Google’s intern hiring process. Teams submit their potential intern projects and once they are approved, they are able to choose candidates from the pool of applicants who make it to this stage.  This process is pretty different for each role.

Once you find a potential host, it will be followed by a couple of telephonic interviews which are generally non-technical. The host just tries to determine whether you would be a good fit for the team (and vice versa).

It is pretty similar throughout the board. You fill out a questionnaire that asks what Google products you’re interested in, where you’re interested in working at, and other pretty simple questions. The hosts and teams then go through and choose their favorites. There’s no limit to how many hosts can choose you. Some people get three host matches, while others get none. It all depends on the hosts and what they are looking for during that season.

This process usually takes a while for most people, from a couple weeks to even a few months. Don’t get discouraged if you haven’t heard anything yet, be patient!

Word of advice :

Competitive Programming:

It’s probably the most straight-forward and easy way to prepare for and crack the technical interviews of all top-notch tech companies.

A good rank or rating on CodeChef / TopCoder / CodeForces will help you to clear the resume screening which is often the biggest hurdle for most of the candidates. A good performance will not only help you in technical interviews , but you will also get good referrals as the referrer can quickly verify the claims.

No Brainteasers:

Google stopped asking complex brain teaser-type questions in the interviews long ago after realizing that such brainteasers don’t really predict the performance and problem-solving ability of the candidates; instead, they focus on structured interview questions now.

 Check out this guide by Google on how to develop your technical skills- https://www.google.com/about/careers/students/guide-to-technical-development.html

Do your research:

Most students don’t get matched to a host because they are too rigid while filling the questionnaire. Be little general. Research about various Google products and the teams behind them for a better possibility of finding a team which resonates with your interests.

TIPS :

 Get used to coding on a whiteboard, in Google Docs, and get comfortable talking about coding over the phone.

You can also watch these two videos prepared by Google recruiters themselves on Technical interview tips and Non-technical interview tips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc1owf2-220&autoplay=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DINxNbBOEoI&autoplay=1

You can also read about the exhilarating experience of Anushka while she did her summer internship at Google.

If the software industry is your calling, you can check out these cool Computer Science internships. To apply for more of such internships, please register here.

NOTE

 The information is based on online research, talks and experience shared by multiple people who have been through the interview process. Readers are advised to go through the Google website for latest information.

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5 Body Language Mistakes You Need to Avoid During Interview

Body language is a vital part of job interview and trust me when I say it, it is one of the determining factors of you getting selected or rejected for the job.
You body language says what you don't want to say. But with proper information about what to do and not to do, you can easily control your body language with little practice and crack the job interview of your dream job.

Earlier we had discussed about the 5 Body Langages You Must Know About Before Going for Interview

Today we will be discussing about the body language mistakes that we need to avoid to maximize the chances of selection.

Breaking eye contact
Properer and appropriate eye contact is a crucial assessment parameter for employers to gauge if the job seeker is confident enough or not and if he/she is insecure or deceptive. We don't ask you to stare on the face of interviewer, but try to hold your interviewers gaze for that extra second when you shake hands.

Chopping and Pointing 
Chopping and Pointing fingers represents the anger, frustration and aggression all in very negative way cutting short the connection between you and interviewer. Avoid these gestures even when you get the feelings like them. Instead, manage them by using both your hands in a nicer way, while explaining your point.

Not smiling
Who on the God's Earth, doesn't love a smiling face. A sweet smile brings in warmth and energy. With a gentle smile, you can put yourself and the interviewer at ease. On the other hand, failing to wear a smile on your face will make you come across as a grim and distant personality.

Slouching in chair
Your posture while sitting in a chair before or during the interview carries a lot of weight in terms of you getting selected or rejected in interview. Always sit straight rather than slouching in chair.

Fiddling with fingers
Playing or fiddling with your fingers during interview will put your impression as a bored or disinterested person. By toying with your fingers in interview, you send a direct message to the interviewer that you are not interested in the job or conversation.

Too many hand gestures
Yes, we said it and its absolutely right to use your hand gestures stress some crucial points but it must be balanced.  Too much of hand gestures are distracting and simply annoying. Try to avoid it.

Post by - 
Alok Kumar Upadhayay

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Questions Frequently Asked in Job Interviews

On a huge demand of our readers, we are finally sharing the questions ( types ) which are very frequent in interviews now a days. 

The answers vary as per the skill set and experience level of individual. Though it can help you in expecting what is going to be asked in the interview and with that, you can shape your answer. 

We don't recommend you to tell a lie in interview. We recommend honest answers, as its preferred and have better chances of selection. 

1. Tell me honestly about the strong points and weak points of your boss?
   
2. A is the mother of B and C. If D is the husband of C. What is A to D?
   
3. If FRIEND is coded as HUMJTK, how can CANDLE be written in that code?
   
4. Tell me something about yourself which is not there in your resume / CV?
   
5. Describe the best boss you ever reported to?
   
6. Tell me about something that's not on your resume?
   
7. What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?
   
8. If you could start your career over again, what would you do differently?
   
9. Where do you see yourself in next 5 Years ?
   
10. What are your greatest professional strengths ?
    
11. What do you expect from your supervisor ?
    
12. What will you do if our competitor offers you a higher salary ?
    

We will keep on adding more questions to the list.. 

If you have your own question, please share it in comments sections. 

to be contd...

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Never Do this before Your Job Interview

In my earlier posts, I have shared some of the interview tips. Thanks for all your overwhelming responses. Though, do you know that, there is a prelim screen, that happens when you are totally unaware of it.
If you have been to interviews earlier, remember random people walking by you while you are waiting for interview. Yes, you got it. That's it.
Just before interview, when waiting, most of the times candidates let their guard down and then happens the unexpected.

Here I am listing couple of points, that you must never do just before your job interview.

Don't be over confident : 
Confidence is one of the most essential part of interview, though being overconfident can be detrimental. The moment you get over confident, you loose your guard and it push you to talk out of order or act out of control.
Generally it happens with couple of favorable signs or hints from interviewer about your candidacy, but you must know that, its all a part of interview. They let you assume and the assumptions take tings south. So, never assume that you have got the job until you really get it in written with due approvals.


Don't be over punctual : 
No doubt, punctuality is a desired quality that employers look for in the candidates. However, arriving too early can leave a negative impression on the interviewer.
Arriving too early means longer waits and who loves to wait.. slowly its starts making you board and anxious. Their are fair chances that, you might slip in interview.



Don't wear your RUDE look : 
Politeness is a sweet candy that makes receiver and giver both happy. No wonder, you will be very polite to the interviewer but you must be polite with other people also you meet during your interview, you never know who is going to work with you and in what capacity. Also, if you are rude to anybody and it gets reported you may just miss out on the job opportunity.




Don't be social butterfly, Avoid Social Media : 
Focus on your interview and keep that smartphone away till the time being. Don't risk losing your focus on errant things on social media. You may miss your call, you may miss your entire focus on interview. I guess your social media profiles and feeds are not important than your career.

- Alok Upadhayay

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