At Google, we understand that our worldwide success results from our globally diverse workforce. In every Google office, you will find challenging projects and smart people with potential to change the world. Googlers relish the freedom to create the next generation of web technologies in an environment designed to foster collaboration, creativity, health, and happiness.
Life at Google
Google is not a conventional company, and we don’t intend to become one. True, we share attributes with the world’s most successful organizations – a focus on innovation and smart business practices comes to mind – but even as we continue to grow, we’re committed to retaining a small-company feel. At Google, we know that every employee has something important to say, and that every employee is integral to our success. We provide individually-tailored compensation packages that can be comprised of competitive salary, bonus, and equity components, along with the opportunity to earn further financial bonuses and rewards.
Google has offices around the globe, from Bangalore to Zurich, but regardless of where we are, we nurture an invigorating, positive environment by hiring talented, local people who share our commitment to creating search perfection and want to have a great time doing it. Googlers thrive in small, focused teams and high-energy environments, believe in the ability of technology to change the world, and are as passionate about their lives as they are about their work.
Why work at Google?
FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work for”
Here at Google, we are proud to be part of FORTUNE Magazine’s prestigious “100 Best Companies to Work For.” For the third consecutive year, Google has achieved a top-5 ranking. Innovative benefits, flexibility, and the opportunity to pursue ideas that challenge the status quo are just a few of the attributes that have continued to earn us this exciting recognition. As we continue to grow, we strive to preserve the best aspects of our startup culture. From welcoming our Nooglers (new Googlers) with their very own Google buddies to celebrating team accomplishments at our Friday TGIF company meetings – we work to cultivate employee satisfaction every step of the way.
To choose the “100 Best Companies to work For,” FORTUNE conducts the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. More than 81,000 employees from 353 companies responded to a 57-question survey created by the Great Place to Work Institute. Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the survey, which is sent to a minimum of 600 randomly selected employees. The remaining third is based on our Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about demographics, pay, and benefits, and open-ended questions on philosophy, communication, etc. FORTUNE magazine compiles and selects the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list every year from a pool of eligible U.S.-based applicants
Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google
- Lend a helping hand. With millions of visitors every month, Google has become an essential part of everyday life – like a good friend – connecting people with the information they need to live great lives.
- Life is beautiful. Being a part of something that matters and working on products in which you can believe is remarkably fulfilling.
- Appreciation is the best motivation, so we’ve created a fun and inspiring workspace you’ll be glad to be a part of, including on-site doctor and dentist; massage and yoga; professional development opportunities; shoreline running trails; and plenty of snacks to get you through the day.
- Work and play are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time.
- We love our employees, and we want them to know it. Google offers a variety of benefits, including a choice of medical programs, company-matched 401(k), stock options, maternity and paternity leave, and much more.
- Innovation is our bloodline. Even the best technology can be improved. We see endless opportunity to create even more relevant, more useful, and faster products for our users. Google is the technology leader in organizing the world’s information.
- Good company everywhere you look. Googlers range from former neurosurgeons, CEOs, and U.S. puzzle champions to alligator wrestlers and Marines. No matter what their backgrounds Googlers make for interesting cube mates.
- Uniting the world, one user at a time. People in every country and every language use our products. As such we think, act, and work globally – just our little contribution to making the world a better place.
- Boldly go where no one has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring. You’ll have the opportunity to develop innovative new products that millions of people will find useful.
- There is such a thing as a free lunch after all. In fact we have them every day: healthy, yummy, and made with love.
Benefits
“The goal is to strip away everything that gets in our employees’ way. We provide a standard package of fringe benefits, but on top of that are first-class dining facilities, gyms, laundry rooms, massage rooms, haircuts, carwashes, dry cleaning, commuting buses – just about anything a hardworking employee might want. Let’s face it: programmers want to program, they don’t want to do their laundry. So we make it easy for them to do both.”
Eric Schmidt, CEO Google
Google’s founders often state that the company is not serious about anything but search. They built a company around the idea that work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun. To that end, Google’s culture is unlike any in corporate America, and it’s not because of the whimsical lava lamps and large rubber balls, or the fact that one of the company’s chefs used to cook for the Grateful Dead. In the same way Google puts users first when it comes to online services, Google puts employees first when it comes to daily life in its offices.
Benefits Philosophy: We strive to be innovative and unique in all services we provide both to customers and employees, including our benefits and perks offerings. We realize and celebrate that our employees have diverse needs, and that this diversity requires flexible and individually directed support. Our priority is to offer a customizable program that can be tailored to the specific needs of each individual, whether they enjoy ice climbing in Alaska, want to retire by age 40, or plan to adopt 3 children.
Health and wellness*
Medical Insurance: 3 Carriers
Carriers for California:
- Blue Shield: PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) or HMO (Health Maintenance Organization)
- CIGNA: PPO or EPP (Exclusive Provider Medical Benefits)
- Kaiser
Carriers for Other States:
- Blue Shield: PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) or OOA (Out of Area)
- CIGNA: PPO or EPP (Exclusive Provider Medical Benefits)
Dental Insurance
Comprehensive coverage through Delta Dental.
Vision Insurance
Exams, contacts, lenses and frames all generously covered.
Flex Spending Account Plan
Includes Health Spending Account, Dependent Care Account and Qualified Transportation Benefit.
EAP – Employee Assistance Program
Services for employees and their dependents include free short-term counseling, legal consultations, financial counseling, child care referrals and pet care referrals.
Life and AD&D Insurance
Automatic coverage at 2 times annual salary.
Voluntary Life Insurance
Option to purchase additional life insurance.
Short Term & Long Term Disability
Short Term Disability Insurance coverage provided at approximately 100% of normal of salary. Long Term Disability coverage provided at 66 2/3% of salary once Short Term Disability is exhausted.
Business Travel Accident Insurance
Automatic coverage at 2 times annual salary.
Retirement and savings*
Google 401(k) Plan
Employees may contribute up to 60% and receive a Google match of up to the greater of (a) 100% of your contribution up to $2,500 or (b) 50% of your contribution per year with no vesting schedule! We offer a variety of investment options to choose from, through Vanguard, our 401(k) Plan Administrator. To help you with those tough investment decisions, employees can access Financial Engines to receive personalized investment advice.
529 College Savings Plan
This plan provides employees with a way to save money for post-secondary education.
Time away*
Vacation
- 1st year: 15 days
- 4th year: 20 days
- 6th year: 25 days
Holidays
12 paid holidays (sick days taken as necessary)
Maternity Benefits
Up to 18 weeks off at approximately 100% pay
Parental Leave (for non-primary caregivers)
Up to 7 weeks off at approximately 100% pay
Take-Out Benefit
To help make things easier, new moms and dads are able to expense up to $500 for take-out meals during the first 3 months that they are home with their new baby.
Benefits … beyond the basics*
Tuition Reimbursement
We’ll help you pursue further education that’s relevant to what you do. You must receive grades of “B” or better. Why a “B” or better? Because we said so. Tuition reimbursement is $12,000 per calendar year.
Employee Referral Program
Good people know other good people. Our best employees have been hired through referrals. Google encourages you to recommend candidates for opportunities here and will award you a bonus if your referral accepts our offer and remains employed for at least 60 days.
Back-Up Child Care
As a California employee, when your regularly scheduled child care falls through Google will provide you with 5 free days of child care per year through Children’s Creative Learning Center (CCLC). 13 Bay Area locations serving ages 6 weeks – 12 years.
Gift Matching Program
Google matches contributions of up to $3000 per year from eligible employees to non-profit organizations. Bolstering employee contributions to worthy causes with matching gifts doesn’t just mean helping hundreds of organizations, both locally and globally; it’s also a tangible expression. We want Googlers to get involved – and the company is right behind you.
Adoption Assistance
Google assists our employees by offering financial assistance in the adoption of a child. We’ll reimburse you up to $5000 to use towards legal expenses, adoption agencies or other adoption professional fees. Parental leave and take-out benefit also apply. See Time Away.
Benefits … way beyond the basics*
Food
Hungry? Check out our free lunch and dinner – our gourmet chefs create a wide variety of healthy and delicious meals every day. Got the munchies? Google also offers snacks to help satisfy you in between meals.
On-site Doctor
At Google headquarters in Mountain View, California you have the convenience of seeing a doctor on-site.
Shuttle Service
Google is pleased to provide its Mountain View employees with free shuttles to several San Francisco, East Bay and South Bay locations.
Financial Planning Classes
Google provides objective and conflict-free financial education classes. The courses are comprehensive and cover a variety of financial topics.
Other On-Site Services
At Google headquarters in Mountain View, there’s on-site oil change, car wash, dry cleaning, massage therapy, gym, hair stylist, fitness classes and bike repair.
Other Great Benefits
Halloween & holiday party, health fair, credit union, sauna, roller hockey, outdoor volleyball court, discounts for products and local attractions.
Joining Google
“Google is organized around the ability to attract and leverage the talent of exceptional technologists and business people. We have been lucky to recruit many creative, principled and hard-working stars.”
Larry Page, Google Co-founder
Stanford University
Hiring process
Job search
The process begins with searching for a job opening that interests you by job department, location or even by key word.
Applying at Google
Once you apply for a job by submitting your resume, you will be contacted by the recruiting team who will tell you what to expect and what it’s like to work at Google.
Phone interview
You’ve applied for the position and your skills fit the job. The phone interview assesses your technical skills and proficiency, to the level of determining whether you should be brought in for in-person interviews. Typically phone interviews are conducted by someone in a similar role and last about 30-40 minutes.
Onsite interview
Our interview process for technical positions evaluates your core software engineering skills including: coding, algorithm development, data structures, design patterns, analytical thinking skills. During your interview, you’ll meet with several engineers across different teams who will give a cross-section view of Google Engineering. Interviewers will ask you questions related to your area of interest and ask you to solve them in real time. Our interview process for business and general positions evaluate your problem solving and behavioral abilities. Remember, it’s not a question of getting the answer right or wrong, but the process in which you use to solve it. Creativity is important.
Hire by committee
Virtually every person who interviews at Google talks to at least four interviewers, drawn from both management and potential colleagues. Everyone’s opinion counts, ensuring our hiring process is fair while maintaining high standards as we grow. Yes, it takes longer, but we believe it’s worth it. If you hire great people and involve them intensively in the hiring process, you’ll get more great people. We started building this positive feedback loop when the company was founded, and it has had a huge payoff.
What happens next
Following your interviews, we will decide if you are suitable for the job opening. We take hiring very seriously and like to make consensus based decisions. To that end, it can take up to two weeks for us to make a definitive decision as to whether we’d like to have you join the team. Please be patient with us – your recruiter will keep in touch with you when feedback has been received and decisions made. Also feel free to get in touch with your recruiter at any time.
Preparing your CV/resume
Submitting a CV/resume – General information
To make it easier for us to determine where you might best fit within our organization, you can take a few simple steps to help us understand your qualifications.
- PDF, HTML, or Microsoft Word documents or text formats are acceptable or you can submit using plain text format.
- All resumes and related materials (transcripts, etc.) should be submitted in English.
- Only send essential personal information and be sure to include your name and how to contact you in the resume, not just your cover letter. Include your email, phone, and residence address. Do NOT include your gender, date of birth, age, family status, or personal identification numbers.
Educational background
Your CV/resume should accurately reflect your academic achievements and accomplishments.
- Your resume should show all post-secondary institutions attended, degrees conferred, and a cumulative grade point average (if available) for each degree received.
- Only report your university level education; do NOT include elementary or secondary schooling. However, if you completed a “year abroad” program as part of your pre-university education, feel free to include this in your resume.
- Provide a brief description of any important projects you completed as part of your coursework.
Your work experience
You may be fresh out of a university, or have substantial work experience and a history of accomplishments. Either way, we want to know what skills you’ve acquired along the way. We’ll look closely at the work experience section of your resume, so the information you provide here is very important.
- List your experience and projects completed, accomplishments, etc. by your position with each employer.
- We also want to see concise, important details on your specific accomplishments and the impact your efforts had on your company.
- If you worked while attending a university, either during the summer or concurrent with your course work, be sure to mention this even if it isn’t specifically related to a potential job at Google.
Additional information
Here at Google, we value talent and intelligence, group spirit and diversity, creativity and idealism. Googlers range from former neurosurgeons and puzzle champions to alligator wrestlers and Lego maniacs. Tell us what makes you unique!
- Include the names and contact information of 2-3 references. These can include faculty advisors, co-workers, managers, or others who can talk knowledgeably about your skills and abilities. We don’t need copies of any written references you already have.
- Be sure to include any awards you’ve received, articles you’ve published, or conference presentations you’ve given. We don’t need to see copies of any awards or publications, just a reference to them.
Preparing for your interview
Why sweat the small stuff when you can change the world, challenge the status quo, impact millions of peoples’ lives? We’re doing this every day and want to enlist as many people as possible in our quest to do more.
Interviewing tips
- Know what interests you about Google and why you’ve applied.
- Familiarize yourself with Google’s products and services. Research our competitors.
- If you are interviewing for a software engineering or technical role, be ready to answer high-level technical questions on data-structures and algorithms. We would like you to code up your answers on boards with our engineers.
- Familiarize yourself with the job description you are interested in.
- If you are interviewing for a software engineering role then you may first want to visit the website www.topcoder.com. Please launch the “Arena” widget and go to the practice rooms where you can solve problems in the first and second division.
- Ensure you can substantiate anything your CV says – for instance, if you list Java or Haskell as your key programming language, questions about this are fair game and may be asked of you.
Explore Google offices- http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/locations.html
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
