Google Data

Our ‘Diary of a Business Associate Intern’ series is designed to give you an inside look into the life of Google interns based all over Europe. Today, the spotlight is on Ben Butler from Ireland, who is a Business Associate Intern with the Marketing team in Google London.

I’ve tried writing this blog a number of times, and I found it surprisingly difficult. Google isn’t hard to write about: the beautiful offices, brilliant people, and bountiful free food pretty much sell themselves. What is hard, however, is writing about them without honest descriptions sounding hyperbolic. But I’ll give it a go.

My name is Ben Butler and I’m an intern at Google.

This is from a few years back, but it pretty accurately conveys my excitement when I heard that I would be interning at Google this summer.

I’m from Dublin and I’ve lived there all my life. Ireland is a great place to grow up. As a kid, I did a lot of acting – and some sport. While sport didn’t go too well (the highlight was Under 5’s Tennis Player of the Year), I really got into acting. When I got to college, I swapped the stage for the podium: representing Trinity at the European and World Debating Championships.

I’m two years into, and halfway through, my Law and Business degree. Trinity is a brilliant university, with ample opportunity for people to explore their interests both in and out of the lecture theatres. I’m currently Librarian of the college’s Law Society. Although a bit of an antiquated term, the ‘Librarian’ is the person who keeps the society’s members up to date with everything that’s going on with the society.

As a lot of my interests centre around communicating a message, marketing seemed like a perfect fit. I’m interning with the SMB (Small and Medium Business) Marketing team in London. I focus on Co-Marketing: marketing in partnership with banks, web hosting companies and ecommerce sites.

The best thing about being an intern at Google is that you’re treated like a full-time employee, and given the opportunity to own your own projects. At the moment, I’m working on creating video case studies of a few small businesses’ experiences with AdWords. There are some brilliant businesses out there, and I’m looking forward to showcasing that.

No day here is ever the same, but there are some regularities. When I come in in the morning, I’ll grab some breakfast with my team or some other interns. Then, after a quick double espresso, the day starts. I begin by blasting off a few emails and checking my calendar. Some work, and a couple of meetings later and it’s lunch.

Lunch with Pavel, Alex, Emily, and Chris (behind the camera).

How many interns does it take to make a coffee?

The interns here are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. They’re from all over the world: Australia, Brazil, Finland, Switzerland and beyond. It’s incredible that we’re all from such diverse backgrounds, and have so many different experiences; yet we get on so well and have so much in common.

Every day has been great, and I have so many highlights – even though I’m only halfway through! The photos are just a taster. Funnily enough, the experience of taking all the photos was actually really enjoyable. It was only when I went looking for photos that I realised we hadn’t taken that many. These are all from the one day (I do change my clothes).

Despite many years of training (Under 5s Tennis Champ, remember?), and outfitting myself with a pink headband (for aerodynamic purposes); I failed to make it past the first round of ‘Googledon’ (Google’s Swingball Championship).

For anyone thinking about applying, go for it! If you’re reading this, you’re obviously interested. Well, you probably are. Unless you’re my mom (hi Mom). I never thought I’d make it here, but I’m so happy that I filled out that application form!
I better get back to work, it’s nearly TGIF time.

Best of luck,
Ben

Interested in becoming a Google intern? Fill out this form for further info on the 2014 Google Summer internship programme in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Please note: This is a speculative application. You will be contacted once the application process for next year’s programme goes live.

EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.

For resume and interview tips before you apply, check out this Hangout on Air. Additionally, please find up to date information on all job and internship postings in EMEA on our job site, and learn more about how the hiring process works.

Posted by Tony Nelli, Tech University Programs

Google’s proud of the contributions women are making to technology and aspires to cultivate the next generation of technical women leaders. On July 12th, 2013, Google hosted the inaugural Google Women in Engineering (GWE) “We Are GWE” Intern Summit at its Mountain View headquarters. Over 170 female interns joined together hailing from 13 of our North American offices, and representing a variety of Google teams like Android, Search, YouTube, Google[x], and many more.

The event kicked off with a Leadership Techmakers panel consisting of some of the top female engineers from across the organization, including VP’s and engineering directors. They shared career advice through stories of trials and tribulations and spent the morning connecting with a room full of the next generation of female techmakers. Shoulder to shoulder participants realized that together they could make a difference.

Interns spent the day in talks with Googlers who, like the participants, were interns who have moved into permanent roles. They had the opportunity to discuss and share ideas on topics like graduate level education, challenges facing female engineers, and how they can have a positive impact on a number of women in tech. United by their passion, abilities, and ambition, the Googlers were emblematic of the many women changing the field of computer science today.

In true Google fashion, the day wouldn’t be over until the group got to let loose and hangout! The day of great connections, impactful topics, and a lot of fun concluded with a large garden party on the GooglePlex patio.

The interns, now armed with a network and knowledge will return to their college campuses inspired to be leaders in engineering, on campus, and in their own communities. We hope that they will continue to contribute to this annual summit as returning interns, full-time employees and role models for the next generation of Google Women in Engineering.

Of course, Google’s commitment to women in technology extends beyond far beyond our internship program. Learn more by visiting here.

Posted by Sean Sweeney, Intern Programs Team

Today we’re excited to announce that we’re accepting applications for our first ever 2013 Grace Hopper Travel Grant.

This grant is designed to help cover travel expenses to the 2013 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota from October 2nd – 5th, 2013. As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to increasing the number of women in computer science and related fields, it’s open to female computer science students or industry professionals living in Europe, Middle East or Africa.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Think Big, Drive Forward,” and will offer incredible opportunities for mentoring, networking, and technical and career development. Google will pay for successful applicants’ conference registration, airfare to and from the conference as well as accommodation for the duration of their stay.

The deadline to apply is August 22, 2013. Winners will be announced the week of September 4th.

For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please visit this page.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Posted by Efrat Aghassy, EMEA Scholarships Project Manager

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns and get you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

In today’s post, meet Benedict Liang, a 2nd Year Computer Science Undergraduate in the National University of SIngapore. He is currently an intern in gTech.

1. Of all the companies to apply for, why did you want to work at Google?
The people and the impact it is making on the world. Enough said.

2. In what way(s) has Google impacted you, and how have you left an impact at Google?
I was able to work with brilliant software engineers. I was given guidance through code reviews, discussions, and weekly sync ups. In my opinion, this is the greatest benefit of being in Google.

Was I able to make an impact in Google? Definitely.

My intern project involves engineering an internal tool to help teams visualize and obtain geodata more effectively. This improved the workflow for getting better and more accurate business listings for Google Map users.

3. What is the most interesting/exciting thing that you have been able to do as a Google intern? Your “Magic Moment”?
I got to try out Google Glass! In Singapore! (Just some context, Glass has not been released outside of US yet.)

4. Aside from working for Google, what kinds of organizations/clubs/activities are you involved with in your community and around your school’s campus?
I was a Google Student Ambassador for my school last year. Representing Google (wow), having fun, and getting awesome SWAG, briefly summarizes my GSA experience. Certainly, this does not do any justice to the program. Definitely check out the video, and the program description.

I am also actively involved in NUS Hackers. This is a community of people who mess around with hardware or software with playful cleverness; they are more commonly known as hackers. Being in this community means being with like-minded people (hack&roll, Friday Hacks).

5. Any advice for students interested in being a Google intern?
Optimize for learning. In the context of college, this means taking the right courses, not the easy ones. Taking an algorithms course early in college equates to more interview preparation time and taking a rigorous course means getting yourself acquainted with more non-trivial problems.

6. Favorite micro-kitchen snack?
Emmi Yogurt Drink. It is yogurt without a spoon!

Posted by Minty Cai, Tech Staffing Programs team

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns across the globe, and will get you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

For our third post, meet Samuel Clarke, a Freshman Engineering Practicum intern in Mountain View, CA.

This summer, the Mountain View office welcomed Samuel Clarke into the Freshman Engineering Practicum program. Although Samuel has participated in previous tech internships at other companies before, he was drawn to Google because it is “the standard for doing everything exactly the right way things should be done…Google seemed like the place to go if you wanted to be surrounded by a huge pool of amazing people who are the experts in their field.”

Throughout his 12-weeks as an intern, Samuel has been working on automated user interaction tests for the Android Google Play app. Essentially, this means that instead of having Googlers manually go into every device to make sure that the Google Play store works, he creates tests to do so automatically. In addition to working on his project, every day this summer, Samuel has made it a point to have lunch with Googlers across various technical departments and VP levels to learn about the work they do. “I don’t think I would have gotten that at another company. The people here are very approachable.” Samuel says the technical as well as interpersonal experiences from this summer have served as a valuable foundation for his future plans; next summer, he hopes to return to Google and work in roles that will help him continue to grow in new areas, particularly with his mechanical skills.

Once his internship is completed, Samuel will return to the Georgia Institute of Technology as a rising sophomore; there he is involved in the school’s programming team, mobile application development group, aerial robotics team as well as a number of religious organizations. Regarding the lessons that he would like to bring back to school with him this fall, Samuel says this: “Google’s goal is to change the world and redefine how we experience our world through software; I want to bring that mindset back to my campus.”

Posted by Shelbey Roberts, Tech University Programs

It’s intern season at Google! Interns are located at offices all across the globe, and represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, concentrations and interests. So inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District, we’re bringing to you “Better Know an Intern!” The series will introduce you to our interns across the globe, and will get you the scoop on the impactful projects they work on, their interests and passions, and what it’s really like to intern at Google straight from the source.

For our second post, meet Aayush Upadhyay, an Associate Product Manager (APM) intern in Mountain View, CA.

Over the course of 12-weeks, Aayush Upadhyay has worked with Google’s search team. As an APM intern, Aayush’s role is relatively undefined, therefore he has some flexibility on how he approaches his work. “No one really hands you the steps for how to reach your goal, which is to ultimately launch a product. Being open to approaching people to ask questions has served me very well here.”

Because of the work he is doing, Aayush has gotten the opportunity to speak with many engineers and user interaction designers. “One of my summer goals was to meet interesting Googlers. They’re so nice and very receptive to reaching out to others. They had a lot of good advice and they were always friendly and open.”

Throughout his internship, Aayush says that collaborating with people across teams has been beneficial for him. “It’s been really cool to finally understand the system architecture that I’ve been working with, what is actually happening behind the scenes, and then seeing how all the pieces fit together.”

Aayush enjoys “slacklining” (walking across a line of rope tied between 2 trees) with his other intern friends in his spare time. Upon his return to Yale University, this rising senior wants to continue hosting hackathons and participating in intramural sports. Aayush has also volunteered as a counselor at a local university summer program that brings neighborhood children together through learning and fun activities.

Aayush says this about what he has learned this summer: “At Google I’ve learned that you can be a very good person and still be at the top. It’s so refreshing because here, people are committed to what they’re doing and they’re still a blast to work with.”

Posted by Shelbey Roberts, University Programs team