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Getting to Know a Ph.D.

September 28th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

At Google, there are many opportunities for Ph.D. students to gain industry experience. Check out the story of Alessandro Epasto, a former Google European Doctoral Fellowship recipient, who interned on three different teams at Google, working on impactful projects across Google+, AdWords and different engineering and research teams.

Alessandro, tell us about yourself and your Ph.D. topic.

I come from Italy where I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Ph.D. School of the Department of Computer Science at Sapienza University of Rome. The focus of my Ph.D. thesis and my main research interest is graph mining — in particular the study of algorithmic problems arising when analysing large-scale graphs. Graphs, or networks, are increasingly becoming the lingua franca of data mining (and Big Data), as they can be used to represent and analyse arbitrary relationships between arbitrary entities (including social networks, mobile networks and the Web, for instance).

The focus of my thesis was designing and evaluating efficient algorithms for extracting meaningful information from very large-scale graphs (with billions of nodes and edges), in which data might dynamically evolve at high speed. In particular, I have been interested in the problems of graph clustering, similarity rankings and in the study of information diffusion on social networks. All of these problems have important practical applications ranging from recommendation system design to social network security as well as a theoretical interest for the understanding of social behaviour. In this context, my aim was to design methods that are both practical and able to provide theoretical guarantees on their correctness.

Why did you apply for an internship at Google and how supportive was your Ph.D. advisor?

Before my internship at Google, my experience was mostly in academia. I was very curious about the challenges that a company with such amounts of data deals with every day. Moreover, I was extremely interested in experiencing the stimulating environment and culture at Google. I was advised by professor Alessandro Panconesi who was very supportive and encouraged me to apply for an internship at Google.

You interned three times at Google. What projects were you focused on?

Each of the three times I interned, I had the opportunity to work on a distinct research problem with different research groups.

During my most recent internship I joined the Google+ group in the Mountain View, California headquarters working with Sunita Verma. We worked on the problem of friend suggestion, which deals with the challenging issue of suggesting to a given user the people he/she may be interested in adding as a friend. This is an important problem for online social networks, as receiving good friend suggestions significantly improves the user experience.

In one of my previous internships, I joined the AdWords team in New York City working with Jon Feldman where I worked on the problem of automatically identifying, for any given advertiser, who their main competitors in the AdWords system are.

During my first internship in Mountain View working with Alon Altman I worked on defining algorithms for detecting potential attacks in the Google+ network.

Could you share more details about the outcomes of your collaboration with teams at Google?

During all my internships I had the opportunity to closely collaborate with researchers in other teams at Google, in particular with the Graph Mining team in Google Research NY led by Vahab Mirrokni, who is also my Google Doctoral Fellowship mentor. A productive collaboration has continued even after the end of my internships. This joint collaboration with researchers at Google and at Sapienza University has also led to a publication awarded with the best paper award at the 2015 ACK SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD).

While the three problems addressed in my internships have very different applications and independent interest, perhaps surprisingly, they can all be tackled by using related graph mining techniques. Both Google+ and AdWords datasets can, in fact, be modeled as a very large scale graph (or network).

In this context, one is interested in designing algorithms that can extract the information needed efficiently (the friends of a user, the competitors of a company, the potential spam users, etc.) while working at Google scale. In all of my internships I also had the opportunity to implement and test these algorithms in the powerful MapReduce infrastructure available at Google on extremely large datasets with billions of entities.

The approach at Google in evaluating the results of projects is very academic in the sense that rigorous empirical evaluations are conducted to show that the approach proposed actually improves over the state-of-the-art. I was also able to share some results of my work with the public through academic publications.

Did you publish at Google during your internship?

Yes, we successfully published a paper at the 2014 International World Wide Web Conference (WWW) as a result of my internship on the AdWords team in NYC. Moreover, we are currently working on a paper submission based on research done during my last summer internship. We also submitted two patents applications for the algorithms developed during my first two internships.

How closely connected was the work you did during your internships to your Ph.D. topic?

My Ph.D. topic, graph mining, is closely connected with all three of my internships at Google. During my Ph.D. studies, I improved my understanding of several topics in large-scale graph mining, which turned out to be very relevant for addressing important issues at Google, as evidenced by the internships projects I have completed. Among the various techniques that I learned during my Ph.D., graph clustering algorithms and random walks methods have been central to my internships, giving me the chance to use them in concrete scenarios at Google. Moreover, the fact that the paper published during my internship at Google is also part of my Ph.D. dissertation shows the relevance of such research projects to my Ph.D. studies.

What impact has this internship experience had on your Ph.D.?

Besides contributing to my Ph.D. thesis with a publication, the most important impact are the relationships I built with Google researchers. Even after the end of my Ph.D., I am still in close collaboration with various researchers at Google to complete publications stemming from my internships and other research projects. In addition, programming in a professional environment at Google has definitely improved my software engineering skills.

Has this internship experience impacted the way you think about your future career?

Thanks to these internships, I have a clearer understanding of research outside of academia and of software engineering. Before joining Google, I had only experienced research at university and my career focus was limited to academic research. Now I know that conducting research at a company in the industry can be a very relevant career path to consider after obtaining a Ph.D.

Now that you just graduated, what’s next?

I moved to the US to start a postdoc position at Brown University with supervisor Professor Eli Upfal. Our team is currently working in research areas closely related to my Ph.D. studies. I am focusing on algorithmic problems and machine learning methods in the analysis of large-scale datasets with potential applications ranging from social networks to computational biology.

Looking back on your experiences now, why should a Ph.D. student apply for an internship at Google? Do you have any advice to offer?

An internship at Google provides a great opportunity to apply your research skills to very challenging and concrete problems that can be tackled only with the scale of data and resources available at Google. Getting hands-on industry experience with a Google internship can be an inspiration for future academic research, as one gets a glimpse into which research problems are more likely to have a strong impact in practice. Furthermore, taking advantage of all the opportunities offered during a Google internship can boost your Ph.D. studies, by leading to new publications in top conferences. More importantly the internship provides valuable connections with high profile researchers and engineers working at Google, which can have a long-lasting positive impact on one’s career — regardless of whether you pursue a career in the industry or in academia.

My suggestion is just to apply! Internships are a great way to experience research from a different and fascinating perspective.

Posted by Ariana Palombo, Online Hiring & Insights Team

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Supporting our young scientists through the Google Science Fair

September 22nd, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Posted by Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief of Scientific American and Chief Judge of the Google Science Fair

(Cross-posted on the Official Google blog)

Editor’s note: Mariette DiChristina is the Editor in Chief and senior vice president of Scientific American—the first woman to hold the role in the magazine’s 170-year history. She has been a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2011 and served as president of the National Association of Science Writers in 2009 and 2010. She joins us here today to share her perspective on the Google Science Fair, which is in its fifth edition this year.

This marks my fifth year with the Google Science Fair. In October 2010, when I had my first conversations with my friends at Google about their idea to create a global online science fair that any kid 13–18 could participate in, I thought it sounded pretty cool. But I couldn’t then imagine just how inspiring and powerful such a competition would turn out to be in reality.

At the time, I hadn’t even been editor in chief of Scientific American for a year, but I had real ambitions to try to do something to make a difference in educating our young people about science. You see, I believe that science is the engine of human prosperity—it’s the way we grapple with some of the world’s most challenging problems, from cures for diseases to living sustainably in a finite world. So I’ve always seen the idea of fostering evidence-based thinking in our next generation of global citizens as vital.

Now, five years later and working with partners LEGO Education, National Geographic and Virgin Galactic, the Google Science Fair has an impressive track record of enabling our world’s young scientists to shine. Over the years, they’ve tackled serious issues, like world hunger and the energy crisis. Their projects have worked on how to diagnose and treat diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. They’ve engineered flashlights powered by their hands and plastics made of banana peels. And to date, the fair has provided almost $1 million in scholarships, and sent four grand prize winners on trips around the world to further their scientific passions.

Tonight we added some new winners to that list as we recognized and celebrated the 2015 top 20 finalist projects and the bright young scientists behind them:

The Grand Prize went to Olivia Hallisey for creating a novel way to detect Ebola.
Girish Kumar won the Google Technologist Award for helping improve learning through auto-generated study questions.
The National Geographic Explorer Award went to Deepika Kurup for her idea to use solar-powered silver to create clean drinking water.
Krtin Nithiyanadam’s project focused on improved diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and won him the Scientific American Innovator Award.
Pranav Sivakumar‘s automated search for gravitationally lensed quasars earned him the Virgin Galactic Pioneer Award.
And Anurudh Ganesan took home The LEGO Education Builder Award for his unique twist on effectively transporting vaccines.

If you didn’t get to tune in, you can still watch the Awards Show live stream and check out the complete list of impressive finalists and winners, including our first ever Inspiring Educator, Aydan Meydan from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In all of these finalists and the thousands of submissions from students in 100+ countries, we see something common. These students are inventive, thoughtful, and determined to help make the world a better place. All they need is a chance and a platform to do so. And, unlike some of us adults, they are ready to try things that other people think are “impossible.” I find them inspiring.

It’s imperative for us to support and encourage our young people to explore and challenge the world around them through scientific discovery. So we’re especially glad that Ahmed Mohamed—the 14-year-old clock maker from Texas—took us up on our invite to attend this year’s event. Curious young scientists, inventors and builders like him should be encouraged and empowered.

The past decades have brought tremendous innovations and challenges, and none of us knows what the future of scientific discovery holds. But I can tell you one thing: it’s going to be better thanks to these kids. They will be part of building a brighter future for us all—and as they do, those of us at Scientific American, Google, LEGO Education, National Geographic and Virgin Galactic will be cheering them on.

So start thinking of your ideas for next year! We can’t wait to see what you’ll try next.

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2016 US and Canada scholarship opportunities for computer science students

September 21st, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

We are excited to announce that applications are now open for 2016 Google scholarships. The application deadlines are in November and December, but don’t wait to get started on your application!

At Google, we believe information should be universally accessible. Our education and scholarship programs aim to inspire and help students become future leaders in computing and technology by breaking down the barriers that prevent them from entering these fields. We are now accepting applications from current university students, undergraduate and graduate, for the following scholarship programs:

Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for women in technology.
Generation Google Scholarship for students from underrepresented backgrounds in computer science.
Google Lime Scholarship for students with disabilities.
Google Student Veterans of America (SVA) Scholarship for students who are serving or have served in the military.
The Generation Google Scholarship for current high school seniors will open in early 2016.

Scholarship recipients will receive $10,000 USD or $5,000 CAD for the 2016-17 academic year. Scholars will be invited to the annual Google Scholars’ Retreat in Mountain View, CA next summer. At the retreat, scholars will participate in networking and development sessions, including sessions on how to lead outreach in their communities.

2015 scholarship recipients participating in a code retreat at the annual Google Scholars’ Retreat.

For more information on all scholarship programs, please visit the Google Scholarships site.

Posted by Sarah Safir, Tech Student Development Programs

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Google Docs and Classroom: your school year sidekicks

September 2nd, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

School’s in! As you settle into your classes and start to juggle soccer practice, club meetings and homework, we’re here to help. We’ve been spending the summer “break” creating new tools to help you save time, collaborate with classmates and create your best work—all for free.

Schoolwork, minus the work

Writing papers is now a lot easier with the Research tool in Docs for Android. You can search Google without leaving Docs, and once you find the quotes, facts or images you’re looking for, you can add them to your document with just a couple taps. That means less time switching between apps, and more time perfecting your thesis statement.

With Voice typing, you can record ideas or even compose an entire essay without touching your keyboard. To get started, activate Voice typing in the Tools menu when you’re using Docs in Chrome. Then, when you’re on the go, just tap the microphone button on your phone’s keyboard and speak your mind. Voice typing is available in more than 40 languages, so we can help with your French homework, too. Voilà!

Do more, together

We’ve made it easier for you to tell what was added or deleted in Docs—and who made the changes. Now when you’ve left a document and you come back to it later, you can just click “See new changes” to pick up right where your classmates left off.

Forms helps you get a lot of information easily and in one place—so when you want to vote on your class field trip or collect T-shirt sizes for your team, you don’t have to sort through dozens of emails. With the new Forms, you can survey with style—choose one of the colorful new themes or customize your form with your own photo or logo, and we’ll choose the right color palette to match. Easily insert images, GIFs or videos and pick from a selection of question formats. Then send out your survey and watch as the responses roll in!

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Your best work, your best you

Creating presentations, crafting newsletters and managing your team’s budget is hard enough without having to worry about making everything look good. With the new collection of templates in Docs, Sheets and Slides, you can focus on your content while we make sure it gets the expert polish it deserves. Choose from a wide variety of reports, portfolios, resumes and other pre-made templates designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier.

With Explore in Sheets, you can now spend less time trying to decipher your data, and more time making a point. Explore creates charts and insights automatically, so you can visualize trends and understand your data in seconds on the web or on your Android. It’s like having an expert analyst right by your side.

Mission control, for teachers and students

A year ago, we launched Classroom to save teachers and students time and make it easier to keep classwork organized. Today we’re launching a Share to Classroom Chrome extension to make it easy for teachers to share a website with the entire class at the same time—no matter what kind of laptop students have. Now the whole class can head to a web page together, without losing precious minutes and focus to typos.

Rock this school year with Google Docs and Classroom. Your first assignment? Try these new features, which are rolling out today.

Posted by Ritcha Ranjan, Product Manager

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Intern Spotlights – Daniel Wiskman

August 26th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

At Google, interns have the opportunity to work on some of the most cutting edge and innovative projects in the world. Interns also work across sales and other business functions, bringing a fresh perspective to the work done at Google. To show you just how much of an impact interns make and to highlight their unique experiences, we’re bringing you a special blog series: Google Intern Spotlights. This week, the spotlight is on Daniel Wiskman, a Business Intern in Google’s Dublin office. He was born in Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast but is currently living in Uppsala and attends a Master programme in Management, Communication and IT at Uppsala University.

Give us one fun, outlandish fact about yourself.

I built my first computer when I was nine years old, and yes, sometimes I ask myself why I gave up my engineering career.

What inspired you to apply to this internship?

It is not for the free food and the other perks, even though those are really amazing. The answer is actually quite simple. I wanted to join Google for the opportunity to learn from a group of really smart people. Another thing that attracted me about Google was the opportunity to work on cool, cutting edge projects and to really make a difference.

What team are you on? What stands out to you about your co-workers?

I am on the Nordics Small and Medium Business (SMB) Sales team, delivering customer sales experience to Google’s Swedish advertisers. In sales we work with all kinds of businesses, from small, family-owned advertisers to big digital marketing agencies. The most interesting thing about my peers is that they are all really well rounded with unique backgrounds and talents. That means there is always something inspiring you can learn from them over a cup of coffee.

What’s your typical day like?

Every morning I start the day in the Google gym or attending one of the swim classes in our lap pool. I am a triathlete and currently preparing for a full Iron Man. Hence, I really appreciate Google’s fitness facilities and great food that is available in our cafes, which allow me to improve my work-life balance and focus on the training. From 9:00am to lunch time, I usually work on my two personal projects. At lunch time, I like scheduling catch ups with fellow interns or other interesting Googlers. If the weather is good, we have lunch on the rooftop terrace with a stunning view of Dublin. After lunch to around 6:00pm, I continue to work on my projects and ensure they are moving forward. I regularly schedule catch ups and meetings with my sponsors to keep them in the loop.

An iconic graduation photo of my Noogler group when throwing up our caps

Has there been anything that has surprised you about working at Google?

One thing that has surprised me is how enthusiastic and helpful people are. They really try to grow the company as a team and everyone I have met during my internship has been really positive and supportive when I ask for help. Also, after being here for a couple weeks I found that interns at Google aren’t treated like interns, but rather as full-time employees. In fact, employees actually like that you have fresher ideas and want to listen and learn from you.

Do you have any words of advice to aspiring Google interns?

My best advice to students interested in Google is to do your research. Before you send in your resume, be curious and try to familiarize yourself with the company. For example, the company’s values and current market trends. Try to understand, at least at a basic level, how the products, services and business model works. Start from the internship or role you are applying for and work outward. Doing your research can definitely be a great way to buff up your resume and answer interview questions more insightfully. That said, make sure that your resume and interview answers reflect your research.

You can learn more about student internship and full-time opportunities at Google here.

Posted by Ariana Palombo, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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The results are in for the 2015 Google Online Marketing Challenge!

August 6th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Digital marketing is a growth machine for many businesses, and the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) enables us to share knowledge through hands-on experience with the e-marketers of tomorrow. By participating in the GOMC, students and academics get to work with real businesses and real budgets, and provide them with an opportunity to deliver tangible results.

Every year, as part of the annual Google Online Marketing Challenge, Google gives hundreds of student teams across the world an AdWords online advertising budget of US$250 and three weeks to help a local business improve their marketing campaigns. Over 18,000 students from more than 80 countries and territories participated in this year’s Challenge and the results are in!

I. AdWords Business Awards

The AdWords Business Awards recognize the GOMC teams that made an outstanding difference to their business partners via online marketing campaigns.

Global Winner

The global winning team comes from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in India, under Professor Shilpa Sawant. The team of Saumil Tripathi, Shreeyash Dharmadhikari, Jainam Talsania, Jelam Bhatt and Agastya Sanjai worked with Devgad Alphonso Mango, a cooperative society of 700 farmers of the Devgad Taluka who sell the Devgad Alphonso Mango.

Regional Winners

The Asia and Pacific winner comes from the Foundation for Liberal And Management Education, under Professor Sajith Narayanan in India. The team of Aashima Praveen, Rohit Tiwari, Vyom Shah, Drishti Hingorani, Khushbu Patel and Manan Gala worked with Vega Auto Accessories Private Limited, one of the leading manufacturers of helmets and biking accessories in India.

The Americas winner comes from James Madison University in the United States, under Professor Theresa B. Clarke. The team of Morgan Mackenzie Moore, Lauren Crain, Dan Froehlich and Brea Zeise worked with the Calvert Marine Museum, a museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, research, and interpretation of the natural and maritime history of Southern Maryland.

The Europe winner comes from the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt in Germany, under Professor Mario Fischer. The team of Thomas Kraus, Dimitri Schneider, Ramil Schweizer and Kristoff Gras worked with LEDMarkt24.de, a retailer specializing in LED lighting and accessories.

The Middle East and Africa winner comes from the Bilkent University in Turkey, under Professor Timothy Kiessling. The team of Akif Karaismailoglu, Nur Betül Ozdemir, Hansa Kaya, Arda Akat and Nihal Tokluoglu worked with Very Cupcake, a family-owned, local bakery that is bringing cupcake culture to Turkey.

II. Google+ Social Media Marketing Awards

The Google+ Social Media Marketing Awards recognize the GOMC teams that made an outstanding difference to their non-profit partners by creating online marketing campaigns using AdWords and Google+.

Global Winner

This year’s global winner comes from Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania under Professor Elena Vitkauskaitė. The team of Egle Zalnerauskaite, Aiste Stanislaviciute, Giedre Labanauskaite, Vydmante Rastokaite and Ignas Radzius worked with Sveiko Stuburo Mokykla, a company that organizes specialized spinal exercise classes in small groups under the supervision of a physiotherapist, and also arranges seminars and exercises for companies.

Regional Winners

The Americas winner comes from Fanshawe College in Canada, under Professor Liz Gray. The team of Shannon Cross, Emily Matlovich, Tess Bobbie and Nick Broadley worked with the London’s Children Museum, which aims to educate children ages 1 to 8 about the world through interactive play.

The Europe winner comes from Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais in France, under Professor Corinna Stocky. The team of Sidonie Vermont, Pascale Eigho, Laurie Marjolet and Vincent Bellido worked with La Chambreaux Confitures, a jam shop which invites lovers of taste and culture to discover the magic of its delicious jams.

The Asia and Pacific winner comes from PEC University of Technology – Chandigarh in India, under Professor Anju Singla. The team of Kirti Khade, Neha Gupta, Vaibahv Gupta, Jeevesh Sharma, Agam Kansal and Tanu Singla worked with Holidify, an online travel portal specializing in travel recommendations for India.

The Middle East and Africa winner comes from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Nigeria, under Professor Olatunde Michael Oni. The team of Obitade Ayobami Samuel, Ajeigbe Solomon, Oluwaseun Majolagbe, Stephen Odesola, Kunle Akinlabi Akinkuade and Iyanuoluwa James Adegbaju worked with Jandus Radio, a company with a mobile app that allows you to listen to Nigerian radio and other African radio stations on your mobile device anywhere in the world.

III. AdWords Social Impact Awards

The AdWords Social Impact Awards recognize the GOMC teams that made an outstanding difference to their non-profit partners via online marketing campaigns.

1st Place is awarded to Shannon Cross, Emily Matlovich, Tess Bobbie and Nick Broadley, who were taught by Professor Liz Gray at Fanshawe College in Canada. The team partnered with London’s Children Museum, which aims to educate children ages 1 to 8 about the world through interactive play.

2nd Place is awarded to Morgan Mackenzie Moore, Lauren Crain, Dan Froehlich and Brea Zeise, who were taught by Professor Theresa B. Clarke at James Madison University in The United States. The team partnered with the Calvert Marine Museum, a museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, research, and interpretation of the natural and maritime history of Southern Maryland.

3rd Place is awarded to R Jason Griffin, Aigul Aubakirova, Neil Gustafson and Matt Avery, who were taught by Professor Steven Koch at The University of Houston in The United States. The team partnered with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, a forty-piece professional, nonprofit chamber orchestra in Houston, Texas.

2015 Team Results have been posted to the GOMC Past Challenges page.

A big congratulations to 2015 winners and a big thank you to all teams for participating in this year’s Challenge.

To learn more about the Google Online Marketing Challenge and to pre-register for next year’s competition, please watch the GOMC video and visit our website: www.google.com/onlinechallenge

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Young people who are changing the world through science

August 4th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Posted by Andrea Cohan, Google Science Fair Program Manager

(Cross-posted from the Google for Education Blog)

Sometimes the biggest discoveries are made by the youngest scientists. They’re curious and not afraid to ask, and it’s this spirit of exploration that leads them to try, and then try again. Thousands of these inquisitive young minds from around the world submitted projects for this year’s Google Science Fair, and today we’re thrilled to announce the 20 Global Finalists whose bright ideas could change the world.

From purifying water with corn cobs to transporting Ebola antibodies through silk; extracting water from air or quickly transporting vaccines to areas in need, these students have all tried inventive, unconventional things to help solve challenges they see around them. And did we mention that they’re all 18 or younger?

We’ll be highlighting each of the impressive 20 finalist projects over the next 20 days in the Spotlight on a Young Scientist series on the Google for Education blog to share more about these inspirational young people and what inspires them.

Then on September 21st, these students will join us in Mountain View to present their projects to a panel of notable international scientists and scholars, eligible for a $50,000 scholarship and other incredible prizes from our partners at LEGO Education, National Geographic, Scientific American and Virgin Galactic.

Congratulations to our finalists and everyone who submitted projects for this year’s Science Fair. Thank you for being curious and brave enough to try to change the world through science.

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Q&A with Dave Vos, Head of Google’s Unmanned Delivery Vehicle Program

July 30th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Dave Vos heads up Project Wing, Google’s unmanned delivery vehicle program. Originally from Capetown, South Africa, he came to the United States at age 26 in order to do graduate work at MIT. While there, he earned his master’s and PhD degrees. He has been involved in creating automated flying machines for over 20 years.

Q: It seems like everybody’s talking about developing delivery drones lately. Why the big fuss all of a sudden?

A: Many of the same technologies that have put smartphones in our pockets—smart software and small, inexpensive sensors like GPS and accelerometers—can be used to fly small vehicles on pre-planned routes. It’s become a lot easier for companies around the world to develop relatively inexpensive platforms for amateur and commercial users alike.

Q: Why is Google working on them?

A: Think about the congestion, pollution, and noise created by delivery trucks double-parked all over our cities, or the fact that we send a two-ton vehicle across town to deliver a two-pound package. On the other hand, a self-flying vehicle that can cover about a mile a minute would guarantee speed, accuracy, and on-time delivery. They could open up entirely new approaches to transporting and delivering goods—they’d be cheaper, faster, less wasteful, and more environmentally friendly than ground transportation. They also have the potential to help in crisis situations, like delivering medicine and batteries to cut-off areas after a natural disaster, or helping firefighters improve communication and visibility near a wildfire.

Initially, we thought that defibrillator delivery would be a natural way to implement our vehicles—when a person needs a defibrillator, every second counts, and drones don’t have to deal with traffic. Ultimately, we had to put that ambition on hold because we realized there are many challenges with integrating into the emergency medical system that are outside our control. But we certainly hope we can try again someday.

Q: Where is Project Wing right now?

A: Last August, we successfully tested real-world deliveries in Australia using our prototype vehicles. But our goals require more than us building our own operational aircraft—we aren’t going to be the only game in town, and we need to ensure that everyone can operate their own unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) safely. Today, no system currently exists to manage the layer of airspace under 500 feet. So we’re also working on a traffic management system that could support a scalable, safe, and reliable commercial aerial delivery service, alongside others. As with any such project, we need to gather feedback, so we’ve been talking to regulators and aviation experts to develop a common approach from the very beginning.

Q: How’s your relationship with the FAA [national aviation authority for the US]?

A: It’s positive and collaborative—we often meet with them and other regulators to explain how our technology works. We recently held a seminar where we invited the FAA, members of the Small UAV Coalition, and other members of the aviation community to gather feedback on what sorts of technologies might enable safe flights at low altitude. Meetings like this help inform our own product development.

Q: How do you feel about the FAA’s proposed regulations, which allow for limited, low-risk operations, but effectively rule out an aerial delivery service like Project Wing?

A: While we don’t necessarily agree with everything in these proposed regulations, we’re supportive of the FAA’s goals of integrating UAS into the national airspace. We recently submitted comments to say that the FAA should be able to approve more advanced operations as operators demonstrate greater safety and reliability.

More generally, we’re committed to working with governments around the world, as well as the broader aviation industry, to safely integrate small UAVs into the airspace.

Q: How do UAVs know where to go—is there someone sitting behind a screen controlling them?

A: We’re still working this out—but the short answer is, while we’ll need to have an operator overseeing the vehicles, we’re designing our systems to be highly automated.

Q: How big are they?

A: The vehicle we’ve been testing is about one-and-a-half meters from wing tip to wing tip, and about one meter long (from nose to tail). But we’re looking at lots of different design options because different vehicles are good for different things. It’s too early to know what our final design, or designs, will look like.

Q: When will I see a self-flying vehicle delivering packages to my door?

A: There are a lot of technical and practical issues that still need to be resolved—for example, people’s concerns about safety, privacy, noise, or air congestion. Should self-flying vehicles be allowed to operate at all times of day? What’s the best way to let people know who’s flying vehicles above their property? We’d need to have answers to these kinds of questions before starting a full cargo delivery service. But we’re getting there—we’ve been testing people’s responses to the design of the vehicle, its noise, and the drop-delivery experience—and will be listening carefully as we develop our technology further. We expect we’ll hit our safety and reliability targets in a matter of years, not decades.

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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Google Interns’ Top 5 Interview Tips

July 29th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

At Google Students, we’re all about providing content for students, by students. So, we asked over 100 Google interns for their best resume and interview tips. Last week, we shared their top 5 resume tips. This week, we’re sharing their top 5 interviewing tips (and a bonus tip for the coding interview):

1. Think out loud

Oftentimes, there’s a tendency to only speak in interviews when you have a fully fleshed-out answer. However, in Google interviews, we’re just as interested in your thought process as we are in your final answer. So, don’t be afraid to think out loud and talk through how you’re planning on approaching the problem and what steps you’d take to tackle it, especially when the question is complex.

2. Practice using the CAR technique to answer questions with stories

Stories are a brilliant way to paint a picture of your skills for the interviewer. Instead of just saying, “Everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve been a leader,” share a specific story of a time that you exhibited leadership skills. Not only will this give you more credibility, it will also stick in the interviewer’s mind. When telling stories, use the CAR technique: context, action, result. For the context, briefly describe what the situation was (who, what, where, when), then discuss the action you took and why you decided on that specific course of action, and finally, share the results.

3. Do your research

Before the interview, familiarize yourself with the company: What are some of the initiatives that the company is involved in right now? What type of products or services do they offer? What are their values? What do they look for in candidates? By doing your research, you’ll be able to answer (and ask) questions much more insightfully, which will help you to leave a very positive, memorable impression on the interviewer.

4. Hone your answers to the specific company’s values

This ties in with the previous tip. By doing your research, you’ll be much better able to adapt your answers to align with the particular company’s values and points of emphasis. For example, at Google, we place a lot of importance on emergent leadership, which is the ability to step up and lead when it’s necessary and you have expertise, but to also be willing to step back once the specific issue has been resolved. So, if you were interviewing at Google and you were asked about your leadership style, sharing a story (using the CAR format) that demonstrates your emergent leadership ability would be extremely effective.

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5. Ask questions at the end of the interview

Interviewers are people, too! At a place like Google, interviewers come from all different departments and backgrounds, so they have a wealth of knowledge that you can tap into. In light of that, at the end of the interview, be sure to ask two or three questions. At the beginning of the interview, the interviewer will usually introduce herself, so definitely pay attention during that part and think of some interesting questions related to the interviewer’s background, role, or thoughts on the company. Asking questions not only shows that you did your research and that you’re interested, it also can help you develop rapport with the interviewer (and you’ll probably learn a thing or two, as well!).

Bonus: Tech tip

Practice coding with the interview in mind. Although school coursework is designed to prepare you for the kinds of questions asked in coding interviews, the experience of coding by yourself is different than doing it in an oral interview. Also, you never know what data structures or algorithms you might have forgotten from last semester until you sit down to try answering some questions! For practice, try answering questions one at a time from Cracking the Coding Interview.

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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Q&A with Chris Urmson, Head of the Self-Driving Car Project

July 24th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Chris Urmson heads up our driverless car program. Prior to joining Google, he was on the faculty of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where his research focused on motion planning and perception for robotic vehicles. His self-professed motivation for his work? Making sure that his 11-year-old son doesn’t get a driver’s license in four and a half years.

Q: Why is Google working on self-driving cars?

A: Because we’ve always looked for ways that technology can change the world. More than a million people worldwide die each year in traffic accidents—94% of which are caused by human error. If we can solve this, it will prevent the majority of traffic-related deaths and injuries, and also help the millions of people who are unable to drive because of disabilities.

Q: Where is the program right now?

A: We’ve reached a couple of major milestones this year. We’ve now self-driven over one million miles total in our Lexus SUVs, and continue to cover 10,000 miles each week—about what a typical American adult drives in a year. Our new prototype vehicles—with safety drivers on board—are now on public roads in Mountain View. We’ve also got two Lexus SUVs in Austin, Texas, so we can learn from different driving environments, traffic patterns, and road conditions.

A: We actually did start out by modding two existing vehicles, the Toyota Prius and the Lexus RX450h. But designing our own prototype from scratch opened up possibilities that can’t exist in a car that’s built for and around a driver. For example, we were able to take out the steering wheel and pedals, and change the shape of the vehicle so our sensors can be placed for their optimal field of view. We were also able to build in backup systems for braking, steering, computing and more into the vehicle.Q: Why build your own cars instead of using existing vehicles?

A: Automakers are focused on driver assistance systems like advanced cruise control and automated parking. But in those systems, the driver is still expected to take over as needed. With fully self-driving technology, which is what we’re working on, the car is designed to do all the work of driving all the time, and a human is never expected to take control of the vehicle. We think this will have the biggest impact on safety and mobility for people.Q: What’s the difference between your self-driving technology and what automakers are doing with autonomous driving?

Q: There are lots of articles about all the accidents Google’s cars have been involved in. Is that a sign that they’re not safe?

A: In six years, over the course of 1.8 million miles of autonomous and manual driving, we’ve been involved in 15 minor fender-benders. The self-driving car was never the cause. And except for the most recent incident, where some minor whiplash was reported, there haven’t been any injuries. Instead, given that we were rear-ended in 11 of those 15 incidents, the cause seems to be distracted drivers who aren’t watching the road. For anyone who wants the details, we now publish monthly reports with summaries of all incidents.

However, there’s something of a silver lining here: This is the first time we’ve been able to aggregate data about the rates of minor accidents on American city streets. They typically aren’t reported to police because there’s little damage and no injuries. And given that we cover as many miles in one week as the average American does in a year, and have yet to cause an accident while in self-driving mode, we think we’re doing pretty well compared to human drivers.

Q: How do you plan to bring the technology to market?

A: We’re still figuring that out. We’re going to learn a lot from our testing in the next few years, including how people might like to use our technology in daily life. If it develops like we hope it will, we’ll work with partners to bring it to users. And maybe the best way to do that will be to use a car-sharing model rather than traditional ownership…but to be honest, it’s way too early to know how that would work.

Q: Sometimes human drivers have to make tough choices really quickly, like whether to speed ahead to avoid a potential collision, or slam on the brakes and risk getting hit. How does a self-driving car know how to react in those kinds of situations?

A: There’s no way to pre-program the car to do a particular thing in every possible situation—there are literally infinite scenarios that a vehicle could encounter, so it’s just not feasible. Instead, our technology gives the car fundamental machine learning capabilities to respond correctly to unexpected situations as they happen. The more our cars drive, the more scenarios they encounter, and the better the technology gets at handling them.

Q: What’s up next?

A: We really want to learn how communities perceive and interact with self-driving vehicles, so if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area or Austin and want to share your opinion, we’re eager for feedback. We’ve also launched a public art project where artists in California can submit their work to be featured on our cars. And if you want to get the latest updates, check out our website, or follow us on Google+ or YouTube.

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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Google Interns’ Top 5 Resume Tips

July 21st, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

At Google Students, we aim to provide content for students, by students. As a result, we asked Google interns to submit their best resume tips. Here are the 5 tips that kept coming up:

1. Tailor your resume to the specific company and job position

Every company has different values and traits that they’re looking for in candidates. It’s important that your resume reflects that. To illustrate, at Google, some of our big values are collaboration and problem solving, so if you were applying here, emphasizing how you have exhibited those values in previous roles you’ve held would definitely help you stand out. Similarly, you should adapt your resume to highlight the skills and experiences you have that tie in with the particular job position.

2. Only include roles that you’re prepared to speak about in depth

This is crucial. If granted an interview, everything on your resume is fair game, and interviewers will expect you to be able to talk them through the different experiences you’ve outlined on your resume. So, to be safe, make sure that you feel confident that, if asked, you could speak to each and every item listed on your resume.

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3. Use metrics and tangible facts (but respect confidentiality)

This one is especially important when applying to Google or other tech companies, but is useful no matter where you’re applying. Whether it be including how many lines of code you wrote, how much you increased efficiency, or even how many more customers you served per day than the average employee, being able to quantify your impact is a tremendous skill to have, because it adds credibility to your resume and gives recruiters a concrete understanding of what you bring to the table. However, make sure that you’re not breaching confidentiality when quantifying your impact. A safe bet is to use percentages rather than absolute numbers. For instance, “Increased revenue by 25%…” instead of “Increased revenue by $425k…”

4. Include extracurricular activities you do that make you unique

While you should fill the bulk of your resume with jobs and activities that are relevant to the specific job for which you’re applying, don’t be afraid to include a small section at the bottom of your resume that contains a few extracurricular activities that you’re passionate about and that make you unique. Most companies don’t want cookie-cutter candidates, and if you end up getting an interview, this section can provide some great talking points to break the ice at the beginning of the interview.

5. Have friends and/or family proofread your resume

Although it can be embarrassing to have other people read your resume, it’s much more embarrassing to send in a resume riddled with typos. It’s easy to miss typos when it’s your resume, because you’ve read it so many times. So, just to be safe, have several other people read your resume.

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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Intern Spotlights – Matt Walker

July 16th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

From Google Glass to Project Loon, Adwords to Docs, our interns have the opportunity to work on some of Google’s most cutting edge and innovative projects. Interns also work across sales and other business functions, bringing a fresh perspective to the work done at Google. To show you just how much of an impact interns make and to highlight their unique experiences, we’re bringing you a special blog series: Google Intern Spotlights. This week, the spotlight is on Matt Walker, who is a Data Center Intern in our Council Bluffs, Iowa office. He spent six years in the Marine Corps before going to school to become a computer engineer. Currently, he attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Matt and his wife after a helicopter ride over Badlands National Park in South Dakota on 4th of July weekend.

Give us one fun, outlandish fact about yourself.
I have ridden an ostrich.

What inspired you to apply to this internship? What about Google made you want to be an intern here?
I applied for this internship after seeing an ad on the recommended-video feed of YouTube titled “Google likes Vets.” I watched the video, saw that they were looking for veterans going to school for engineering…and bingo-bango…I am an intern.

As for what made me want to intern, I think it was the notion of being a part of a company/program that affects so many people. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true.

What was your path to Google like?
I was in the Marine Corps for six years. Three years as an Information System Specialist (classified Outlook administrator), and three years as a Marine Security Guard in four embassies overseas. After being honorably discharged in 2011, I began pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering, first at Reedley Community College, then at Cal Poly SLO. I have held various jobs as a student (security guard, front desk at a gym, tutor, programmer, and RA) that all helped fill out my resume.

What team are you on? What stands out to you about your co-workers (besides that they’re smart)?
I am on the Hardware Operations Team (HwOps) at the Council Bluffs, IA Data Center (CBF). I would have to say the biggest point of interest about all the people that I work with is the diversity of skillsets and backgrounds that surrounds me. It seems like everyone is not only good at their job, but also really talented in some other (usually useful and applicable) area.

Can you give us a high-level overview of your project? What part of the project do you find most interesting and why?
Aside from being bounced around from team to team every couple weeks, I am working on a personnel management tool. In a place such as CBF, where the buildings are not only huge on their own, but there are also many of them spread across two sites nine miles apart, knowing who is where at a glance is important. My app will allow users to transmit what building they are currently in, so that program managers can make more informed decisions in regards to personnel, especially in urgent situations (critical service failure or something of that nature).

What’s your typical day like?
Well, I wake up in the morning, feelin’ like…well, like I do every other morning.

When I am not working on a task that is unique to whatever team I am on that week, I am either working on my personal project or asking other sections to allow me to shadow them for a couple of hours. I talk to a lot of FTEs and contractors alike. I do a lot of walking, a good amount of scootering (primary mode of transportation in a data center) and my fair share of sitting.

Has there been anything that has surprised you about working at Google?
I have found that when working with large groups of people, usually there’s a few individuals who you wind up going out of your way to avoid; however, at Google, I have not encountered any of those types of people. Everyone I have met or trained with has been so warm, positive and supportive. I believe that can only come from the fact that they are happy to be doing what they are doing and excited to share that feeling with those around them.

You work in the Council Bluffs, Iowa office. Is there a particular place or room on campus that you really like?
I don’t think I really have a favorite room or place, but there is a sitting area that I really like because of the coffee table, as seen below.

If you could only follow one account on Twitter, who/what would it be?
For this to happen, I would have to get a Twitter account. Once I did that, I would probably follow a comedian who is somewhat active…if I am going to be bothered by further notifications on my phone, they might as well be funny.

On the weekends, what’s your go-to place?
My bed. I do enjoy sleeping in quite a bit. When I am not doing that, I try to go somewhere new. I don’t think that I have been to the same place twice…yet.

Do you have any words of advice to aspiring Google interns, specifically for engineering students?
If you have not already learned to do so, learn to humble yourself. Being “good” at something at school is not the same as “good” on-site. The level of knowledge and skill that I am surrounded with is so humbling. With that said, I could not be in a better position to learn from some of the most experienced people.

What does “being Googley” mean to you?
Being as courteous to the people I interact with as they have been to me.

Best conversation in a MK/cafe/elevator?
Starting a conversation with a fellow intern about work led to another conversation with a FTE that concluded with him essentially solving a problem I was having with my car. I would never have expected he would have been able to help me!

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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UK’s Top Student Talent Help Real Businesses Grow

July 15th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

The Top Black Talent program is Google’s award-winning outreach program designed to identify and develop the UK’s top black university students interested in business careers within our SMB (Small to Medium Business) teams. Participants took part in a seven-week, high touch mentoring program at Google London. The 2015 Google mentors were: Stephanie Sibanda, Javid Aslanov, Hannah Pennington, Davy Denke, Joanna Matuszyk and Martin Barnett.

Four student teams were created and partnered with four black female entrepreneurs based in London. Each team was tasked with competing in the Google Online Marketing Challenge. In line with the challenge, each team received a $250 AdWords advertising budget from Google and ran an online advertising campaign for the business owners.

We’re excited to announce that three 2015 Top Black Talent participants – Leon Johnson, Bjion Henry and Christina Okorocha – will join Google this summer as Business Interns in the SMB Sales and Global Customer Experience teams.

“I’m so excited that I can now say that I’m a Google Top Black Talent program graduate and had an absolutely AMAZING time!”

- Ololade Olaore

We’ve asked four participants about their 2015 Top Black Talent experience. Check out what they’ve got to say:

The Google Online Marketing Challenge was your main project. Tell us a bit about GOMC?

Ololade Olaore: I learned so much about digital advertising and the impact that Google products, such as AdWords, can make on small and medium-sized businessesーwho can not necessarily afford a marketing director. If you asked me what Google Adwords was before completing the Challenge, I would not have had a clue, but ask me today and I could go on for hours about how it can help businesses grow.

Olivia Crooks: GOMC was challenging (in a good way)! My team had to learn about common issues faced by small-medium sized business and find ways around these issues. This made GOMC really engaging. If you have the opportunityーdo the Challenge!

What did you gain from your interaction with a real client?

Olivia Crooks: As a university student, making an actual impact on a real business felt amazing. As a team, we worked towards the clients goals, but also had the freedom to present ideas which were contrary to the clients first assumptionsーwith the aim of identifying opportunities to grow the business. Through this experience, I definitely developed important client-facing skills.

Bjion Henry: The business we worked with had very unique challenges and goals. It was fun spotting new opportunities for growth, and working with the client to strategize how we would go about achieving targets.

What kind of support did your Google mentor offer?

Leon Johnson: Together with my Google mentor, Stephanie Sibanda, we created a personal development plan (PDP) – which helped me to set various short- and long- term goals. The depth of my PDP has allowed me to analyse and better arrange my academic, career and home life. By consistently revisiting and revising my PDP, I hope to accomplish each and every one of my set goals.

Bjion Henry: My Google mentor, Javid Aslanov, guided me to identify relevant skillsets and attributes needed for a successful career and advised me on the various routes into the tech industry. What’s more, my mentor gave invaluable insights into Google’s culture and better prepared me for applying for an internship.

What was your favourite program highlight?

Leon Johnson: Helping the business owner: I grasped the opportunity to make a real impact on the business. Our team’s hard work was rewarded by winning the Top Black Talent program challenge ー this was absolutely amazing!

Olivia Crooks: Interview preparations: my mentor helped prepare me for the types of questions I would be asked during interviews, for roles in Google’s SMB (Small and Medium Business) Sales and Global Customer Experience teams. He also offered great insights into Google’s culture in Poland, Ireland, and all the other Google offices, where my mentor worked in the past.

Find out what our four business partners have to say about their Top Black Talent experience:

The Top Black Talent program is currently closed for applications; however, please do check out how you can join next year’s GOMC Challenge, complete the Digital Marketing Course and become AdWords certified.

Posted by Nicole Zwaaneveld, EMEA Non-Tech University Programs Team

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Intern Q&A with BOLD Intern Steven

July 13th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Steven is a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies Communication and Consumer Psychology. He is a BOLD Intern on the Online Hiring and Insights Team. He hails from Miami and may or may not ride his bike four miles to and from In-N-Out Burger each Saturday.

Recently, we asked our Twitter followers to submit internship questions for our intern, Steven, to answer. Here are the results:

Q: Why did you decide to intern at Google?
A: There are so many reasons why I chose to come to Google: The quality of the people, the incredible access interns are given, and the opportunity to impact tons of people’s lives (just to name a few). That said, if I had to pick the one factor that most convinced me, it would be the chance to work on complex, interesting projects. I knew that if I went to Google, I’d be given a high level of responsibility (and wouldn’t have to get coffee for executives…thank goodness!), and the prospect of playing a vital role on projects that mattered to the company and the world really enticed me.

Q: I am enthusiastic and like to brainstorm. What else does Google look for?
A: Those are definitely two characteristics that will take you far! Google looks for four traits in candidates: General cognitive ability, emergent leadership, Googleyness, and role-related knowledge (in that order). Kyle Ewing, Director of Global Staffing Programs, discusses this here, and Laszlo Bock, who heads up People Operations, talks more about it here.

Q: What do you believe is the single most important thing you can do to up your chances?
A: I don’t know if there’s truly a “single most important thing,” because Google doesn’t look for cookie-cutter candidates. There’s no one university or job experience or skill that determines whether or not you get an internship here. However, I would urge you to put a lot of time and thought into your resume. Recruiters look through a huge amount of resumes, so I think it’s crucial to make sure that you’ve highlighted yourself in the best possible way. For tips on improving your resume, check out Laszlo’s posts here, here, and here).

Q: What is your favorite part about working for Google?
A: My favorite part of interning here is the collaborative ethos that exists here. On multiple occasions, I have emailed a Googler who had expertise on some topic that would help me with my projects, and every time, the person has been super excited to help me out and see me succeed (even if they’d never met me before). Usually, it’s very difficult to find people who are not only experts in their fields, but also willing and happy to share their knowledge with others; however, at Google, that’s just business as usual, and I love that about working here.

Q: As an intern, how do you fit into your team at Google?
A: Honestly, it has amazed me how well my team has treated me. I’ve never felt like a second-class individual or been excluded from any meeting or information just because I’m an intern. From day one, they have taken time to make me feel welcome and invaluable to the team. During my time here, we’ve had multiple fun team events, including this Bocce game (we beat our manager). They even brought me a cake and threw me a little party on my birthday. At the risk of sounding cliche, I truly enjoy being around my team, and they are a big reason why I look forward to going to work each day.

Bonus Question: What would you recommend to prepare for Google technical interviews?
A: Since I am not a tech intern, I asked several of my tech intern counterparts, and they mentioned that Cracking the Coding Interview was helpful. Additionally, be sure to check out this article, written by Dean Jackson, an engineer at Google. They also said that it’s very important to practice coding questions (leetcode, codelab, and stackoverflow are good places to practice).

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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Intern Diary: Alice Chang

July 8th, 2015 | by Sarah H | published in Google Student Blog

Alice is a rising senior at the University of Chicago. She hails from D.C. and has interned at Google twice to date—once in Zurich, and once in Mountain View.

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June 26, 2015

Today’s the last day of my second internship at Google! After spending one summer in Zurich and another in Mountain View – Google’s European engineering headquarters and global headquarters, respectively – let’s just say that I’ve had more than my fair share of exciting times. So, I thought it would be fun to go back in time and share a few of my best stories from my two summers here.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share my intern journey from Zurich to Mountain View and dive into the many incredible experiences I had, including attending the EMEA Tech Intern Summit and launching GWE-MP, a mentorship program for female engineers at Google. But, before I get to all that, let’s start things off with the first page from my travel log, which dates back to my very first day on the job in Zurich in 2014. Happy reading!

June 30, 2014

Just got back from my first day at work! It still feels so surreal. I’ve only been in Switzerland for a few days, but I’m already starting to crave fondue at odd moments. My day was packed with exciting activities and new faces. Here’s a breakdown of everything that happened:

9:00 AM

I arrive at the office. Despite not having gotten much sleep the night before, my excitement quickly puts an end to whatever daze I’m in. First thing on the schedule: getting picked up by my host!

9:30 AM

I meet my co-intern, Han, and my host, Johnny, comes down to greet us. I know I like Johnny right away by the way he whisks us off to give us an impromptu tour of the Google Zurich office (“Zoogle” as it’s affectionately known).

It turns out the Zurich office is pretty amazing. I can hardly believe this is where I’m going to be spending my next three months. Out of all the spaces we visited, here are a few that stood out to me the most:

Jungle Lounge. Something straight out of Tarzan: leafy greens and stuffed monkeys everywhere. Gets you in the mood for quality coding, I hear.
Water Lounge. My personal favorite. Picture an aquarium crossed with a nap pod. Googlers come here to take a refreshing post-lunch break before getting back to work.
Fork(), an Asian café, home to – you guessed it! – zero forks.

11:00AM

After we finish setting up our accounts, Johnny takes some time to familiarize us with our team and project. I’m working on the YouTube MDx (Multi-Device Experience) team, which aims to unify the YouTube experience across different device platforms. Our main feature allows users to pair mobile devices with smart TVs in order to cast YouTube videos directly to the big screen. And, it turns out, Han and I will be coding a feature that makes this experience more social for everyone!

For our project, we’re going to enhance “Multi-User Mode” on YouTube TV, which is activated when multiple users in close range all pair their devices with the same TV. This feature has the potential to improve user experiences for people all across the world. For example, imagine a group of friends hanging out and queuing YouTube videos up on a shared TV. It’d be helpful for everyone to receive feedback when certain social actions occur, such as when someone in the group adds a video to the queue, joins the multi-user session, or leaves it. Our goal is to help everyone stay engaged with exactly what’s happening during their session.

Noon

After learning about our projects, we grab lunch with our new team in the main cafeteria, Milliways. There’s a machine that squeezes fresh orange juice on demand – definitely my favorite part of the cafeteria.

2:00 PM

The rest of the day is spent continuing our orientation and running through a few code labs (training tutorials to get Nooglers accustomed to Google’s internal tools and codebase). I’m already learning a lot and starting to feel integrated into the Google ecosystem. We wrap things up and grab dinner downstairs before parting ways and heading home. And with that, I’ve completed my very first day as a Noogler!

I can’t believe how great it is to finally be here. I can already tell it’s going to be an amazing summer.

Posted by Steven Claunch, Online Hiring and Insights Team

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Google Data

Getting to Know a Ph.D.

Supporting our young scientists through the Google Science Fair

2016 US and Canada scholarship opportunities for computer science students

Google Docs and Classroom: your school year sidekicks

Intern Spotlights – Daniel Wiskman

The results are in for the 2015 Google Online Marketing Challenge!

I. AdWords Business Awards

The AdWords Business Awards recognize the GOMC teams that made an outstanding difference to their business partners via online marketing campaigns.

Global Winner

Regional Winners

II. Google+ Social Media Marketing Awards

Young people who are changing the world through science

Q&A with Dave Vos, Head of Google’s Unmanned Delivery Vehicle Program

Google Interns’ Top 5 Interview Tips

Q&A with Chris Urmson, Head of the Self-Driving Car Project

Google Interns’ Top 5 Resume Tips

Intern Spotlights – Matt Walker

UK’s Top Student Talent Help Real Businesses Grow

Intern Q&A with BOLD Intern Steven

Intern Diary: Alice Chang

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