A Day in the Life of a Turkish New Grad @ Google Dublin
May 13th, 2013 | Published in Uncategorized
As part of our ‘A Day in the Life of a New Grad @ Google Dublin’ series we’re highlighting the work of 8 Googlers in our multicultural Google Dublin Office who joined soon after graduating! Today we’re featuring one of our Turkish Googlers, Yigit, to give you an inside look into the Associate Account Strategist, Global Customer Services role. If you’re interested in applying for an SMB Sales/Services position, check out our open opportunities at the bottom of this post.
So, tell us about your path to Google?
I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey. I went to the German High School Istanbul and then I studied Economics at Bogazici University. During my final two years at university, I took Japanese courses which helped me to win a Japanese Government Scholarship to study Japanese at Keio University in Tokyo for one year. After Japan, I came back to Turkey and started working at Borusan Mannesmann as an export sales specialist. Then I worked at Philips in Turkey as a management trainee, spending one year in Product Marketing and six months in consumer sales. After Philips, I came to Dublin, Ireland to work at Google’s EMEA Headquarters.
What is your role at Google?
I am an Associate Account Strategist in SMB (Small and Medium Business) Services for Turkey. Currently, I am helping SMBs in Turkey to optimize their AdWords accounts to ensure their online advertising campaigns produce the best results possible and I also help to solve any problems relating to their accounts. Other projects that I work on include the Google Engage Program, in which I support advertising agencies and educate them to serve their customers better and Ad Review Optimization, which helps to review ads more efficiently. Before I began working on these projects, I was responsible for the Official Inside AdWords Turkey blog. Currently, I also have a “Buddy” role for Nooglers (new Google employees) to help them get up to speed quickly when they start in our team.
How does your role fit in with the larger team?
Our core job is to optimize and troubleshoot SMB AdWords accounts. However, every team member has a side project with a 20% time allocation to be used to contribute to the team in different ways. I use my 20% time allocation to educate AdWords agencies and I try to optimize the ad review process which in turn helps reviewers to use their time more efficiently.
So what does your typical day at Google involve?!
08.00 Trying to wake up
08.10 Still trying to wake up
08.20 Finally waking up (?)
08.45 - 09.00 Breakfast in Google
09.00 - 09.30 I check my customer accounts: before the day really starts, I try to analyze the needs of the customers and see where I can help improve what they are doing and troubleshoot any issues.
09.30 - 12.00 AdWords Account optimization & Troubleshooting
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch with colleagues to enjoy some delicious Google food!
13.00 - 14.00 AdWords Ad Review Process: I check current performance metrics and based on feedback from reviewers, I try to find ways to improve performance.
14.00 - 15.00 Training on new product features: Google AdWords products are being improved almost every day, so we constantly keep up to date on developments.
15.00 - 16.30 Account optimization and Troubleshooting: I try to finish all my accounts before the day ends.
16.30 - 17.30 Google Engage: I help agencies to solve their problems and improve their clients accounts or I prepare a webinar for agency education.
17.30 - 18.00 Buddy time : Support Nooglers for their ramp-up period
What's your favourite Google memory or ‘Magic Moment’?
Instead of a single memory, for me the magic moments happen every time I receive feedback that the improvement I made to an SMBs AdWords account resulted in more sales and revenue for our customer. You can touch people’s lives by improving their account performance and it’s great to get positive feedback from them.
One fun fact about yourself
Thanks to my previous employer I have great product knowledge and know many things about steel pipes, electric shavers, epilators and light bulbs :) Let me know if you consider buying any of these!
What career advice would you give to a new grad embarking into the world of work?
First of all, to study abroad is a very valuable experience, especially if you learn the language and immerse yourself in the culture of the country in which you study. I would definitely suggest studying abroad before graduation.
Second, my advice to a new grad would be to instead of insisting on a single path right after graduation, it’s better to consider all opportunities open to you. In other words, being open to different projects and roles is very important. It helps you to understand what you really want and what makes you happy in your career while broadening your perspective. In my personal story, I believe that having different experiences and roles, both during my studies and my career, paved my way to Google. Even inside Google, mobility among different roles is very important as well.
Interested in working for Google Dublin? Check out our new grad positions today and apply!
EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.
Posted by Yigit Yucel, Associate Account Strategist.
So, tell us about your path to Google?
I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey. I went to the German High School Istanbul and then I studied Economics at Bogazici University. During my final two years at university, I took Japanese courses which helped me to win a Japanese Government Scholarship to study Japanese at Keio University in Tokyo for one year. After Japan, I came back to Turkey and started working at Borusan Mannesmann as an export sales specialist. Then I worked at Philips in Turkey as a management trainee, spending one year in Product Marketing and six months in consumer sales. After Philips, I came to Dublin, Ireland to work at Google’s EMEA Headquarters.
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| Yigit celebrating at the St Patrick’s Day festival in Dublin! |
I am an Associate Account Strategist in SMB (Small and Medium Business) Services for Turkey. Currently, I am helping SMBs in Turkey to optimize their AdWords accounts to ensure their online advertising campaigns produce the best results possible and I also help to solve any problems relating to their accounts. Other projects that I work on include the Google Engage Program, in which I support advertising agencies and educate them to serve their customers better and Ad Review Optimization, which helps to review ads more efficiently. Before I began working on these projects, I was responsible for the Official Inside AdWords Turkey blog. Currently, I also have a “Buddy” role for Nooglers (new Google employees) to help them get up to speed quickly when they start in our team.
How does your role fit in with the larger team?
Our core job is to optimize and troubleshoot SMB AdWords accounts. However, every team member has a side project with a 20% time allocation to be used to contribute to the team in different ways. I use my 20% time allocation to educate AdWords agencies and I try to optimize the ad review process which in turn helps reviewers to use their time more efficiently.
So what does your typical day at Google involve?!
08.00 Trying to wake up
08.10 Still trying to wake up
08.20 Finally waking up (?)
08.45 - 09.00 Breakfast in Google
09.00 - 09.30 I check my customer accounts: before the day really starts, I try to analyze the needs of the customers and see where I can help improve what they are doing and troubleshoot any issues.
09.30 - 12.00 AdWords Account optimization & Troubleshooting
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch with colleagues to enjoy some delicious Google food!
13.00 - 14.00 AdWords Ad Review Process: I check current performance metrics and based on feedback from reviewers, I try to find ways to improve performance.
14.00 - 15.00 Training on new product features: Google AdWords products are being improved almost every day, so we constantly keep up to date on developments.
15.00 - 16.30 Account optimization and Troubleshooting: I try to finish all my accounts before the day ends.
16.30 - 17.30 Google Engage: I help agencies to solve their problems and improve their clients accounts or I prepare a webinar for agency education.
17.30 - 18.00 Buddy time : Support Nooglers for their ramp-up period
What's your favourite Google memory or ‘Magic Moment’?
Instead of a single memory, for me the magic moments happen every time I receive feedback that the improvement I made to an SMBs AdWords account resulted in more sales and revenue for our customer. You can touch people’s lives by improving their account performance and it’s great to get positive feedback from them.
One fun fact about yourselfThanks to my previous employer I have great product knowledge and know many things about steel pipes, electric shavers, epilators and light bulbs :) Let me know if you consider buying any of these!
What career advice would you give to a new grad embarking into the world of work?
First of all, to study abroad is a very valuable experience, especially if you learn the language and immerse yourself in the culture of the country in which you study. I would definitely suggest studying abroad before graduation.
Second, my advice to a new grad would be to instead of insisting on a single path right after graduation, it’s better to consider all opportunities open to you. In other words, being open to different projects and roles is very important. It helps you to understand what you really want and what makes you happy in your career while broadening your perspective. In my personal story, I believe that having different experiences and roles, both during my studies and my career, paved my way to Google. Even inside Google, mobility among different roles is very important as well.
Interested in working for Google Dublin? Check out our new grad positions today and apply!
EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.
Posted by Yigit Yucel, Associate Account Strategist.