My journey at Google
“Congratulations Aditi, you have been offered the SWE Internship for the summer of 2022 at Google India”
An unmatched feeling indeed. It’s the sheer amount of impact that Google delivers that makes working at such a place so dreamy. The chance to be a part of an organisation that has and is changing our lives for good is indeed an overwhelming feeling to say the least. This article walks the reader through my journey of interning at Google and the various phases I went through.
A freshers “dream company”
The concept of having a “dream company”, “ target company”, “goal company” is in itself a big debate. I am neither for nor against having a dream company. But I have had a shift in my perspective in my 3 years of college.
As I stepped into college, one of my first memories apart from goofing around is attending a session by my college senior on her Google internship experience. Back then she was the first and only STEP Intern from our college. Her experiences, contribution she made, amount she learned and the fun she had, was all too dreamy for the 17 year old me. That day Google became my “dream company”. But hey hang on it wasn’t going to be this way always XD
Progress towards my “dream company”
A few months later, I applied to the WE Program by Talentsprint and supported by Google for first year female undergraduates in India. This was a very crucial step in my journey. I was not only exposed to the talent in my campus but was connected to 126 other fantastic women engineers from all over the country. While there are numerous programs to support underrepresented groups this one in particular is close to my heart. Read more
…And then I failed
By the end of my third semester, the applications for the Google STEP Internship were open. Everything was heightened: excitement, nervousness, confidence and self-doubt. I was dancing at my cousin’s wedding ceremony when I got the news — My resume has been shortlisted for the Google STEP internship interviews. I was on cloud nine.
However I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t know this then, but yes I wasn’t. Making this statement now is relatively easier than it was coming to admit it. I had two back to back interviews with 30 minutes of break between them. How these interviews work is you are given a problem and have to code up the solution on google doc while explaining the approach. Things like clean code, modularity etc should be kept in mind. This was my first ever interview for any company, and put without filters, I bombed it.
My first interview was a disaster. I was blank, and couldn’t think about the solution at all. Ended up with only the brute force solution. I was really dejected after this round. The second interview was good. I needed a couple of hints to come to the optimal solution but finished with the code and felt good about the round. After this started the long and what seemed a never ending period of waiting. After 1.5 months — I got the rejection.
Realisation and more growth
I was initially down, but that 1.5 months gave me enough time to really process how I performed. I had overestimated myself and underestimated Google. I knew I had a good resume and my basics were clear. It was during this phase I realised that while Google still remains a great place to be at, it’s not the end of the world. I need to improve my problem solving skills and rest things will fall in place. My perspective changed from getting into my “dream company” to simply improving my skills. I participated in hackathons, made projects, solved tons of problems, regularly gave contests on Codechef, Codeforces and Leetcode and slowly I began to see progress.
The SWE Interviews
Now came the summer of 2021, I was taking part in the Microsoft Engage program at this time Read more and the JPMC Code for Good hackathon Read more. What this meant is I didn’t have much time to prepare for internships specifically as such. The Google online assessment happened, and while I was not expecting anything, I got the call that I had been shortlisted for the Google SWE intern interviews. This time around I was much better prepared and went onto the interviews with confidence and composure. Two interviews were scheduled for the same day. My first interviewer didn’t show up and I was informed that he was facing network issues and it will be rescheduled. On my way to change my clothes, I got another call that the issues have been resolved and if I am available the interview can be conducted. I blurted out — yes I am. Went and turned on the laptop and had the 2nd best interview of my life xD. As cliche as it may sound it was a conversation rather than an interview. I knew the solution, discussed alternatives, explained and coded well. I was very happy after this round. The next round happened after an hour or so. This was not as easy, the interviewer was a bit more formal and while I did manage to code up the solutions to both the problems he had for me, I did get stuck here and there. For a certain sub part I wasn’t able to optimise on the space complexity. This left me a little disappointed but I still had hope.
Later that evening the results were announced and my name wasn’t on the list. Yes you read right. I didn’t clear. After some time it was announced one additional interview will be conducted for two candidates. And it was me. What a sleepless night that was. The next day I had my interview and it was preponed due to some reasons. And this, my dear reader, was the best interview of my life. It went fantastic in every possible way and I still beam with joy at how great it was. As you can guess in the evening results were announced and I GOT IT!
The Internship
While I am yet to watch the movie that has the same name as the title of this subsection (for the ones who didn’t get — The Internship) my experience is something I will cherish forever.
I couldn’t have asked for a better host, co-host, team and project. I felt a part of the team from day 1 and learned so much during the 10 weeks. The level at which Google operates is still overwhelming. I had my dose of fun sessions and serious work. Being cared for is a great feeling and I had multiple such instances where I felt so blessed. In terms of the technical aspect I grew a lot. I got to learn a completely new framework, a new language as well as google specific tools and technologies. I remember my heart beating fast in the first week whenever I spoke to anyone from the team initially. Overtime I got comfortable and could ping and discuss anything with my team. Tackling bugs to going woohoo when it finally gets resolved, the journey has been an exponential learning curve. Asking for feedback, documenting tasks, breaking them down, regularly checking in code and communicating are some well known yet very effective tips in making an internship go from good to great. The end of the internship presentation in front of dozens of experienced folks made me believe in myself and become proud of where I am.
As I sit back and come to the end of this article, I am super grateful to my family, friends, the failures, the success, the community and almighty for helping me! Thanks for reading and going through my journey, all the best to you for what you dream of and more!
