Why We Founded Xoogler School
My journey with Xoogler as a college student and why Xoogler School is the best way to spend your gap semester
My Xoogler Experience
Xoogler is a community of over 9,000 current and former Googlers that have the mission of supporting each other through new startup endeavors across the world. I began my internship with Xoogler as a Marketing and Events manager in June after connecting with Xoogler’s founder, Chris Fong. I am a rising senior at Cornell and this summer I have been exposed to more opportunities and grown both as an individual and as a professional more than I would have ever thought possible.
I was excited to meet and work alongside a group of talented Googlers and Ex-Googlers but was not prepared for the experience that laid ahead of me as I logged into my Xoogler email for the first time. During my onboarding week I met incredibly successful people from Bangalore, Sydney, London, Zurich, San Francisco and New York. I was taken aback by the universal mentality of giving back to others that each Xoogler I met exuded. I expected my first conversations with these individuals to be centered around their influential careers but instead everyone I met wanted to know how they could help me. They asked me how they could mentor and guide me through the summer with Xoogler and into my post graduate career. I am fortunate to be learning and growing with this network and beyond excited to extend this community to other college students like me.
Founding the Xoogler School
As the summer continued I began to speak to Chris about my concerns regarding the upcoming semester at my university given COVID. There was a growing uncertainty surrounding the school year and it started to become clear that much like last spring, this fall would look nothing like a normal year for college students. My friends and I on the rowing team began to realize we did not want to miss out on our final time together as a class and out on Cayuga lake given the new normal during COVID. The idea of taking a gap semester began to form both in my immediate friend group and larger college network and the question became not if we wanted to take a gap semester but how could we fill this time with value? This is how the Xoogler School emerged, as the best option for students looking to grow professionally while waiting to resume school in a more certain time.
What is the Xoogler School?
Xoogler School is an eight week course that offers students an incredible way to spend their gap semester.
A few ways we will prepare our students:
- Learn how to plan their career journey from Xoogler Amit Singh, former President of Google Cloud
- Learn how to land Google software engineering internships and positions from former Google software engineer Tara Trivedi
- Hone their LinkedIn profile with Vartika Khandelwal, Senior Solutions Consultant at LinkedIn
- Learn how to stand out to top tech companies from University Recruiter, Stefanie Fackrell, who has experience at Apple, Google, Nvidia and Samsung.
- Learn how to pitch themselves to prospective employers from Brandon Middleton, Senior Business Development Manager at Amazon
- Attend additional speaker series events and workshops centered around professional and career preparation
- Receive 1:1 mentoring from a Xoogler mentor and build long lasting relationships to guide students into their early careers
- Build community within their student cohort and connect through group activities and events
- Expand their network and job opportunities
Xoogler school is designed to give students the professional confidence and network to take on their early career. We believe that we can fill the gap of what is taught at universities and what is expected of students in their entry-level roles. We are eager to take on this challenge and prepare the next generation of talented minds for their new roles upon graduation.
Q&A with Former Xoogler Intern Nico
Xoogler.co’s former intern Nico Croce will be hosting a Q&A session for any students or parents interested in learning more on how the Xoogler community helped him on Thursday August 27. Please RSVP here to join the session.
For more information and to apply for our first cohort visit Xooglerschool.com or email learn@xoogler.co.
