Careers 25 nov 2014
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My year with Google [1/2]

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Google. For many people it’s only a search engine, for academics it’s a case for management classes, but for majority of job seekers it’s a dream employer. My name is Maciek and over the last year I was a Google Student Ambassador – GSA.

I had a great adventure with one of the most fascinating organizations in the world. What does it mean to be a GSA? You are not a full time employee, nor a temp, nor an intern. You don’t sign any contracts, it is a fully voluntary… opportunity. Yes, an opportunity to develop yourself while doing really cool things. A GSA is a liaison between Google and students. It means that you organize events for students, as well you are the contact person to talk about Google products and internships. What is the biggest benefit? Networking! During the whole year you meet so many interesting people: Googlers, students, university staff etc. However, you also receive knowledge from Google, gain tons of experience and lastly you have impressive position to add to your CV.

One of the most frequently asked questions that I get from people is ‘How did you become a GSA?’. Well, it is an invitation only program, so Google needs to know you. My advice: take every opportunity to meet with companies that visit your university. It pays off, trust me.

I started my studying with no money and debt to pay, as I failed with my start-up. Looking for a job, I was interested in every event on campus organized by various companies. Then one day I received an email about an upcoming Google event. Since it isGoogle, there was even a recruitment process for the workshop. I applied and, fortunately, I was accepted . It was a great training experience and I learned a lot. More importantly though is I met with Googlers and had the opportunity to present myself. I did my best, presenting my best features, keeping in mind that they had my CV after the ‘event recruitment’. If you don’t play, you don’t win.

A few months after the workshop I forgot all about Google, but again… one day, I received an e-mail, an e-mail from Google. I was very surprised, I jumped, yelled and almost cried. I was invited to a closed recruitment for the GSA program. I was only 19 years old, during my 1st year of studies at the university, you can imagine what it meant to me. I got a great chance and I promised myself I could not let it go.

As it is not a job nor an internship, it is much different and there are no interviews. In the first stage there are essays to write, mostly about your experience and experience with Google products. In the second stage there is a task to record a video on “Why you want to be a GSA?”. It is very unconventional, but it’s Google. The video task checks determination and creativity – as I promised – I did my best.

I am so glad I didn’t unsubscribe from the university mailing list! The next step – special training in Dublin, Google’s European Headquarters, but this is the topic for my next post.

This post was orginially published on Nov. 25. 2014 by Maciek Wróblewski.

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