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Jessica: Hi I'm Jessica. I'm on the Staffing and Programs Operations Team here at Google,
and I'm talking today with Melanie, one of our START Associates here at Google about
her experience in the START Program. We're going to talk a little bit about her background,
and also answer some questions from our followers on Twitter.com and Facebook.com. So first,
Melanie, would you like to introduce yourself?
Melanie: Sure. Hi, I'm Melanie. I'm from the University of Texas in Austin, and I was majoring
in History, and now I'm here!
Jessica: Great! Well let's get into the questions. So, first, how would you describe the Google
START Program?
Melanie: Well, the Google START Program is a program for new grads, non-technical new
grads. Um you join as a class. You go to training together, you work on a project together,
or alone, and then you branch off into sales or operations, HR.
Jessica: Okay, and how and why did you become a Google START Associate?
Melanie: Well why, because I love Google. How? I was a BOLD intern in 2008, and I went
to a career fair, I met a recruiter and told her I interested in internships, and she told
me to continuously check the website, which I did, applied, came here, converted, and
how I'm here.
Jessica: Great! Um and what positions in the START Program did you participate in, and
what are you doing now at Google?
Melanie: Okay, I was in...I was working on a project job analysis, specifically engineering.
And we got to conduct focus groups, interview software engineers, figure out what they're
doing on a day-to-day basis, and now I'm in analytics.
Jessica: Okay, great! Um and would you say there's a typical day-in-a-life of a START
Associate?
Melanie: Kind of... Well some days you have trainings, and you learn how to write business
emails, how to give a speech. You get to hear executives- great people, talk to you about
how they, what they learned here at Google. Then, I would say on a typical day, you would
come to work, have a meeting with your manager, talk about your project; have meetings with
your teammates to figure out how to solve a problem that you're having; have lunch with
your friends, and the most amazing food you can think of; then spend the rest of the day
working.
Jessica: Pretty much; that makes sense.
Melanie: Yeah.
Jessica: So, in this, um would you say there's something that was your favorite part of the
program?
Melanie: Sure. I would say the people. The people here are amazing; they're super smart.
She was my mentor and she helped me... grow here at Google very much.
Jessica: Oh! Well, thanks! Laura from Italy wants to know if there are opportunities for
Humanities majors--people who are non-technical at Google.
Melanie: Of course! I'm a History major, and I think Google appreciates people who are
learning something that they are really passionate about and excelling in that, and working hard.
Jessica: Okay, Amy from Chicago wants to know a little bit about what your recruiting process
was like.
Melanie: Well, mine would be different...than anybody else's, I guess. I was an intern,
so I had an internship for 3 months. I had 2 interviews on the phone for that internship;
then I came here and I had two on-site interviews; and then 2 months later I had a call saying
we want you to come back.
Jessica: Great, clearly that worked out for you. So do you have any advice for people
that are looking to be accepted into the Google START Program?
Melanie: Sure. I would say have fun, be yourself, have humility, work hard, and be a little
quirky.
Jessica: Great. Well, thanks Melanie! And if you are interested in applying for a job
in the Google START Program, you can go to Google.com/students, to see what we have posted.
Additionally, you can find out more about the START Program, and more about what's going
on at Google in general, by following us on Twitter.com/googlestudents, or following us
on Facebook at Facebook.com/googlestudents. Thanks for listening!