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Tolu: Hi, I'm Tolu. I'm a Project Manager on the People Op staffing team.
Meg: Hi, I'm Meg. I am with the Communications Team in People Operations and I was a Google
START Associate.
Tolu: And we're here today to talk about the Google START program. Um, for the past couple
of weeks we've been getting questions on our Google student's Facebook page, and our Google
student's Twitter feed, and you guys have been posting those questions on Google moderators.
So we're going to go through some of the questions that got the most votes, and get you some
of those answers about the START Associate program.
Meg: Sounds good! Let's see what you guys have.
Tolu: Okay, so first, why don't you tell us where you're from, and where you went to school
and what you Majored in.
Meg: So, I'm from Kentucky. I went to school up in New York at Cornell University and I
double-Majored in Comparative Literature and Spanish. And that's um, definitely like something
that you see throughout the START program. We have Majors all across the board in the
Humanities and we have some people in math and sciences as well.
Tolu: Cool. Okay, so our first question comes from Maddie and she wants to know what is
the START program?
Meg: So the Google START program is basically um, kind of a network and a community for
new graduates who are hired at Google in the non-technical fields. So that means everything
that is not engineering. Um, and it includes like our Sales Department and also our People
Operations Department.
Tolu: Great! Okay so our second question comes from Jazzy in Calcutta(Kolkata). "Why and
how did you get to be a Google START Associate?"
Meg: So, my experience was maybe a little bit different than others, because I was a
Google BOLD Intern in the summer of 2008. So after my internship experience was over,
at the end of the summer I did some interviews, um, and then I was converted to a full time
employee. Um and that's kind of how I joined the START program. It was exciting!
Tolu: Great. And M.J. Bach in Washington wants to know "what position within the START program
did you participate in?"
Meg: So in the START program I was with the uh,People Operations Department. We were doing
kind of a job analysis project. We were looking at our job descriptions and kind of clarifying
those for, um you know, people to understand what's involved in each role. Um, and now
I'm involved with the Communications Team, as I said. So we work on kind of connecting
Googlers with the information that they need.
Tolu: Great. Um, Julie in Chicago wants to know "Describe a typical day in the life of
a Google START Associate."
Meg: So there is no real typical day. Um it's kind of exciting and kind of different each
day as you go along. Um everything from having meetings with different people all across
the company...That's one really nice benefit is that you get to meet with people, um more
senior, and also newer people as well, so it gives you some great experience. Also,
tons of brain-storming sessions with your teams. Um you guys can just kind of sit in
a room and try and figure out the best processes and ways to do things. Um and then, of course,
like the individual work time. So, you know, writing documents, putting together spread
sheets, things like that.
Tolu: Great. And Ben wants to know, "What do you like about your job and what's your
least favorite aspect of your job?"
Meg: So definitely my favorite thing about working at Google is the people. We have a
lot of like really quirky, exciting and interesting people. Um, I think that makes it really refreshing
and awesome to come to work every single day. Um, my least favorite thing is trying to schedule
meetings with those people, because they're all really busy.
Tolu: Yeah, [sucking sound with mouth] Uh, Brendon in Texas wants to know, uh, "What
is the best advice that you have to get accepted to the START program?"
Meg: Yeah, so, I mean I know it can be kind of overwhelming when you are applying for
a new job, especially in a company like Google where, you know, the recruiting process is,
may be more involved than other places. Um, I know that at Google it really helps if you're
just really honest and open in your interviews. So go into it thinking of it as an interactive
process. You wanna ask a lot of great questions to find out more about the company and see
if it's a good fit for you. And also think about what you can bring to the table and
what makes you unique, um and how you'll add to Google.
Tolu: Okay. And our last question comes from Rizza in Malaysia, who wants to know "What
actually do you feel when you become a Googler?"
Meg: That's a great question. I think it's really fun to talk to different people at
the company about that. It was a really um,awesome moment for me. I called my parents; I called
my grandparents, my whole family right away. Um, it's very humbling though, because you
realize how many brilliant people are here at the company, um and I was just so thrilled
to be able to be a part of that going forward.
Tolu: Great! Well, thanks a lot Meg. Um and for those of you who are interested in applying
for the START program for 2010, just go togoogle.com/students and go to the student opportunities section.
You will see not only the START program application, but also the application for the BOLD internship
program which we have for undergrads. You'll see info about scholarships and a bunch of
other cool stuff there. And then also, please follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/Google
students and become a fan on Facebook at Facebook.com/Googlestudents. Thanks a lot!
Meg: Great. Well hope to see you guys there.