Intro & Expectations
Ah, yes, Google, arguably the most titanic and influential company in the last decade. From being the world’s search engine to one of the world’s largest email sites, Google has long been a giant in Silicon Valley. Although we were not visiting the mystical Mountain View campus, the class still had a great opportunity to peer into the company culture at the San Francisco office. Heading into this visit, I was most curious about seeing if Google’s culture was really all it was hyped up to be. Often spoofed in movies such as “The Internship”, Google is known for its relaxed, activity-based culture, and the unique interview questions it asks of employees during the hiring process. After hearing from some employees, I hoped to have better clarity into this world.
Visit
The class had a panel of UMD graduates speak about their collective experiences at Google. Each of the four panelists were from different departments, giving the class a great opportunity to view Google’s culture from different angles. One of the speakers, spoke about his recent transition from working at Apple to Google. The speaker was notably more excited about his Google job, for it provided him less stress and more time off. He said at Apple, he constantly worried every time his phone buzzed that he would be suddenly saddled with a massive assignment or some sort of stressful event. At Google, his responsibilities were less burdening, and he did not have to worry about the stress factor as much. Although he had only been at Google mere months, he seemed to be genuinely relaxed and satisfied.
Relaxation can be expected at a job that has such unique and tremendous benefits. Google allows employees to use 20% of their own time to work on projects they're interested in. This is an interesting way for employees to explore out-of-the-box ways yo build their creative juices and potentially benefit the company. Additionally, as stated in the book, "Secrets of Silicon Valley", Google offers death benefits to employees, which include a payment of 50% of the deceased workers salary to their widow annually for ten years. It is no surprise that when you keep your work force happy with benefits such as these, that you take steps towards becoming the world's most valuable global brand, which it was anointed according to BrandFinance.
As the discussion evolved from employment opportunities (one of the speakers said he applied through Google online from home, which surprised me) to a recent culture crisis that occurred at Google. Just a week or two before arriving at the Google offices, an internal memo by a Google software engineer spread throughout the company. The memo was a rant against Google’s diversity initiatives, and essentially railed against the idea of women engineers due to psychological indifferences. I was interested to hear the female speaker’s take on this controversial leak, for it was largely targeted women employees like herself. She said while there are of course going to be problem employees in the workplace, the majority of groups are collaborative and friendly, and the bad seeds can be detected fairly quickly. This was about the answer I was expecting, given my background knowledge of Google. As one of the more inclusive companies, Google is one that would never accept racism or sexism of any kind, and the female speaker’s input on the situation and her past positive experiences as a Google employee validated that.
Google constantly insists that they are never done building, that they are making the world a better place. Google has been able to do so too, because of their intelligent hiring process. Many of the speakers stressed the importance of cross-functional ability, being able to work in many diverse fields. Google also enjoys when employees can specialize in a certain field, for that skill can sprawl and develop into strengths in other areas. It gave a glimpse into what Google stresses. Diversity in both employees and skills, versatility in mindset and expertise. This is what made Google huge in the first place and what will drive them into the future.
Post Visit Actions
We only spent time at Google in one room, so I was a tad curious as to what the rest of the facility looked like, even if it was more along the lines of a standard office building. Unfortunately, we could not scan the rest of the facility, so I was left to wonder. I did find the visit fascinating in that I had always heard about Google’s inclusive culture, but now I was actually seeing it firsthand. What arguably resonated with me the most about this visit was the speaker’s tale of filling out a simple online application and then suddenly being hired and moving across the country. People in Silicon Valley often speak of the “Black hole” when it comes to applications, where apps that don’t stick out are discarded and never remembered, but the speaker’s shot in the dark application that worked was an inspiring refresher from the daunting odds that most people faced when filling out online applications to these massive companies.
Also, despite one Google employee's disturbing views, it appears as though Google generally takes good care of its employees and that it trickles down into the work the employees do. With a benefit list a mile long, Google invests in their workers and that is a far cry from the cutthroat nature of companies like Amazon and Netflix, where results is what earns you benefits, not your mere presence and positive attitude. IT just goes to show that even in Silicon Valley, different workplace cultures can still emerge.
Key Takeaways
Ah, yes, Google, arguably the most titanic and influential company in the last decade. From being the world’s search engine to one of the world’s largest email sites, Google has long been a giant in Silicon Valley. Although we were not visiting the mystical Mountain View campus, the class still had a great opportunity to peer into the company culture at the San Francisco office. Heading into this visit, I was most curious about seeing if Google’s culture was really all it was hyped up to be. Often spoofed in movies such as “The Internship”, Google is known for its relaxed, activity-based culture, and the unique interview questions it asks of employees during the hiring process. After hearing from some employees, I hoped to have better clarity into this world.
Visit
The class had a panel of UMD graduates speak about their collective experiences at Google. Each of the four panelists were from different departments, giving the class a great opportunity to view Google’s culture from different angles. One of the speakers, spoke about his recent transition from working at Apple to Google. The speaker was notably more excited about his Google job, for it provided him less stress and more time off. He said at Apple, he constantly worried every time his phone buzzed that he would be suddenly saddled with a massive assignment or some sort of stressful event. At Google, his responsibilities were less burdening, and he did not have to worry about the stress factor as much. Although he had only been at Google mere months, he seemed to be genuinely relaxed and satisfied.
Relaxation can be expected at a job that has such unique and tremendous benefits. Google allows employees to use 20% of their own time to work on projects they're interested in. This is an interesting way for employees to explore out-of-the-box ways yo build their creative juices and potentially benefit the company. Additionally, as stated in the book, "Secrets of Silicon Valley", Google offers death benefits to employees, which include a payment of 50% of the deceased workers salary to their widow annually for ten years. It is no surprise that when you keep your work force happy with benefits such as these, that you take steps towards becoming the world's most valuable global brand, which it was anointed according to BrandFinance.
As the discussion evolved from employment opportunities (one of the speakers said he applied through Google online from home, which surprised me) to a recent culture crisis that occurred at Google. Just a week or two before arriving at the Google offices, an internal memo by a Google software engineer spread throughout the company. The memo was a rant against Google’s diversity initiatives, and essentially railed against the idea of women engineers due to psychological indifferences. I was interested to hear the female speaker’s take on this controversial leak, for it was largely targeted women employees like herself. She said while there are of course going to be problem employees in the workplace, the majority of groups are collaborative and friendly, and the bad seeds can be detected fairly quickly. This was about the answer I was expecting, given my background knowledge of Google. As one of the more inclusive companies, Google is one that would never accept racism or sexism of any kind, and the female speaker’s input on the situation and her past positive experiences as a Google employee validated that.
Google constantly insists that they are never done building, that they are making the world a better place. Google has been able to do so too, because of their intelligent hiring process. Many of the speakers stressed the importance of cross-functional ability, being able to work in many diverse fields. Google also enjoys when employees can specialize in a certain field, for that skill can sprawl and develop into strengths in other areas. It gave a glimpse into what Google stresses. Diversity in both employees and skills, versatility in mindset and expertise. This is what made Google huge in the first place and what will drive them into the future.
Post Visit Actions
We only spent time at Google in one room, so I was a tad curious as to what the rest of the facility looked like, even if it was more along the lines of a standard office building. Unfortunately, we could not scan the rest of the facility, so I was left to wonder. I did find the visit fascinating in that I had always heard about Google’s inclusive culture, but now I was actually seeing it firsthand. What arguably resonated with me the most about this visit was the speaker’s tale of filling out a simple online application and then suddenly being hired and moving across the country. People in Silicon Valley often speak of the “Black hole” when it comes to applications, where apps that don’t stick out are discarded and never remembered, but the speaker’s shot in the dark application that worked was an inspiring refresher from the daunting odds that most people faced when filling out online applications to these massive companies.
Also, despite one Google employee's disturbing views, it appears as though Google generally takes good care of its employees and that it trickles down into the work the employees do. With a benefit list a mile long, Google invests in their workers and that is a far cry from the cutthroat nature of companies like Amazon and Netflix, where results is what earns you benefits, not your mere presence and positive attitude. IT just goes to show that even in Silicon Valley, different workplace cultures can still emerge.
Key Takeaways
- Identify a problem, start a business
- Always make sure to carve out a niche
- Never rest on your laurels.