Prototype of a Person

Thank you for your interest in Google…

I handed in my two weeks notice on Monday, not because I got the job in Google, but because I accepted an offer to work for 3 Ireland in their new Henry Street store. Monday was a hectic day, I had to decide whether to take the job with Three or hold out for Google. In the end, I was right to accept the position in Three.

Google were supposed to get back to me on Monday and even after leaving a voicemail message, they didn’t actually get back to me until Tuesday evening. I received a really impersonal rejection e-mail from them, a real copy and paste job, telling me that based on my “qualifications” and “experience” that they didn’t think me a “strong match”. My instant thought after reading this was “did they not have my cv?”. I’ve politely asked them to provide me with additional feedback on why they think me not suited to the position, and am still waiting to receive it.

The Google recruitment process was very thorough, after an assessment test, 3 phone interviews and 2 face-to-face interviews all I received from them was an e-mail to tell me that I didn’t get the job, and that was 3 weeks after the face-to-face interviews. From start to finish, the whole process of them figuring out I wasn’t suitable for the position took over 2 months. It stressed me out, it pissed me off, it excited me, and more than anything else it got my hopes up far too much. I really thought this was the perfect job for me, but I think I was too eager and too… maybe desperate to work them. I probably should have shut my mouth about how great I think their company is and how I would have liked to be able to participate in their research projects, some time in the future. Perhaps they thought me too enthusiastic? In the end, I don’t think I’ll be applying to work for them again; it’s not worth the stress and the extreme effort… I still can’t believe they had to interview me 5 times to figure out they didn’t want to hire me, it was so terribly unnecessary.

Anyway, I’m not going to beat myself up about it, considering that I have a brand new opportunity, to make lots of commission working for the Three network. I don’t know how long I’ll stay working for them, but I need to start making more money, what with Christmas just around the corner. In the New Year I’ll have to start visiting recruitment agencies in hopes to get a “real” job – despite my CV being available on every Irish recruitment website possible I seem to only be getting offers for sales positions. Shall I be doomed to work in retail, forever, regardless of my college education? If I can’t get a job with my degree, is there even any point in even doing a masters next year, is there any point in doing it ever?

5 Minutes to Fabulous?

If there’s one thing about “chiq” fem-phones that I’ve hated in the past, it’s that they are often feature-filled yet lack the ability to expand the memory. Take the Nokia 6111, great looking phone, fantastic features like bluetooth and a megapixel camera – yet, what’s the point of a megapixel camera phone if you can only take about 20 photographs at its highest resolution? The new Benq-Siemens E51 is a big change to this annoying trend. From the outside it appears to be the successor of the popular Siemens CL75 (the “poppy” phone) but there are some major differences, for instance the 1.3 megapixel camera instead of vga, it’s bluetooth enabled and also has a micro-sd slot so you can expand the memory. Siemens haven’t launched a new phone in a long time, the reason being that it was bought out by the Taiwan based Benq group. Rebranded as Benq-Siemens, and with the launch of the E51 into the Irish market also comes the E61, a “music phone” which boasts a 512mb miniSD card and dedicated music buttons. Both of these models are due to launch on the O2 Speakeasy range and will retail at approximately €150.

I had the opportunity to play around with both phones during the week, both phones have the same user interface which seems straightforward enough, easy to navigate, but with it’s bright colours it’s probably more suited to the teen market. Personally, I really like the style of the E61, its slick black with red/orange stripe reminded me of the A-team van. The dedicated music buttons are easy to use, and although it only has a vga camera I can definitely see this being a popular alternative to the more expensive Sony Ericsson “music phones”. With regards to the E51, it’s nice to see a phone that’s being marketed towards women that has excellent features such as bluetooth and a micro-sd slot. It borrows from the CL75 quite successfully, with its integrated compact mirror but also comes pre-loaded with a “5 minutes to fabulous” java application that shows you how to do your make-up in five easy steps. It’s this feature that made me take 5 steps away from this phone. I’m sure it’s not for everyone (me included) but it’s a nice gimmick and along with its low price, and with Christmas fast approaching it’s sure to be a big seller.

In personal news, I’ve had no feedback yet from Google about the Adsense position. So don’t ask. I’ve been told it will be sometime this week, possibly tomorrow, before I hear anything. At least in the meantime I can distract myself by trying out the “5 minutes to fabulous” java application to see if it can turn a butch like me into a pretty chiq girl… the odds are pretty slim though.

Oodles of Ipods

The interview with Google on Monday went really well, both team leaders who I met with were really nice, educated and nerdy. Despite feeling extremely over-dressed, it seems that everyday is “Casual Friday” at Google, I was comfortable and confident throughout the entire hour of interviews and simply being able to walk through the offices themselves was an interesting experience. I don’t want to overanalyse for now, but I’ll tell you one thing - the Google offices themselves are really funky and cool. I think I would fit in perfectly there. In a weird coincidence though (or maybe just the work of a certain search engine) there’s a comment on my previous post from someone who is competing for the same position as myself. Weird.

While I’ve been off contemplating moving jobs I’ve also been in the process of doing Apple Sales Training (I’ve gotten Silver Status, half way to Gold! Hurrah!), even I don’t use the knowledge to sell the products it’s a great way of finding out about Apple technology. Although, I still haven’t found the answer to why Jen’s new iPod Nano keeps freezing randomly and needs to be reset. I’ve been assured by one of my colleagues that all Nanos go through a “phase” where they need to be reset occasionally, Jen seems to think it’s going through puberty and it’s acting out against her.

Speaking of Ipods… the best time of the year to buy one would be right now. What with Apple launching the new iPod Nano and 80gb iPod, all the iPod range has gone down in price (so the old stock gets shifted quick) - you can actually pick up a 30gb/60gb Video iPod for €290/€340 here in 3G on Henry Street. Which I think, is a bargain. Although, I’ve heard a rumour that you can get the 30gb for only €270 in Spectra Photo on Grafton Street. Even nicer!

Seeing as there has been a price drop in the iPod range, it’s only natural that the Creative Zen Vision M will have to drop in price to compete and there is even rumour online that Creative will be upgrading the capacity of the Vision M to 80gb, they’ve also launched their new widescreen mp3/video player the Vision W. Since my Micro Photo got stolen I’ve been using a 1gb Creative player, which is fine by me, at least in the short term. If those Vision M players go down, I think I’ll invest in one of those rathar than an iPod.

The Google Saga Continues

I’ve wrote about it, ranted about it and I’ve talked about wanting to work for Google all throughout college. I wrote my thesis on online advertising because I’ve a passion for usability and hoped very much that this passion would land me a job with an exciting company such as Google.

Today, I finally have an opportunity to sell myself to them as I have my face-to-face interview at their Dublin office in Grand Canal Quay. I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be, I’m more excited than anything else. All those phone interviews have really prepared me, and in retrospect I’ve very thankful for them. So, I’m sitting in work contemplating it all, I’m off at 1pm as the interview is at 2pm. I’m wearing my pinstripe suit and I’m going to take out all of my piercings. I’ll be meeting with two of the AdSense team leaders - senior employees of Google. I’m hoping this will be the last of the interviews, as I think my brain will explode if I have to have another one.

It’s not like I’m putting my eggs all in one basket though - as a fail-safe I had a phone interview with Three on Thursday, and I have a face-to-face interview with them on Friday. It would be a really similar position to the one I already have, but with extra benefits and higher wages. It would be a nice new start, the kind of job I’d take just to get me out of here (I’m bored to tears with this place) and I’d keep saving my money for my masters next year.

I keep telling myself that even if I don’t secure the position with Google, at least it’s boosted my self-esteem and given me something to talk/rant/blog about for the last few months.

Trying To Move Forward

In my previous post, I mentioned that Google had yet to contact me and that I was considering being more aggressive in my attempt to secure a position. Perhaps I was being over-dramatic about my tactics, as all I did was e-mail them a revised copy of my CV. Within minutes of e-mailing them, however, I received a phone call to set up a second phone interview. I had this interview with a member of the Dublin based Adsense team on the 31st of August and I also had a third interview with another member of the team last Wednesday, the 6th of September.

These two interviews were rather different from the first one, as I was speaking directly to Adsense employees, and both seemed considerably more interested in my previous work experience, personality and education. It was actually really interesting to speak to them, both were very well educated and quite nerdy (in that good way, that I just love) - at certain points throughout each interview I found myself feeling like I was just chatting to them, rather than being interviewed, I really enjoyed speaking to people “on the inside”. With each interview I am becoming more confident, and I am becoming more prepared for the face-to-face interview(s) I am hoping to secure. As usual, as soon as I’ve more information about all this, it will be posted here.

As the Google recruitment process is so thorough (long), I have stopped actively searching for work elsewhere, but it has been pointed out to me (by many a friend) that I should probably not put all my eggs in one basket. This is difficult, as I am so certain that this job will fit me so perfectly. I’ve even been speaking excitedly about moving out, and finally getting my own place, more than likely in Dublin City Centre. Right now, the little day-dreams I have in my mind are of moving into Dublin, working in Google and spending each weekend happily lazing around with my partner. The urge to move out is increasing everyday, as the commute (on public transport unfortunately) into Dublin, to work, is getting longer and harder due to extensive road works. Speaking of work, actually, I got a nice little bonus of a weekend away in Ireland (to the value of €300) from Eircom for being a top-seller of Broadband throughout the summer months. It’s always nice to get a pat on the back.

Google do or Google don’t

In my entry dated the 4th of August I mentioned that I had just completed an online assessment for Google, I received a phone call from them on the 14th of August to tell me that I had passed and that they wanted to interview me… over the phone. I had the interview two days later.

The interviewer asked me plenty of basic questions, and a good few of those awkward ones like “Give me an example of a time in your workplace where you worked in a team.” They asked me about my thesis and college course, which I was delighted to talk about. We spoke for almost 30minutes, which I can only assume is a good thing.

But I was nervous as hell. I’ve never had a phone interview before and it was difficult to get into the right frame of mind, usually when you’re going for a job interview there are numerous steps you take before meeting the interviewer. Your journey there, finding the building, waiting for the interviewer - plenty of time that your mind is forced to concentrate on the task at hand. My mind wasn’t focused enough.

I’m not feeling very positive about how it went, especially since they told me they would get back to me in 2 to 3 days, tomorrow it will have been a week ago. When they do get back in contact with me it will be to tell me if I can progress to the next stage - a second phone interview and then, finally, a face-to-face interview. Google are s-l-o-w in their recruitment process. It’s worth the wait because the job sounds really interesting, the money is also considerably more than the basic I’m on at the moment, and, of course, it’s GOOGLE.

Opportunities on the Horizon

I just completed an online assessment for Google, the purpose of which was to assess my analytical skills, my Internet and product knowledge as well as my use of language. I applied for the AdSense Coordinator (English) position about a month ago. If my test results are sufficient I am assuming that they will contact me to organise an interview. Fingers crossed! The tests took an hour, and to be honest, it was rather difficult despite 75% of it being multiple choice.

Even if I don’t get an interview, I’m thankful for the opportunity to do the assessment – it’s not like any other test I’ve done before, and I don’t think I was very well prepared for the final section. It was free-form, assessing my ability to express myself in written form. I was asked a question on a topic and asked to write a response (a mini essay). I had 15 minutes to complete this section, and it was the only part where I felt really under pressure.

At least it’s better than an automated response.

So Google is closer on the horizon, but coincidentally so is a post-graduate course. IADT have two new Postgraduate Research Opportunities open for application, both projects involve teenagers and their Internet usage. The two project titles are:

Young People Online: The Alchemy of the Virtual and the Real in the Performance of Identity on Interactive Sites

Cyber Bullying: A New Dimension to an Old Problem

Both are extremely interesting topics, so I’m thinking very hard right now about whether to apply, or to keep to my original plan: to work for awhile, and then go back to college and do a taught masters.

Acceptance and Rejection

Strange day so far.

Acceptance: I got a phone call from O2 Retail, I’ve a job interview on Monday morning for a full-time position in the City Centre, selling phones, again. Boring, yes. But at least it’s money. Which I’ll need if I want to start saving for college next year.

Rejection: I got an automated e-mail from Google…

After carefully reviewing your experience and qualifications, we have determined that we do not have a position available which is a strongmatch at this time.

This is one of those times where automation sucks. If only there was someone I could actually physically talk to, that would answer this question for me: How am I supposed to get experience, when no-one wants to hire you, if you don’t have any? How annoying.