Joey LohA janitor, plumber and pest controller all rolled into one.
That’s how Singaporean Googler Caleb Chao described his work as a software engineer for the global tech titan.
Indeed, the goofy 31-year-old reports to work to clean up (codes) and kill (software) bugs. It’s hard work having to ensure the smooth running of the world’s top search engine, but the challenge also comes with huge rewards for Mr Chao.
“As a front-end engineer, what I do is visible to thousands and millions of users. If my mum asks me what I do, I can show her,” Mr Chao said when he and fellow Singaporean Googler Ernest Goh hosted visiting students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, a scenic city in California.
A valedictorian of his cohort, Mr Chao graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2010. He had a short stint at DBS Bank before joining Google in 2011.
Valued at US$109.5 billion (S$153.07 billion), Google is now the world’s most valuable brand according to Brand Finance’s latest ranking. The tech giant is as famous for its enviable employee benefits as it is infamous for its arduous recruitment process.
Its sprawling campus in Mountain View – better known as Googleplex – comes with a gym, a pool, arcades, sleeping pods, a good number of cafes and micro-kitchens serving everything from gourmet meals to power juices – all free of charge. Its 60,000 or so full-time employees can also earn credits for massage services from on-site therapists.
Photo by Loh Joey
But getting one’s foot in the door is no mean feat. Full-time employees have to ace at least 6 rounds of interviews – 2 on the phone and 4 in person at Mountain View. After all, they are vying for a place at a company which receives more than 2 million job applications per year from around the world.
Then, how could polytechnic and university graduates from Singapore maximize their chances of landing an interview?
Apply for an internship first, Mr Caleb advised. “The internship conversion rate is pretty high, and the interview process for an intern is also shorter as compared to (that for) a full-time employee.”
He also added that there’s little to no difference in the salaries of an intern and a full-time employee – if they are hired to do the same job at the same level.
But more importantly, he urged students to pursue what they like doing instead of obsessing over joining any particular company.
“Don’t dream of joining a company,” he said. “Dream about doing what you love doing.”
Joey Loh
Give her a good book and you won’t see her out of her room for many days. With a strong wanderlust, Joey wishes to travel the world and soak in the various cultures the different places have to offer.
Foo Wee San
Currently a Year 2 Mass Communication Student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Wee San aspires to travel the world, meets new people and hears their stories.
Wani Irdina
Wani enjoys reading a good book in her free time and sharing her stories with friends.