Google is ranked 1 by UK engineering/IT students

Life at Google isn’t just about fun – ‘Googlers’ also work hard. Communicating this duality has become a focus for the company.

By Michelle Boyde

“We’re perceived as a ‘fun place to work’ – which is certainly accurate, but not the whole story. You’ll have fun at Google, but you’ll also have to work very hard.”

Interview with Caitlin Pantos, University Programmes Specialist at Google

How long has Google focused on its employer brand?
Google’s attractiveness as an employer is a product of great people working together on some of the biggest technology problems existing today, and producing great results. This appeals to more great people, and they have helped to form a very unique company culture. This is based on true values and beliefs; a simple but compelling mission and a work atmosphere which fosters innovation through trust and collaboration. While this was not an orchestrated development of the employer brand at the very start, nevertheless, it has formed one of the world’s strongest employer brands. Today, we are of course more conscious about the power of our employer brand.

Is employer branding driven by the senior management team?
Google’s culture implies that very little is driven from the top – we’re built and run on lots of direction from the bottom. We get general mission directives from senior management, but if an individual sees a problem he or she just goes ahead and solves it. This localised rather than centralised approach means that all Googlers are involved in employer branding to some extent.

Is Google the same employer it was before the recession started?
Yes – definitely! The recession hasn’t changed the type of people we hire and it hasn’t altered the type of personality that will thrive at Google – motivated, creative, flexible and self-disciplined people are still what we need. Regardless of economic circumstances, Googlers will always find a way to get the work done and have fun doing it.

How does Google think it is perceived by students? Is it accurate?
We’re perceived as a ‘fun place to work’ – which is certainly accurate, but not the whole story. You’ll have fun at Google, but you’ll also have to work very hard. At Google, you’re given the resources to make ideas a reality and there’s lots of room for creativity, but you also have to prove yourself. Then, it’s up to you what happens in your career – the sky is the limit.

It’s fantastic that you are ranked number one by engineering and IT students – but what disadvantages does this bring?
We have never had a problem attracting engineers, but we do want to ensure we attract the right people with the right skills. Again, we’re aiming at providing students and other potential applicants with a complete and honest view of life at Google – fun with hard work included. Students may see one of Google’s engineers giving a tech presentation and think ‘Wow, this is great, exciting stuff!’. But, simultaneously understand they aren’t yet at the level where they could do the work themselves. That’s fine! Maybe with a few years practice they’ll make great Google engineers…or maybe Google isn’t the right place for them after all. Regardless, we want to encourage students to push themselves beyond their limits, explore new possibilities, have fun and work hard, wherever their lives take them!

About Caitlin Pantos
Caitlin Pantos, from the US, has lived in London for four years and has been a ‘Googler’ for two and a half years.
Education: BA English and Fine Arts from St Josephs University, Philadelphia, US and Masters in English from University College London.
Most striking thing on my CV: I wrote my Master thesis on European comic books.

About Google
Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Number of employees: 20,000 worldwide
Something you would not expect: Many London Googlers have met the Queen! Her Majesty visited the office on October 2008 and David Hasselhoff visited the office in 2006.