Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

Today’s post is all about Asaf Paz, an Agency Lead on the Google Customer Solutions team, who shares what it was like to join Google while working remotely from a different country than the office he would relocate to.

What’s your role at Google?

I manage a team of very talented agency development managers. They help some of the biggest and most advanced agencies in the UK grow the businesses that they’re working with through Google Ads. 

What inspires you to come in (virtually) every day?

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most businesses needed to completely change their strategy to survive. Knowing that my team and I are helping thousands of businesses make this digital transformation successfully makes me feel very proud.

In addition to that, I always have a sense of anticipation for all the new things I’ll learn today — whether it's from my employees, my colleagues, managers — or the endless data and training that Google offers.  

Can you tell us about your decision to apply to work at Google? 

I established a digital marketing agency in 2005, ran it for 11 years and sold it to establish a software-as-a-service-based startup. After four years, although my startup was profitable and growing, I didn’t see it turning into the billion-dollar company I aspired to create — so I  decided to sell it. 

Around the same time, I finished my Executive MBA and started thinking about my next step. I knew I wanted to work with talented people and on projects that would have a large-scale impact.

I called many friends and colleagues to get their thoughts. A former employee of mine who now works at Google told me about a role that matched what I was looking for. The more I learned about the role and the team, the more I fell in love with it and decided to apply.

How did the recruitment process go for you? 

I began the process in January 2020, just before the pandemic affected Europe, and I had the opportunity to fly to the Dublin office in February for an interview. But then I went back to a lockdown when I came back to Tel-Aviv, and continued the rest of the process remotely.

The process was very transparent and structured. But what amazed me most about it is how human it was. Andy, my recruiter, was there with me from the first call until way after the contract was signed. In fact Andy is still in contact with me, sending me personal emails and organizing a monthly call.

How have you forged new contacts and relationships while working remotely?

I was surprised by the depth of the connections I’ve established with my team and other Googlers so far. Maybe it’s the fact that we see each other's houses and families on the first call that makes us open up and talk about personal things pretty quickly. 

Google has brilliant people that are humble and fun to work with. They go above and beyond to help another Googler. What I like most about the people here is that they measure everything, learn quickly and perform better the next time.

What advice would you give to someone considering the move to Google at the current time?

There are advantages to starting work remotely. I’m an office person, and I’m really looking forward to starting working with my team in the office. That said, since this new job involves relocation, it’s been easier to focus on onboarding without also needing to also figure out things like moving the family to a new country, plus adjusting to a new school and language for the kids.

Additionally, all meetings being virtual helps me learn faster by attending more meetings as a guest and seeing everything in action. 

Do you have any tips you’d like to share with aspiring Googlers?

The first one is to apply, I talked to so many people that told me that their dream is to join a company like Google — but when I asked them what roles they applied for, they said they actually didn’t. So it might seem obvious but my first tip is to apply.

Then, my next tip would be to treat the process with respect, prepare for the different stages, and be curious by asking as many questions as you can.

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

Today’s post is all about Su Mei Teh, the Asia Pacific Head of the Payments Product Operations team, based in Singapore. Su Mei shares how she moved from financial services to tech, and how the critical thinking and business management skills she honed applied to multiple roles at Google

What does your typical work day look like right now?

It’s usually full of meetings due to the collaboration between teams: They’re based across 12 offices in 8 timezones! I generally start the day with video conference meetings with colleagues in California and end the day meeting with colleagues in Europe. In between, I carve out time for focused work, such as writing a strategy document or reviewing a financial model. 

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Outside of Google, I spend time with my family and volunteer with a variety of causes. I’m a founding member of the Singapore chapter of the Asian Google Network, an employee resource group that supports professional and personal development for the multicultural Asian community in Google. I also re-discovered my joy of singing by joining the Musicians @Google Singapore group.

How did you find the transition from financial services to Google?

When I got the offer to join the Google Ads team, I was in disbelief. Up to that point, I thought that my chances were slim as I had no prior digital ads experience and felt branded as a financial services professional. Thankfully, the critical thinking and business management skills that I had acquired could be applied in Google as well. 

You don’t need to have a computer science or engineering background to be in Google. Google is such a diverse company with many products and services, which require many functions to support its operations and growth. Sales, project management, financial controlling, strategy, operations, legal, etc. All these are roles we have in Google that don’t require prior tech experience! 

What has your experience been with internal mobility (moving to different teams) within Google?

My first role at Google was strategy and operations management on the Google Ads team. After a few years I wanted to get closer to the heart of product development, so I moved to payment product operations. I also wanted to satisfy some of my entrepreneurial appetite in a team that was essentially a start-up within Google. Lastly, payments and fintech (financial technology) were rapidly growing sectors. It was, and still is, an exciting time to be in that space. 

What inspires you to come in (or log on) every day?

I’ve been working on a very fun (though intense) project -- the relaunch of Google Pay in Singapore. We completely reimagined the Google Pay app to be more immersive and rewarding for our users. I learned to work with a lot of ambiguity, and picked up some new know-how in the process. It’s been heartening to receive compliments from friends at how much they love Google Pay.

What's one thing you wish you could go back and tell yourself before applying?

I wish I had applied to Google earlier. I was filled with skepticism about my chances given I assumed my financial services experience wouldn’t be relevant. Speaking to people in Google really helped me realise that there were a large variety of roles, many of which made use of the skills I built elsewhere. 

Do you have any tips you’d like to share with aspiring Googlers?

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

Today’s post is all about Mohamed Yosri Ahmed, a Site Reliability Engineer at our Munich office. Yosri’s passion for coding competitions led him to Google -- and now he supports young programmers as a mentor in Google’s own series of coding competitions!

So first off, what is “competitive programming” and what are the competitions like?

In competitive programming, participants put their skills to the test as they work their way through a series of algorithmic puzzles. Competitions are timed, and oftentimes you’re working together with a group of teammates in order to solve difficult puzzles together. Competitive programming is really fun and challenges those who practice it to grow technically and personally.

 How did you first get involved with competitive programming?

 I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. I got my computer science bachelor’s degree from Ain Shams University, which is also when my journey with competitive programming (CP) began. Since then I’ve developed a passion for problem solving and finding solutions to complex challenges and riddles.

What’s your role at Google?

 I am a Site Reliability Engineer at the Production Productivity Engineering team. We focus on helping Google rapidly launch reliable services through applying best practices. We get to engage with many teams working in many different areas; this is challenging yet super exciting.

I also help run the Google's Coding Competitions such as Code Jam and Kick Start.

What inspires you to log in every day?

At Google there are always new learning opportunities and the possibilities to grow are endless. Google really cares about its employees’ growth and happiness at work.

Also the impact of my team’s work and the products we build, that affects so many people's lives in many ways, makes me feel grateful and inspired to do more.

How did the recruitment process go for you?

After graduating from college, I got contacted by a Google recruiter following my performance in Code Jam that year. Relocation at that point was not easy for me so we had to stop the process. A couple of months later, I got contacted again by another Google recruiter to explore opportunities. By then, things were clear for me and we decided to move forward and start the interview process. I actually flew from the International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals in Portugal to do my onsite interviews in France.

How did you join the Site Reliability Engineering team at Google?

After passing the interviews, I proceeded to the next step: software engineer team matching. My recruiter also asked me about my interest in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) which I didn’t know much about at the time. A Googler SRE friend suggested I check out one of the free online books Google SREs wrote to share their best practices.

How did coding competitions prepare you for SRE at Google?

Competitive programming can help participants develop lots of skills that are useful for SRE, like dealing with ambiguity and being able to troubleshoot abstract ideas without necessarily being the expert. 

CP trains us to focus on targets and how to achieve them. The short time limits teaches us to appreciate every moment and to efficiently utilize the resources we have.

Another aspect of similarity is troubleshooting and testing at scale. Both are key skills and responsibilities for SRE in order to be confident about a system and to know why it may or may not work. With tight time constraints to solve different problems and penalties on wrong attempts, CPers develop their testing and troubleshooting skills.

Both CP communities and SRE thrive on communication and collaboration. SREs have huge diversity in their responsibilities and how they approach them. Cross team collaboration during incidents for a common mitigation goal is similar to a CP style where 3 teammates are trying to solve the same problem on a single PC. In this style, coordination of efforts is essential. 

In CP, team members may have different strengths in different algorithmic and data structures topics and they join their skills to solve more complex problems. Along the way, we learn to make use of our different skill sets in order to succeed together. 

Any other tips you’d like to share with aspiring Googlers?

The path to success is not unique. These paths may cross but they may never be the same for everyone. We should identify our skills and put them into practice to sharpen them. We should always keep on learning and aiming for a better future. 

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

Today’s post is all about Mohamed Yosri Ahmed, a Site Reliability Engineer at our Munich office. Yosri’s passion for coding competitions led him to Google -- and now he supports young programmers as a mentor in Google’s own series of coding competitions!

So first off, what is “competitive programming” and what are the competitions like?

In competitive programming, participants put their skills to the test as they work their way through a series of algorithmic puzzles. Competitions are timed, and oftentimes you’re working together with a group of teammates in order to solve difficult puzzles together. Competitive programming is really fun and challenges those who practice it to grow technically and personally.

 How did you first get involved with competitive programming?

 I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. I got my computer science bachelor’s degree from Ain Shams University, which is also when my journey with competitive programming (CP) began. Since then I’ve developed a passion for problem solving and finding solutions to complex challenges and riddles.

What’s your role at Google?

 I am a Site Reliability Engineer at the Production Productivity Engineering team. We focus on helping Google rapidly launch reliable services through applying best practices. We get to engage with many teams working in many different areas; this is challenging yet super exciting.

I also help run the Google's Coding Competitions such as Code Jam and Kick Start.

What inspires you to log in every day?

At Google there are always new learning opportunities and the possibilities to grow are endless. Google really cares about its employees’ growth and happiness at work.

Also the impact of my team’s work and the products we build, that affects so many people's lives in many ways, makes me feel grateful and inspired to do more.

How did the recruitment process go for you?

After graduating from college, I got contacted by a Google recruiter following my performance in Code Jam that year. Relocation at that point was not easy for me so we had to stop the process. A couple of months later, I got contacted again by another Google recruiter to explore opportunities. By then, things were clear for me and we decided to move forward and start the interview process. I actually flew from the International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals in Portugal to do my onsite interviews in France.

How did you join the Site Reliability Engineering team at Google?

After passing the interviews, I proceeded to the next step: software engineer team matching. My recruiter also asked me about my interest in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) which I didn’t know much about at the time. A Googler SRE friend suggested I check out one of the free online books Google SREs wrote to share their best practices.

How did coding competitions prepare you for SRE at Google?

Competitive programming can help participants develop lots of skills that are useful for SRE, like dealing with ambiguity and being able to troubleshoot abstract ideas without necessarily being the expert. 

CP trains us to focus on targets and how to achieve them. The short time limits teaches us to appreciate every moment and to efficiently utilize the resources we have.

Another aspect of similarity is troubleshooting and testing at scale. Both are key skills and responsibilities for SRE in order to be confident about a system and to know why it may or may not work. With tight time constraints to solve different problems and penalties on wrong attempts, CPers develop their testing and troubleshooting skills.

Both CP communities and SRE thrive on communication and collaboration. SREs have huge diversity in their responsibilities and how they approach them. Cross team collaboration during incidents for a common mitigation goal is similar to a CP style where 3 teammates are trying to solve the same problem on a single PC. In this style, coordination of efforts is essential. 

In CP, team members may have different strengths in different algorithmic and data structures topics and they join their skills to solve more complex problems. Along the way, we learn to make use of our different skill sets in order to succeed together. 

Any other tips you’d like to share with aspiring Googlers?

The path to success is not unique. These paths may cross but they may never be the same for everyone. We should identify our skills and put them into practice to sharpen them. We should always keep on learning and aiming for a better future.