Post by Shannon Brown
Last week I ventured beyond Silicon Valley and met Craig Nevill-Manning, Kiwi and Director of Engineering at Google, New York. While visiting the urban campus I found that although gaining access into the building can be challenging, entry to work for Google is a very achievable dream.
Craig has been with Google for over 10 years and founded the first remote engineering center in Manhattan. Although New York is very much Craig’s home, he still regularly visits a local NZ owned coffee shop called Happy Bones, maintains a Sir Edmund Hillary media clipping wall at Google, and also has a passion for helping kiwi entrepreneurs.
What advice would you give to New Zealanders who hope to work at Google?
Besides the general requirements like doing well in school, there are a few things I have picked up on that are worth considering from a New Zealander’s perspective.
Confidence. Americans in general are much more confident and will explain why they are worthy, but as New Zealanders we tend to be overly humble, which holds us back a little.
Internships. A good number of our current employees are hired through internships at Google. It gives us a chance to see if they are a good fit and like wise. Google in Sydney is also a good place to start for New Zealanders.
Initiative & passion.We look for people that are engaged in side projects and have gone beyond their studies or role in employment. It shows that they are passionate and not just doing it for a job. Craig also has his own website called Medals Per Capita, which shows Olympic metals based on the size of the country, New Zealand is currently number four.
Sir Edmund Hillary wall crafted by Craig
For more tips on how to be
come a Googler visit their ‘how we hire’ page.
Initially I got lost while searching for the Manhattan campus, I don’t know how this is possible considering the building is the second largest in New York! After making it through two security checks, and receiving two sets of nametags, I realized that where they lacked in exterior signage, they made up for with the five acres of Google centric spaces I was guided through.
Thank you to Craig for taking time to show me around, it was fascinating to get a glimpse of life at Google and to experience the guarded nature of the space. I guess if I want to learn more and get beyond the “no visits, Googlers at work” sign I know what to do!