Uptree

Google hosted an IT, software engineering and digital marketing work experience day in March and, unsurprisingly, it was a highly sought after event to attend with close to 300 applicants!

College student Leslie got one of the 30 places for the day - she is currently studying Information Technology and was keen to attend as she told us,

'Google are passionate about diversity and helping others which can be clearly seen within their website... they have programmes for people with different ethnicities to participate and their values are about creating something better for everyone'.

Leslie has a CyberFirst Advanced SCFQ Level 6

Here, Leslie shares her experiences of the day and her advice for other students interested in tech careers.

How did you prepare for the event?

I researched the company Google on their website to prepare myself better before attending the event.

I decided to go to the careers website to get a better insight of what Google values are and to know a bit more about their culture life and diversity. This was very important for me because I know for a fact that there is still a need for more diversity in the tech sector, so I was really impressed on what Google is doing to approach for a better diversity in the workspace.

Also another thing that I did was to visit Google’s YouTube channel, Life at Google .

I watched different videos on people’s personal experience which helped me come up with questions for the panellists about their experience working at Google

What was your experience like with Google?

I found the event very interactive as there was an opportunity to ask questions throughout the event which was very useful to get more insight about life at Google.

What I particularly liked the most from this event is that there were breakout rooms where we could ask direct questions so for me it was useful to ask questions directly to the apprentices which I have not seen before in other events.

One of the questions that I asked was what’s the work like at Google which I have learned that a Googlers day can vary each day from handling projects to attending talks which I found it interesting to know about.

Throughout the discussions it also developed into theme questions like one of the panellists Sparky is a software engineer manager and in the breakout rooms there was discussions on her experience on being a female manager at Google.

Finally with the online event there were polls throughout the presentation which made it fun experience.

Tell us about some things that inspired you!

One of the most surprising things that I found out about the company is that Google is all about collaborating and team building.

Emily from Google talks about the company's collaborative spirit and community work

The company does a lot so that team building is possible which included Google hosting talks, creating offices where employees can have a display with sticky-notes and have outside work events to socialise with employees that does not have to relate with work.

It made me more interested in applying next year because I do enjoy collaborating with people and working on a project together to create something good out of it.

Did anything particularly stand out for you?

One of the apprentices, Mohan really stood out to me as his career journey is what I can relate with because he did a IT course at college instead of going through the traditional academic route of A-levels.

Mohan inspired me to see that it is possible to achieve a career in a big technology company

Also when talking about his journey he mentioned that he applied to Google twice with the first time being rejected. He gave advice to make sure that when you apply for a job, in your application you demonstrate your passion.

Mohan also gave personal motivation from his life journey that its important to not be afraid to try different things and reflect that everything you’ve done has brought to where you are now which has been really positive advice with all the things we are going through at this moment.

Do you have any advice for other students also interested in technology like you?

One of the most important advice is to make sure that as a student you are able to demonstrate your passion for this industry.

What I have learned from this experience which also has been said multiple times in the event is that people in the industry are looking for those who have passion and eager to learn something new.

In order to demonstrate it there are a few things you can do which include applying for work experience like what Uptree offers, attending talks, doing courses online and having your own hobbies outside of school. These all demonstrate that not only you are passionate but also shows that you are able to balance your time which is also another important skill to have.

Final advice is to be open to trying.

When I was younger I was definitely not open to trying new experiences and meeting new people but the more I did it the better I have become. Taking the first step is often better in an opportunity because you never know where it can lead you.