Interested in working for Google Dublin? Check out our new grad positions today and apply!
EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.
Posted by Anna Nordkvist, Associate Account Strategist.
The summit included a jam-packed two-day agenda full of workshops and trainings that provided a unique networking opportunity by bringing all of the students from the region on-site. Students were not only exposed to Google’s tools, products, programs and technologies by over 20 Googlers, but were given resources to enhance their professional development that they could take back to their peers as well. Additionally, many Ambassadors enjoyed their first visit to a Google office, where they were introduced to our unique, collaborative work environment and given an opportunity to meet our hard-working sales, marketing and Developer Relations teams and learn about their day-to-day.
Ethan Cohen delivers an interactive training on G+
Highlights included interactive, thought-provoking sessions where students would break out into groups to “hack” answers to potential challenges on campus, collaborating and networking with Argentine Googlers during office “merienda”, and lots of color as students sported cultural and school spirited clothing each day of the event. Whether Ambassadors were brainstorming use of Hangouts in the classroom or discussing
And the fun wasn’t confined to the office - Ambassadors got the chance to explore the city, were treated to a classical Argentine meal and tango show, and had to put their learnings to the test at Tango classes!
Ambassadors celebrating in the Buenos Aires office
By the time the Ambassadors danced their way to the stage during the graduation ceremony, it was evident how close they had become to one another and how much they had learned during the summit. Many of the newly appointed LatAm GSAs described this opportunity as one of the most rewarding, empowering experiences of their life, which we were thrilled to hear. We only anticipate great things on campus from our LatAm GSAs in 2013!
Posted by Sarah Henderson, Student Development Programs
Over the past eight years more than 6,000 students have “graduated” from this global program, working with almost 400 different open source projects. Students who are accepted into the program will put the skills they have learned in university to good use by working on an actual software project over the summer. Students are paired with mentors to help address technical questions and concerns throughout the course of the project. With the knowledge and hands-on experience students gain during the summer they strengthen their future employment opportunities in fields related to their academic pursuits. Best of all, more source code is created and released for the use and benefit of all.
Interested students can submit proposals on the website starting now through Friday, May 3 at 12:00pm PDT. Get started by reviewing the ideas pages of the 177 open source projects in this year’s program, and decide which projects you’re interested in. Because Google Summer of Code has a limited number of spots for students, writing a great project proposal is essential to being selected to the program. Be sure to check out the Student Manual for advice.
For ongoing information throughout the application period and beyond, see the Google Open Source blog, join our Summer of Code mailing lists or join us on Internet relay chat at #gsoc on Freenode.
Good luck to all the open source coders out there, and remember to submit your proposals early—you only have until May 3 to apply!
How do you explain to your grandmother what you do at Google?
I’ve tried that before! My core job is to support AdWords advertisers - well in my case, Dutch speaking advertisers. So I help them via email, phone and chat to develop good advertising strategies and to solve any problems they may run into.
In addition, I fulfill several roles on the team. For example, I’m responsible for the content on the Dutch AdWords Help Center. It is my job to make sure that all articles posted are up to date and correct. I also evaluate and monitor the customer-interactions of some of my colleagues to ensure they meet Google standards. Every few quarters we change roles within the team, so that everyone has the chance to learn new skills.
Lots to learn, it seems?
No day is the same! This quarter I have been selected for a 50% rotation which I am really excited about. This means that I will spend half of my time with a different team within the organization to gain new experiences. I joined the Staffing Team. This team falls under the People Operations Group and is responsible for hiring the next generation of Googlers into the organisation. During my rotation, I’ll be developing my project management skills and I’m looking into creating some impactful process improvements for them.
So you’re keeping busy?
Yes, believe it or not, in between our regular foosball competitions we do actually get some work done in the end! And now that we have a miniature golf course on our floor, there’s yet another opportunity for me to broaden my skills set!
Interested in working for Google Dublin? Check out our new grad positions today and apply!
EEA work authorization is required for roles supporting EEA markets.
Posted by Janna Walvoort, Global Customer Services.
The Google Student Ambassadors (GSA) in MENA have also succeeded in holding social media awareness events, introducing new features of Google+. One of these events hosted none other than G+ Ambassador, Myriam Fares at AUL in Lebanon, along with Wael Fakharany, Google’s Regional Manager for Egypt and North Africa. Hundreds of attendees watched as Myriam Fares introduced G+ features, including Hangouts, and talked about how it helped remove the barrier of distance between her and her fans around the world.
Myriam Fares hosts G+ awareness event
But GSA activities aren’t just limited to campus. During his recent visit to Palestine, President Obama asked to meet with active youth to understand the problems, challenges, as well as youth initiatives in the region. Local NGO’s nominated eight students to represent their country to the US delegation. Among the elite eight was Akram Dweikat, Google Student Ambassador and Google Developer Group (GDG) leader in Nablus. Akram was selected because of his numerous activities in the field of technology as a GSA, a GDG leader, and even before that as an NGO volunteer.
Akram meets with President Obama
During his meeting with President Obama, Akram spoke about the GSA and GDG programs and related events, including StartUp Weekend Nablus and other events he held on campus. He talked about how investment in entrepreneurship, new business ideas, and development would help build a better future for those in Palestine. Though support for these initiatives is still much needed, programs such as the GSA and GDG enable communities to learn from one another and share valuable experiences. They also help to highlight and enrich the skills of the talented youth in the region - creating a gateway for university students to discover their hidden potential, challenge themselves in the field and get recognized for their hard work and ultimately do cool things that matter!
If you want to join the fun - and are currently studying for your masters or bachelor degree in a university in the Middle East and North Africa with at least one more academic year ahead of you - this is your chance to be part of history and become a 2013-2014 Google Student Ambassador.
Deadline for registration has been extended to April 24, 2013, so apply now!
I have always been inspired by how computer scientists such as Larry Page and Sergey Brin have changed the world through technology, and I thought it would be cool to spend my summer at Google. Although I was quite interested in computer science, I was actually uncertain whether or not I could pursue it. I had never programmed before CSSI, and I had this misconception of computer scientists being expert hackers (which I wasn’t) who played video games for most of their time (which I didn’t). Therefore, attending CSSI seemed like the perfect way for me to not only experience what it is like at Google, but also learn more about computer science and find out if it is right for me.
On the very first day of CSSI, the instructors told us we would learn how to program in two weeks and build a web application by the end of the program. I could not believe my ears. For someone who had never even typed a single word in any programming language before, building a web application in one week was unimaginable. For the first two weeks we learned a new topic each day. First it was App Inventor, then it was HTML, Javascript, CSS, Python, and AppEngine—basically everything we needed to build a web application.
At the end of two very intense weeks of training, we were ready to take on the big challenge of creating our first web applications. We were divided into groups, and immediately began working together. What I really liked about the projects was that we could do anything we wanted. This made the process extremely enjoyable because everyone was so excited about what the group was creating that we all worked tirelessly together to make our web applications the best they could be. We also received lots of support from interns and other Googlers who not only helped us debug our programs but also showed us the master ways of doing things. Finally, after a week of frantic programming, we finished our web applications and presented them to Googlers around the world (thanks to Hangouts!). It was truly an amazing feeling to realize what everyone achieved in three weeks and to have our web applications tried out by other people.
CSSI was life changing for me because it helped me discover my love for computer science and convinced me to pursue the field. It really opened up the door to a whole world that I had never dared to enter, and showed me how beautiful computer science is. Learning how to make web applications has given me the power to create anything I want, and since the program ended I have built several web applications myself to solve some of my problems. The Googlers and fellow CSSIers I met have taught me how to tackle problems in different ways and have inspired me to be the programmer I am today.
