Monday Sept. 9 and Tuesday Sept. 10, students at the MU College of Engineering were able to glimpse into their possible future profession. Google engineers hosted sessions about life at the company and as software engineers. Events included talks about inclusivity in the workplace and resumé building workshops.
The week was a networking opportunity for engineering students as well as a chance to learn more about life at Google. The company came to MU in hopes of encouraging a variety of engineering students to think about applying to work for them.
Diversity and inclusivity was the big idea of the events. MU alumni and Google employees Brooke Haile-Mariam and Lorenzo Boyice spoke about Google’s desire to make the workplace represent the company’s product users more. The first talk of the week expanded upon this idea by expressing the importance of inclusion of women in tech and fostering a sense of community.
“We have a saying at Google that if you put the users first, all else will follow, so that’s our motto,” Boyice said. “We’re definitely trying to recruit a diverse range of engineers, that way we can create products that are inclusive and cater to our consumer base.”
Google also offered resumé building workshops and mock interviews throughout the two days to prepare students for the job interview process. Tuesday’s Life of a [Software Engineer] event gave a glimpse into what life would be like after the several rounds of coding and interviews that Google asks of their prospective employees.
The presentation took the students through the daily life of a software engineer — coding, answering emails, napping in one of Google’s nap rooms. It also provided students with tips of how to go about applying and working at the company.
“Work hard at Google to make it the best place possible,” Haile-Mariam said at the event.
Throughout each of the presentations, a solid work and play life balance was emphasized, so it made sense that Monday included a little bit of both. The Tech Challenge session included puzzles and games where students formed groups and competed against each other while working against the clock to code. Students munched on provided Domino’s Pizza while they worked on three different puzzles, each of varying lengths, typing away on their laptops in Lafferre Hall.
The two days provided students the opportunity to learn more about Google as well as about what life can be like as an engineer.
“The engineering events hosted by Google offered further insight into the field of Software Engineering that we don’t receive in class,” senior engineering student Sam Bishop-Gutknecht said. “Google’s presentations offered useful information about inclusivity in the workplace, company culture, the daily routine of a software engineer, as well as the engineering interview process.”
_Edited by Laura Evans | levans@themaneater.com_
