Mamma MIA!
It was the best of times, then the worst of times...then the best again! To what do I owe this great emotional roller coaster ride to? Why, recruiting of course!
Everyone goes to business school with the aim of getting into some company or industry they've been eyeing. For me, it was to get into a management consulting firm like Bain/BCG/McKinsey or get into product management at Yahoo or Google. Somehow, after the crazy twists and turns of ridiculous world travel, feverish socializing, miraculous semi-conscious knowledge osmosis in class (only thing that saves me time after time), and intense competition in the recruiting arena, i found myself flying into the Bay Area this week to participate in the only final round interviews I managed to get this whole quarter - with McKinsey and Google!
I was counting my lucky stars to even have a shot at these jobs, but I knew that I was up against some of the most qualified individuals in b-school for the few open positions that were available. I was nervous but ready to do battle. Eye of the Tiger played continuously and I knew that I should only focus on what I can control. These were my fights to win...or lose.
GOOGLE, Wed 11/8, 9:00 AM
Our recruiting shuttle pulled up to the Googleplex in Mountain View right on time. I couldn't believe what I saw outside my shuttle window. Outside the giant, oddly-shaped office buildings, people in all sorts of crazy, colorful outfits were riding their bikes, milling around, and zipping by on motorized scooters. I would soon learn that these were some of the 9000 Googlers at the firm.
The shuttle dropped off the respective groups and my Product Management group was let off last, along with the Product Marketing Manager candidates. We headed into the G-plex and jumped into a talk about how the most exciting people work at Google and how great of a time we'd have it we were there. If that wasn't preaching to the choir, I don't know what is. This was one amazing place and I think we were all drooling a bit at the prospect of getting an offer. Oh ho ho, what a silly idea to entertain so early in the day! But entertain it we did...
We were sent off to our interviewing cubes, which, oddly did not have any ceilings and it was possible to hear the other interviews next door. Anyhow, it didn't matter as I was focusing solely on what my interviewers were saying. 2 PMs and a software developer quizzed me on all sorts of product management questions, as well as some theoretical technical stuff. There was only 30 minutes per interview, so it felt very rushed. The fact that one of my interviewers looked like he was ready to sleep right there in my cube wasn't too encouraging. I headed into lunch thinking that I was dead meat.
After a tasty Mexican lunch (Google has free food all day, if you haven't yet heard), the PMs were ushered back into our first meeting room, where we were then informed that some of us would make it to the never-before-mentioned Round 2, where we would meet with directors. Ohhhh....kay. They handed us some fancy Google bags and we were called into the hallway, three by three. I started having flashbacks of the Apprentice and hoped that I would be sent down to the street. Amazingly, I was brought back for the second round and I had some fluid and interesting conversations with the next two interviewers. I left the Googleplex, feeling better about myself. But man, I could not wait a whole week to find out the results! This was by no means a slam dunk, so the wait on pins and needles began.
So, with one down, I had another to go and this time, it was time to do battle with McKinsey Palo Alto on Friday...
Everyone goes to business school with the aim of getting into some company or industry they've been eyeing. For me, it was to get into a management consulting firm like Bain/BCG/McKinsey or get into product management at Yahoo or Google. Somehow, after the crazy twists and turns of ridiculous world travel, feverish socializing, miraculous semi-conscious knowledge osmosis in class (only thing that saves me time after time), and intense competition in the recruiting arena, i found myself flying into the Bay Area this week to participate in the only final round interviews I managed to get this whole quarter - with McKinsey and Google!
I was counting my lucky stars to even have a shot at these jobs, but I knew that I was up against some of the most qualified individuals in b-school for the few open positions that were available. I was nervous but ready to do battle. Eye of the Tiger played continuously and I knew that I should only focus on what I can control. These were my fights to win...or lose.
GOOGLE, Wed 11/8, 9:00 AM
Our recruiting shuttle pulled up to the Googleplex in Mountain View right on time. I couldn't believe what I saw outside my shuttle window. Outside the giant, oddly-shaped office buildings, people in all sorts of crazy, colorful outfits were riding their bikes, milling around, and zipping by on motorized scooters. I would soon learn that these were some of the 9000 Googlers at the firm.
The shuttle dropped off the respective groups and my Product Management group was let off last, along with the Product Marketing Manager candidates. We headed into the G-plex and jumped into a talk about how the most exciting people work at Google and how great of a time we'd have it we were there. If that wasn't preaching to the choir, I don't know what is. This was one amazing place and I think we were all drooling a bit at the prospect of getting an offer. Oh ho ho, what a silly idea to entertain so early in the day! But entertain it we did...
We were sent off to our interviewing cubes, which, oddly did not have any ceilings and it was possible to hear the other interviews next door. Anyhow, it didn't matter as I was focusing solely on what my interviewers were saying. 2 PMs and a software developer quizzed me on all sorts of product management questions, as well as some theoretical technical stuff. There was only 30 minutes per interview, so it felt very rushed. The fact that one of my interviewers looked like he was ready to sleep right there in my cube wasn't too encouraging. I headed into lunch thinking that I was dead meat.
After a tasty Mexican lunch (Google has free food all day, if you haven't yet heard), the PMs were ushered back into our first meeting room, where we were then informed that some of us would make it to the never-before-mentioned Round 2, where we would meet with directors. Ohhhh....kay. They handed us some fancy Google bags and we were called into the hallway, three by three. I started having flashbacks of the Apprentice and hoped that I would be sent down to the street. Amazingly, I was brought back for the second round and I had some fluid and interesting conversations with the next two interviewers. I left the Googleplex, feeling better about myself. But man, I could not wait a whole week to find out the results! This was by no means a slam dunk, so the wait on pins and needles began.
So, with one down, I had another to go and this time, it was time to do battle with McKinsey Palo Alto on Friday...
posted by dodger | 1:09 AM
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