Work at Google: Past, Present & Future

I've been working at Google for just over a year and a half. This week I hit that mark and I actually didn't really think about it until now.

Quite honestly, If I look back on everything, I never thought I would be working at a tech company in the Silicon Valley or doing what I'm doing. I thought I would be working at some ad agency in LA, commuting on the 405, and slaving away with a salary less than $25K. Salary has never been my focus, so I'd be happily working for $25K, as long as I am loving what I'm doing and who I'm working with.

The Past

I came in at Google as a contractor/temp worker working in their AdWords department under their Online Sales and Operations division. AdWords is one of two advertising products Google has, the other being AdSense.

I started off as a 'representative' reviewing online ads. You had to be sharp, quick, and able to understand a vast amount of policies and apply them on a constant basis. During this time, I had Dara as my manager. She really helped me stay focused on improving performance. I also learned a lot from Kenji, who was not my direct manager, but the manager of some members on my team. From there I converted after 6 or so months of the stress as a temporary worker and turned into a 'coordinator.' As a coordinator, you actually interact with advertisers by answering emails, phones and chats. I didn't have any dedicated clients, but this was the time when I ramped up on product knowledge to understand a very very complex product. During this time, there was so much change. Flexibility is quite possibly the best trait to have as a Googler.

The Present

Recently, our 'coordinator' title changed to 'associate.' No promotion really, it was done out of making sure all departments had similar titles for the same job roles. I've continued to improve my product knowledge. However, for the past two quarters, I've mainly focused on internal mentoring, quality control, and customer satisfaction. I've had less interaction with clients, but I do truly enjoy helping people make the most of their online advertising.

The Future

I'll hit my 1 year working as a full-hire employee in July. I've virtually had the same manager, who had the same start date as me, since I converted. I had Matt as my manager my first quarter. But ever since then, I've had Megan, who I've learned a lot from. She's good at making me look at the big picture and not getting so focused on the present. Quite honestly, I'll miss having her as my manager. Everyone is sort of going different places next quarter.

I found out what team I'll be joining next quarter. It's a new team that's small and highly needed. I fought like nobody's business to get on this team. The primary focuses of this team will be (1) mentoring, (2) training, (3) quality control, (4) project management and (5) account management. It's sort of a hybrid team. That blends all of my interests into one. After being at Google for this long, I truly realized how much I like mentoring people. I always thought my first profession would be a teacher. So you could kind of think of it as being a teacher in corporate America.

Although I'll have a new manager, I wouldn't be where I am today without my temp manager Dara and my full hire managers Matt & Megan. I look forward to the challenges of Q3 and beyond.