Working with Google or Facebook is a dream of many engineers. One way to get a job in Google or Facebook is to work really hard during your college years and then hope that they’ll notice your resume because of your good (great?) grades and other academic credentials.
Securing good grades definitely helps but its not sufficient to land a job in Google and Facebook. You have to be creative and find new ways to get your resume noticed there.
Being Creative Helps
Alec Brownstein used Google Adwords to create ad campaigns targeting the HR managers and directors of various companies where he wanted a job. Now, everyone Googles his or her name from time to time to see what the world thinks about them. When the HR people and directors of these companies Googled their names, they saw the ads posted by Alec Brownstein, which helped him secure a job of his liking, just because of his innovative idea.
Open Door to Get into Google
Using innovative tactic like above works everywhere, but if you are looking just to get into Google, then the most important thing they are looking on your resume is your contribution in the open source. Just start contributing to open source projects to show that you can actually code, and you’ll improve your chances of getting into Google. Ben and Fitz share some more insightful tips to get your resume noticed at Google,
If you are confused about the resume formats before applying to Google, then you can check out the sample resumes by Google itself here and here.
Get A Job in Facebook
All the above tips are also applicable if your goal is to get into Facebook. But there is one more path towards your Facebook Future. Start by becoming a beta tester.
Facebook is continuously evolving and making a lot of changes everyday to its platform. It needs many beta testers to test all these new implementations. They recently announced that you can become a beta tester at Facebook by answering any three questions on your favorite topic. Yes, you read it right, any topic, any questions. Just be articulate, original and cite a lot from web (Wikipedia is your friend :)). Here’s an excerpt from the official announcement,
As a beta tester, your job will be to ask great questions and provide great answers about your favorite topics. Economics? Skydiving? Relationships? Mexican Restaurants? It’s up to you.
and here are some sample questions,
- What’s the secret to throwing a great housewarming party?
- What are some fun family activities to do with two small children on the weekend?
- What are the main differences between Google Chrome and Internet Explorer?
- What are women looking for in a relationship?
- What caused the U.S. stock market to crash in 2008?
You can apply to be a beta tester at Facebook by visiting this page.
Keep learning and Stay Updated
One of the most important thing to get a job (and keep your existing job) is to keep learning and staying updated about your area of expertise and the technological innovations happening around you. Read blogs, and subscribe to websites related to your field. To stay updated in the tech arena, subscribe to top tech blogs like HackTrix.
Use some or all of these ideas, and I’m sure you’ll be able to get into Google or Facebook. If you have more tips to add then please feel free to do so using the comments from below.