What I Did at Google

Hola Wonder Stars,

I get a lot of questions from old friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers asking what it is that I did at Google, so here you go!

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

People 

  • I attend 2-4 meetings and I respond to 16-20 emails. I meet with Jacob to discuss Java, email Carena about community engagement, and video chat Jiwa to discuss how our teammates in Japan are doing.

Product 

  • I’m THE product expert for a sub-section of Google Ads, so I answer tough questions about the what, where, how, when, and why of product features for colleagues across my company and users across the globe.

Process

  • I automate my job away by coming up with gee-whiz ideas for how to operationalize tasks that are currently completed by people like me.

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Partnerships

  • Whenever I enter a new world, I like to meet as many people as possible. So, when I joined Google’s Boulder office I did just that by joining employee resources groups ranging from the Jewglers (Jewish Googlers) to the Mewglers (Cat-owning Googlers). By knowing so many people, I’m able to broker connections between groups and individuals who can help one another from the boardroom to the batting cages - did I mention we had an intramural softball league pre-COVID?

Speaking Gigs

  • I love doing keynotes and introducing large groups of people to new concepts, and being a Googler means a lot of people assume I have immense expertise in everything from ML to UX to HCI (if you don’t know what those stand for, neither did I before I began doing talks on them ;). With Google I’ve been able to speak all over Vietnam on topics ranging from the Cloud to Entrepreneurship, and I loved every minute of it. You can learn more by checking out bit.ly/EboniDevFestTripReport.

Ad Hoc Pandemonium 

  • In the spare time I have left, I like to spin up fun little events like Boulder Startup Weekend - a local hackathon - and ‘Lights, Camera, Ability: Accessibility in Entertainment,’ a virtual panel event for Googlers to learn about how disability inclusion shows up in the real world. You can check it out at bit.ly/LightsCameraAbility. Organizing events allows me to get my creative juices flowing and impact my professional community in a positive way.

Bonus

  • Boulder Googlers are a fit bunch, so I also go on a ton of hikes with my coworkers and get tips on the best places to procure kombucha.





Feel free to add any questions or feedback in the comments section :)

Wishing you sunshine and serendipity,

Eboni

Previous
Previous

How to Be a Good Public Speaker

Next
Next

How to Be a Good Artist-in-Resident