Google Student Blog: Diary of a Summer Intern - Madelaine

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Diary of a Summer Intern - Madelaine

June 22, 2011

Hey guys!

It’s been a fast-paced week, but I’m finally getting adjusted to how things work here in Mountain View. This summer, I will be working on revamping how ads are displayed on Google image search, which means collaborating with people from ads user interface, image search, media ads and other teams. My first few days on the job, I’ve been meeting with people from all these various teams—project managers, engineers, tech leads, and product specialists—to learn what they’re working on and what their responsibilities are. When I’m not finding excuses to ride the awesome Google rainbow bikes around the Mountain View campus, I’m also doing research and reading documentation on how ads at Google work, so that I can understand what everyone is talking about all the time. For example, acronyms such as CPC, ROI, and CTR* all have new meaning to me.

These meetings have also been a great way to orient myself with the Googleplex. It’s a good thing I’ve been running (and biking) from place to place so much because the microkitchens are everywhere, meaning snacks are never more than 100 feet away. However, fitting with Bay Area culture, most of the choices are organic or healthy (I think this week I consumed my daily salary in blueberries and strawberries).

There are also plenty of gyms and fitness classes offered at any hour of the day. Today I tried my first Zumba class, which incorporates cardio with Latin American dancing, during which I realized just how uncoordinated I really am. My northern European heritage did not bless me with merengue hips.

One thing I am getting good at is working the espresso machines. Not only does every micro-kitchen have a commercial-grade espresso machine perfect for crafting your own latte or cappuccino, they’re also stocked with local Third Wave coffee beans. No barista experience? Never fear, there’s a video on the Google internal network of Four Barrel baristas demonstrating how to perfectly grind, brew, and steam. With caffeine this tasty, no wonder everyone here is so productive.

Thanks for reading - more news next week!

-Madelaine

Random Google Fact: No Name Cafe (one of many on-site cafes at the Mountain View headquarters) serves oysters for lunch on Fridays, which I found out too late last week.

*Cost per conversion, return on investment, click-through rate

Posted by Jessica Safir, University Programs Coordinator

Labels: Diary of a Summer Intern , Diary of a Summer Intern - Erika , Diary of a Summer Intern - Madelaine

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