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Making an Impact as a Corporate Operations Engineering intern
July 17, 2013
As part of our “Making an Impact” series, today we’re featuring Alec Nilson, an intern with the Corporate Operations Engineering team in Dublin. Alec is a student at Dakota State University working towards a double bachelors in Information Assurance and Network Administration.
Tell us about your internship thus far. What’s a typical day like?
As a Corporate Operations Engineer, there’s no such thing as a typical day. Each day presents new challenges as we focus on a few different areas. For example, we are the main onsite tech support for Googlers and also work on a wide variety of IT based internal projects. I’m also working on writing and reorganizing the internal troubleshooting documentation for our video conferencing system used by all our technicians, worldwide.
What’s your favorite thing about interning at Google?
Easy, it is the food! On a more serious note, I like being surrounded by such smart people. It’s a great environment to ask questions, learn and be inspired. Sometimes at dinner, we have great discussions that result in figuring out a better way to solve a certain problem.
How is Dublin?
Dublin is an awesome city and Ireland has a lot to offer if you're willing to get out of the office and explore. Traveling is also very cheap, you can get a bus from one side of the country to the other for 17 euros!
While the Google Dublin office is large, it still feels small because of how the campus is organized. All the engineers are in one building and you get a real sense of community. We participate in a lot of fun activities outside of work. Recently, my team went to the movies together at a local theater followed by a night out on the town.
It feels like a family here: your team is your immediate family, your boss is like a parent and your coworkers are your older brother and sisters. The other teams are the crazy cousins!
What skills have you gained since you started working at Google?
While being here I have learned how to program in Python and work with a lot of internal systems dealing with web apps and programming. My programming skills have improved and I have a decent enough knowledge that I was even able to help a coworker. I have also learned about dealing with processes effectively within a large company. Outside of work, I now know a thing or two about Irish culture.
Do you have any advice for someone considering applying for an internship?
Go for it! It’s one of those things that you’ll never know until you try. Welcome the application experience with a positive attitude and have fun with your interview. Make sure your resume is current. You should be able to discuss everything on your resume in great detail. During your interview, you’ll be asked questions that will require you to answer in great detail, so be prepared.
Once you are here, Googlers will teach you more than you can imagine! Really, don’t be afraid to apply. Follow your dreams and with enough passion, they will come.
What are your plans when your internship is over?
After my internship, I would like to continue working for Google in some capacity. I'm most interested in opportunities within Hardware Operations or Network Operations. There is a data center close to my home in Nebraska so we'll see....
I’ve really enjoyed my internship and want to thank Google for the incredible experience.
So far the internship has been an awesome time!
If you're interested in exploring technical internships in Europe, Middle East & Africa, keep an eye out on our
Google Students job site
.
Posted by Frida Borjesson, College Recruiting Specialist
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