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 How to Prepare for a Career
and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft, Google,
or any Top Tech Company

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ffirs.indd iii 1/6/11 6:49:56 AM

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test banks and solution guides.
 Copyright © 2011 by Gayle Laakmann. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning,
or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United
States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or
authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance
Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978)
646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission
should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online
at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their
best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect
to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any
implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may
be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and
strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a
professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss
of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,
consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical support,
please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974,
outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears
in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley
products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
McDowell, Gayle Laakmann, 1982-
The google résumé : how to prepare for a career and land a job at Apple, Microsoft,
Google, or any top tech company / Gayle Laakmann McDowell.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-92762-5 (hardback)
ISBN 978-1-118-01313-7 (ebk)
ISBN 978-1-118-01314-4 (ebk)
ISBN 978-1-118-01315-1 (ebk)
1. Résumés (Employment) 2. High technology industries—Vocational guidance.
3. Job hunting. I. Title.
HF5383.M335 2011
650.14'2 — dc22
2010039906

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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 To my mother and grandmother,
whose engineering endeavors paved the way for my own.

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ffirs.indd vi 1/6/11 6:49:57 AM
 Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Advanced Preparation 15
Chapter 3 Getting in the Door 36
Chapter 4 Résumés 57
Chapter 5 Deconstructing the Résumé 78
Chapter 6 Cover Letters and References 89
Chapter 7 Interview Prep and Overview 108
Chapter 8 Interview Questions 137
Chapter 9 The Programming Interview 163
Chapter 10 Getting into Gaming 190
Chapter 11 The Offer 207
Chapter 12 On the Job 230
Chapter 13 Final Thoughts: Luck, Determination,
and What You Can Do 258

Appendix A 156 Action Words to Make

Your Résumé Jump 261
Appendix B Answers to Behavioral Interview Questions 265
Index 273

vii

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 Chapter 1
Introduction

Just so you’re clear: it was not my idea to give a talk to Microsoft

Research. I had learned embarrassingly little about computer science
in my 18 years of life, and the last thing I wanted to do is to have
that exposed in front of a bunch of genius PhDs in MSR. But my
manager thought it’d be a great “opportunity,” and so there I was,
blabbing on about my summer project.
I finished up my talk at lightning speed. As I was dealing with a
somewhat severe case of stage fright, I considered my haste a good
thing. And then the questions started. Did I consider doing X? Yes,
I told them, I did, and this is what happened. Why not implement it
with Y? You could, but that would cause problem Z.
I almost hesitated to admit it to myself afterwards, but things
went fine. Just fine.
That whole summer I had been convinced that Microsoft would
discover that I knew practically nothing and cut me loose. I had only
gotten my internship offer through some brilliant streak of luck,
I reasoned, and didn’t really deserve it. Not like my fellow interns
did anyway. They had done three times as much college as me, com-
pleted three times as many projects, and basically knew three times
as much as me.

CH001.indd 1 1/6/11 6:48:54 AM

 2 The Google Résumé

Four years later, with a job at Google about to start, I reflected on

my incredible luck. I landed a Microsoft internship at an incredibly
young age, and that turned into three consecutive internships. Then
I got an Apple internship, even though Apple never even recruited at
my university. And then I happened to get hooked up with just the
right people who referred me to the up-and-coming Google. I must
be the luckiest person alive.
Or am I?
Maybe, while Lady Luck was certainly in my favor, I had some-
how, accidentally, done everything just right. I completed several
large projects in high school, offering me considerably more expe-
rience than my peers. I got an entry-level job as a web designer,
which developed my professional and technical credibility. I created
a résumé that, while atrocious in many respects, demonstrated my
passion for technology and showcased my limited experience. And
finally, I built a network of more senior professionals, managed rela-
tionships with mentors, and leveraged these connections to land one
dream job after another.
And that, my dear readers, is how you get a job at the world’s
greatest tech companies.

Life at Infinite Loop and Microsoft Way

Even their addresses are suggestive of company stereotypes.
Microsoft, at One Microsoft Way, screams big and mammoth.
Google’s 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway address is understated, like
its user interfaces. Apple, of course, takes the bold “think different”
step with One Infinite Loop—a play on words that could come
back to bite a less beloved company.

Youthful
Despite the little eccentricities of each company, these companies
are much more alike than they are different. Software companies are

CH001.indd 2 1/6/11 6:48:54 AM

 Introduction 3

youthful— at heart, if not in actuality. They scorn the stuffy

suits-and-ties atmosphere of their predecessors and elect to wear
just jeans and a T-shirt. In fact, this casual attitude is so potent that
it’s pervaded even the social scenes of tech hubs; only a small handful
of restaurants in Seattle and San Francisco would request anything
beyond jeans, and a woman in a suit gets more stares than a girl with
a purple mohawk.

Perks
Desperate to attract and retain the best and the brightest, tech firms
shower their employees with perks. Microsoft offers free drinks,
a heavily discounted gym membership, and an all-expenses-paid
health care plan. Google matched and then one-upped Microsoft
on almost all of these. Free sodas? Try free breakfast, lunch, and din-
ner. Free gym membership? Use the on-site gym and pool. Deluxe
health care plan? We’ll give you a good one, and throw in an on-site
doctor. Nerds everywhere can only hope that the “next Google,”
whatever it is, will engage in its own perk war.
Of course, cynics argue that these benefits are really just a way
to trick employees into staying at the office longer. You can fulfill
almost any regular appointment, from a haircut to dry cleaning,
without leaving campus. But the fact that you can doesn’t mean you
have to. No one will think worse of you because you declined to
get your dental work done from the on-site dentist parked in the
van out back.

Work/Life Balance
The severe shortage of engineers in the United States forces com-
panies to take good care of their employees. They would lose too
many qualified candidates otherwise.
Workers are encouraged to find a reasonable work/life balance,
and work comparatively short hours compared to people from other
industries.

CH001.indd 3 1/6/11 6:48:55 AM

 4 The Google Résumé

The exception, as in most jobs, is during crunch times. Software

releases will be stressful in any team.

Moving Up: Individual Contributors

Although other industries push high-performing employees into
management roles, technology companies tend to be more open to
the “individual contributor” role. After all, great engineers do not
necessarily make the best managers.
An employee, particularly in engineering, can continue to get pro-
motions and increased technical responsibilities, without becoming a
people manager. Eventually, this employee can grow into an architect
or a distinguished engineer, earning one of the most respected posi-
tions within the company. It’s perhaps not as glamorous as being a VP,
but for some people, this is just right.

The Differences
Cultural differences between companies can often be traced back to
the company’s roots.
Amazon, many would argue, is more of a retail company than a
software company. It faced extremely hard times during the dot-com
crash, and continues to battle profit margins that are levels of magni-
tude lower than that of a “core” software company. It is consequently
extremely frugal, and refrains from providing the lavish perks that
others software companies might. Additionally, some employees have
suggested that the company does not value technical innovation for
its own sake, and instead looks for an immediate and causal link to
profits. But, do not let that deter you too much; indeed, Amazon is
leading in multiple industries (retail, cloud computing, etc.) largely
because of its technical innovation. The company moves at a rapid
pace and pending deadlines often mean late nights.
Apple is just as secretive inside as it is outside. When your innova-
tion lies so heavily in your look and feel and your market share depends
on beautifully orchestrated hype, it’s no wonder. The company can’t

CH001.indd 4 1/6/11 6:48:55 AM

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