From small company to the mothership… it’s been a long journey in a short period of time. Never did I expect to take the plunge into the largest tech giant in the world. I’ve decided to just jot down a few notes as I reflect back on my time. First, as I have said to those who joined my previous team or were new to my company, I won’t express any judgements until at least 6 months. Not to say, that some judgement or thoughts won’t form faster than others, but it’s totally worth it to experience a few months and let the “newness” of everything to wear off. I’ll list off a few common topics that have either been asked or thought about since I’ve joined Google.

Perks – yes, Google makes it easy to enjoy life while at work… and even after work. Part of the compensation at Google is the food, amenities, transportation and much, much more. One thing I would like to highlight is the support from the top down to continuously learn and improve. Google is great about wanting their employees to learn and grow, and they offer a huge range of programs for both professional and personal growth.

Learning and Growth – On that topic, it has been a tremendous learning experience. I’ve often viewed myself as an outsider or different from the norm on my team. I didn’t come from a top tier school, nor did I come from a big name company, but I did come armed with a passion for marketing and drive to learn, grow and succeed. A sign of a good workplace is being constantly challenged, but it has to be in a thoughtful and tailored way. Meaning, some challenges we face in the workplace are just annoyances or struggles against the system, process or even people. Some of the challenges I’ve really enjoyed in my career have been tailored to where I want to go in my career or what I aspire to learn. That leads to communication…

Communication – As expected, there are many more layers than say 1 or 2 at a start-up, but Google is surprisingly transparent! While specific roles and job functions may be more silo’ed, overall communication of the team’s goals are actually quite apparent, especially if you ask. Since the team I work on is smaller, it’s much easier to get answers to questions I have and even though the team may not sit in the same office all of the time, video chats are just about as good.

Colleagues – Not surprisingly, I am surrounded by sharp, hardworking individuals from similar backgrounds. Well, I’ve never worked at an agency, but close enough, ha. Similar to my previous employer (Inflection), Google has even more stringent hiring guidelines and it seems that my bosses hold an extremely high bar. What’s interesting about my team is that it’s a melting pot of in-house and agency folks, people with several years of experience at Google or people from other large companies and agencies. At times, I feel like the under-dog, coming from a pure start-up background with very little governance and massive flexibility when it comes to how I get things done. Nevertheless, it’s great to be a sponge and learn and absorb from people with qualities and traits I wish to enhance or recognize that I need to work on.

Do I enjoy it at Google? It’s both yes and no, but that’s with any job. At the core of it, I love digital marketing, especially when it’s measurable and performance based. So I am doing something I enjoy. However, at any level and at any company, there will be problems, roadblocks, frustrations, and other negatives. I take every day one step at a time and try to focus on the big picture… and that helps keep me focused. Finally, don’t be evil… right? 😛