Poland JobsPoland Jobs• Account Management - Anke | Christian | Marek | Ulrike
• Process Optimization - Maciej
• Team Management - Ajit
I used to work for a German media company before. It was interesting but my contract was limited and so were the career opportunities, so I kept my eyes open for a more challenging and dynamic job. I had heard many good things about the company culture at Google and so I decided to apply. The interviews in the office confirmed that impression: People were open-minded and international, and the office is inviting and colorful. I had also been to Wroclaw before and liked its atmosphere.
I love that it is very international and multilingual, especially in the Wroclaw office! It is not uncommon for people to speak five languages. I like that everyone is encouraged to come up with new ideas and improvements, even right after joining the company, and to continue learning and expanding their skills. And I love the food!
What I like about working here is that you can work on a variety of cool things – from establishing chat support in our office to finding the best system to share the work in our team to taking photographs to represent the spirit of our office, I have worked on very different projects that required many very different skills.
My academic background did not seem to point in this direction, but now I give technical support to my team members and enjoy it a lot! I keep learning new things and improving my troubleshooting skills, and I love helping out the team.
The free food! Even though its temptation can be dangerous and quite hard to resist...
Shortly after I joined the company, I was able to participate in a sales conference in California. Not only did we see and hear all the top managers to get an idea of their vision for the company, we also had Al Gore as a guest speaker and did case studies with Harvard professors, and worked from the famous Googleplex – all in all, a very motivating way to start my career in Google!
The people! I'm still often surprised by the open-minded, enthusiastic, and diverse people I meet at Google – pretty much everyone I've met was outgoing and curious to learn new things.
After studying in a very international environment (students and professors of different nationalities, as well as campuses in different countries), I was looking for a company with such an international atmosphere. The Wroclaw office, which covers a wide range of markets, was able to provide such a team atmosphere. Additionally, being a rather young Google office, it combines the Google long-term vision of the evolving online world with the interesting challenges of a young office.
The working atmosphere is so unique! We obviously get the job done, but most of us feel great desire to get involved in 20% roles which are easy to become passionate about! As a recent graduate, I feel fulfilled that I can, at the same time, learn a lot from all the smart employees at Google and contribute to the success of the company at my own level.
I took part in the local organization of green events like the Clean Up the World Weekend, Bike to Work Day, and even some more crazy green events! It's always great to see the Googlers' concern for the environment and also to communicate on this topic to people who are not so familiar with it.
My role only makes sense in the context of my team, and my team is very unique! It's dynamic! It's international! It's young, but solid in terms of varied past experiences and ambition for the future of the team and the company!
I love the comfort of the office. I wasn't really aware, before I actually joined Google, to what extent this can impact the work atmosphere in a positive way. Google was also very helpful in helping me to relocate to a country where I didn't speak the language.
I have been most impressed by the ambition of my peers. It's great to work and share projects with people with such a vision. Whatever their role, it seems like everyone in this company wants to improve how things work, usually with a strong focus on improving the quality of the service we provide to our users and clients.
After being in various companies and the HR field for certain time, I wanted a change and to try something new. Google gave me this chance and I was pleased to start work here.
Google as a work place is a very dynamic environment, and online advertising is an interesting business that is still developing. And since Google organizes quite a lot of information on the internet, it is also great to have real-time tracking on what's going on in business, in the world, in the space...
I am on the team working on the launch of some new activities in our newer markets. This is very interesting, as you get opportunity to see all parts of business for entrance to a particular market. It is a great experience and challenge at the same time.
My role has an extension to many activities beyond my core job, so I don't just work on one particular product, service, or activity. This diversification and variety bring a great motivation and create deeper interest in the things you do here.
It is absolutely the company culture and transparency where almost all doors are open. This helps the business a lot as well the people, and really keeps the office relaxed but also very innovative.
My goals are on several fields and several levels. But overall, I am trying to contribute significantly on the growth and development of Google in the new markets in various areas.
During my studies I had always planned to work in the cultural sector afterwards; when Google came along, however, I could not resist the offer to work in a dynamic international company: Google products had been part of my daily (student) life and being able to actually work on them in another country while employing several languages is a great asset.
In Google and in my team we enjoy a high level of independence and have the opportunity to get things done according to our visions/ideas. This of course also means a lot of responsibility which makes you challenge yourself every day. At the end of the day, your work is being acknowledged and you get all the necessary support to grow individually.
In my 18 months at Google I have been involved in several projects regarding the AdSense product. Some of the most interesting have been initiatives to enhance our support model and the online resources, such as the Help Center.
I am working in a lot of different areas and some of them are also technical-related, which is something I could have never imagined regarding my academic background! There are new tasks coming everyday, so I am constantly broadening my skills and exploring new things. Moreover, being in touch with people from four continents in one single day and using three languages in the process seems quite unique to me.
I have to admit – it is definitely the free food! I love eating and with all the snacks it is difficult not to gain the notorious "Google stone"!
Some months ago we celebrated the successful ending of a global project with champagne and a simultaneous video conference with nine offices around the globe! Thankfully the meeting for us in Europe took place during the daytime...
It is the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that people from all over the world and different backgrounds can collaborate successfully. Also, I've found that working in an IT company does not necessarily make you a "geek"!
Having spent couple of years working abroad, I felt both like moving back to Wroclaw but still being able to travel and explore different cultures. Google, with its office in Wroclaw, dozens of offices around the globe, and multinational working environment seemed to be a perfect fit for me.
Google is a very unique organization with exceptional people who make this place the best place to work. I've been learning something new every single day since I joined, but the best part is to be able to use what I have learned to affect millions of users. I don't mind free food, either...
Just recently, I successfully closed a project which aimed at improving and then streamlining globally one of the very important processes at Google that in fact impacts hundreds of thousands of users. Even though the pressure was high, it was an amazing feeling being aware that what I do can help so many AdWords customers. The other project, I am particularity proud to have been a part of aimed at raising money for one of the local schools. To do that, we set up a Mexican restaurant in the office with proper menu, music, decorations, and of course waiters (I was one of them). Googlers paid for a meal in a lovely restaurant and we were happy to pass it on to the school.
As a Process Excellence Team member, I have a chance to cooperate with various departments within the organization, meet new Googlers, and challenge interesting issues we are facing and help to make Google to be better tomorrow than today.
There have been many remarkable moments, but being able to briefly dance with MC Hammer during one of the conferences that Google took me to is one of my favorites.
I would like to further develop my expertise in the area of operations excellence, which is huge in scope and it looks like I am going to have goals to work on for awhile. The key milestones would be to become a 6 sigma certified black belt.
Prior to joining Google in Poland, I worked in Dubai for 4 years in a venture capital firm, doing entrepreneurial start-ups in the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent. Before Dubai, I worked in the more traditional MNC environment with Hewlett-Packard and Citibank. I was looking for a role/company that would provide me with the entrepreneurial environment of a small company, yet the career progression and development opportunities of a large organisation. Google Poland was the perfect fit, as I joined the office when it was being set-up.
I find working at Google very stimulating professionally because of the smart and motivated people I work with. At the same time everyone here is a lot of fun, with special hobbies and interests that they pursue. It's this balance of intellect and wider interests that attracts me to Google. The perks and the casual dress code help as well. And of course, the amazement on people's faces when I tell them that I work at Google!
In my role, I manage AdWords Operations for many "internet young" countries like Russia, Ukrainian, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. This means working with small teams in new markets with a lot of potential for growth. Its a great opportunity to have impact and make a difference, rather than work on larger, more mature markets and industries. My team of 12 people comprises of 7 nationalities (including me)!
The free food! I'm like a kid in a candy store...
How fast the company has grown to where it is today. This brings with it a lot of ambiguity and apparent lack of structure, which is just the way I like it because one can play a part in shaping the future of the company.