Mailbag: How’d you get into Google?

Hi David,

Sincerely,
Salesforce Dreamer

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Dear Salesforce Dreamer,

Thank you for having the courage to ask this question! As you mentioned, I know how tough constant failure can be, as I went through it while trying to get a job ten times at Google.

I tell myself this motto often, whether I’m failing in my career or in anything else in life: it’s OK to fail. Next time, be 1% better.

I expect to fail in most things. But I do my best to look at it from a long term perspective. I don’t need to hit all my goals today. I just need to keep improving and move closer to them. If I can fail 1% better each time, eventually I’ll get it right.

Now let me talk to you about how I got into Google =) This is actually the first time I’ve told this story publicly!

I was rejected from Google because I wasn’t as marketable as I thought I was. How far was I willing to go to pass that job interview? How good did I have to be to be better than the hundreds of other people applying for the same job?

On try #11, I decided to take things up a notch. I swore I would do whatever it took to get the job, no matter how painful it would be for me. Aside from studying Salesforce day and night for the past years, I obsessed over every possible detail of my job application. I begged friends to refer me. I remade my entire resume so every keyword in the job posting was highlighted. I designed a billboard that I would pay $6,000 to place on the side of Highway 101 to advertise myself to Google. I looked up Salesforce managers at Google, bought their contact information from Data.com, and contacted them. If they said no, I emailed them again anyway.

Even all that wasn’t enough. I still got rejected. But I didn’t take my foot off the gas pedal.

Eventually, I got a job interview. I wrote down and memorized every personal fact I could find about each person interviewing me, just in case. One person came from an analytics background. One person liked soccer. I didn’t even know who was interviewing me, so I just memorized these facts about everyone. I got to the interview 1 hour early just to be sure I wouldn’t be late. While I waited I repeated all the things I memorized about Google, their common interview questions, my answers, and the facts I noted about each team member. At this point you could’ve asked me to list 30 products of Google and I could’ve done it without pause.

I looked the receptionist in the eye, gave her a firm handshake, and memorized her name. The job interviews went smoothly.

Finally, to ensure I’d get the job, I took a 50% pay cut in my salary.

Looking back, I went through really extreme measures to reach my goal. I wanted it so badly that I decided I would do anything. Sometimes, I want something, but not badly enough that I’d do anything for it. This was not one of those times.

Anyway, the moral of the story is sometimes you have to sacrifice and go into overkill. Combine a long-term approach with a very high volume of study, and a focus on getting better 1% each day. This means relentlessly studying for certifications, and never taking the easy way out and buying the “dumps” you sometimes see online. Learn the right way, the hard way, and eventually it’ll be impossible for someone to reject you.

Specifically for you, I’d say develop a Salesforce mobile app and put it up on Git. This will combine your iOS skills with Salesforce development, and give you experience off the job. Make this app so beautiful that no sane person could deny your skills.

Then on the first line of your resume, highlight the app and its Git codebase so no one can miss it. You could even open up the app on your phone during the interview and explain the technical challenges you overcame. I promise you someone will give you a chance then =)

Good luck!
David

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