Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've always struggled with writing appropriate things on my resume. Specially when I had to squeeze everything in a single page.
Reading this book not only changed the way I now compose my resumes, but also how I view other people's resumes too. It is impressive how clueless people are when sending resumes which will not stand out among the other dozens (maybe even hundreds) of resumes sent to hiring managers.
Gayle has done a superb job at describing why most resumes are thrown away even before they are read completely. She will tell you how to avoid these mistakes and what you should do to build an impressive resume.
Gayle has also covered some important questions you should be prepared for in case you get called for an interview (which is more likely to happen if you read this book). It is definetely something you should pay attention to if you really want to make a good impression with your interviewers.
It is a pleasant read. She writes only the important stuff, giving no room for the things that don't matter.
If you are in college, just graduated, or struggling trying to get the "Dream Job", you must check out this book. It is an invaluable reference.

For the most part, the only part of this book with any relation to Google is the author's keyword-obsessed title choice: she knew a book with "GOOGLE" and "RESUME" in bold would grab attention (as would a boobie-enhanced self-photograph on the back flap, and asking 20 of her friends to leave 5-star reviews). So let the record show that aside from maybe 1.5 chapters on the specifics of how tech companies think and prioritize candidates, this is essentially another generic career advice book to add to the mile-high pile of the same, with the majority of content focused on resumes, cover letters, interview questions, deciding between offers, etc. You know, the kind where you'll hear advice to not order spaghetti at a lunch interview, and to check your teeth afterwards.

As those books go, though, it's one of the better ones. On any sub-topic, most of her advice is well-reasoned and common sense-driven, i.e. to quantify your achievements, how to best explain why you're leaving your current job, to always consider location and cost of living when evaluating offers, and why it's wiser to start at a giant company and then ditch it for a startup than vice versa. Could be helpful, especially if you're 22 and your common sense is still a work-in-progress. The book reads easily and flows well, and in the rare event when specific information actually surfaces (i.e. that Microsoft pays more than Amazon, or that Amazon is more a retail company than a coder's paradise), it can momentarily get interesting.

Still, the lightweight content makes this more suited to a library checkout than a purchase.

The Google Resume is a comprehensive guide to landing a job at any major high-tech company.

This book could not have been written by a more passionate and qualified person. In fact, the author Gayle Laakmann McDowell not only worked at Google and other tech giants, she was responsible for interviewing 100+ candidates while she was there!

The Google Resume opened up my eyes to how rigorous and intimidating a tech interview can be and I feel very lucky to have found such a well written book on this topic, while only a junior in college. Gayle provides all the tools and knowledge so that you can start preparing for the challenging job/internship hiring process now! This puts you at an advantage over the other candidates, who will probably be blindsided when asked to write a non-trivial algorithm on the spot during an interview (See the Programming Interview chapter).

Here are some of the highlights of the book:
Chapter 2: Advanced Preparation. i.e., if you're still a student, what should you be doing right now to build a skill set that would compel a recruiter and manager to interview and hire you.

Chapter 3: Getting in the Door. This chapter has a section that talks about the "Black Hole" of online job submissions. If you don't know what the black hole is, it's when you spend 30 or more minutes submitting your resume online, only to never hear back. She provides many important tips in this chapter to avoid the pitfalls of online resume submissions.

Chapters 4-6: These chapters are all about the fundamental qualities that a tech resume and cover letter should have. I see conflicting resume advice scattered all over the web, Gayle on the other hand, provides very clear and meaningful tips throughout these chapters. I thought I had the perfect resume before reading this, boy was I wrong.

Chapter 9: The programming Interview. This chapter is all about what you can expect from the technical portion of a programming interview, including how you can prepare and what sort of coding questions you can expect. One of the most valuable sections in this chapter is the "Must Know" topics for programing interviews. She provides a list of all the data structures, algorithms and computer science concepts that one would be expected to know at a bare minimum. If you're still a student, this allows you to know in advance what topics will carry over into industry, and should therefore be taken even more seriously.

Chapter 10: Getting into Gaming. I have always wondered what it's really like to work in the video game industry. She provides very insightful commentary on the ins and outs of gaming related jobs. 12 hour days working in gaming, ouch!

In addition to all this, Gayle has a companion website called CareerCup, that gives you company specific interview tips that have been graciously submitted from users that have gone through interviews at companies like Qualcomm, Microsoft and of course Google:)

Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it has zero fluff and can easily be read in a few days.

I've read other advice books related to other topics and I've put them down after a couple chapters, thinking the author was no more knowledgeable on the subject than me. I think it's rare to find a book written by someone with such genuine knowledge on a topic, and who's willing to share it!

if(you want a clear path to a high paying job in tech)
purchase and devour this book;
else
proceed blindly into the technological abyss;

This book was far better than I expected. Reading it feels like pulling Google, Microsoft and Apple into a conference room and picking their brains for hours about exactly what it takes to get hired!

Why? Because not only has the author interviewed and WORKED for each of those companies, she also was a lead interviewer, served on Google's Hiring Committee, assessed over 700 applications, evaluated thousands of resumes and interviewed 150+ top candidates! Beyond that, she runs a website entirely dedicated to this subject. The author is definitely this book's distinguishing edge.

Gayle Laakmann is passionate about this, to say the least. By all definitions, she is an expert and, above all, she is genuinely motivated to help. So, I can't think of a better person from which to take such advice.

Then, she does a fantastic job of giving that advice! This book demystifies the process of landing a job at top tech companies, providing behind-the-scenes insight that allows you to separate fact from fiction so you don't feel blindsided. The chapters cover the entire process:

C H A P T E R S
----------------------------------
Advanced Preparation
Getting in the Door
Resumes
Deconstructing the Resume
Cover Letters and References
Interview Prep and Overview
Interview Questions
Programming Interview
Getting Into Gaming
The Offer
On the Job
Final Thoughts
----------------------------------

Like a powerful résumé, each chapter contains only the most relevant information, keeping the book short and fluff-free. The primary audience is college students but even as a professional with over 10 years experience, I still found it indispensable. To me, the best part was the hand-selected Q&A after every chapter, excerpted from actual real-world questions. Often, someone made the same inquiries that were on my mind and her answers provided a fresh and authoritative perspective.

Drawing from personal experience, Laakmann helped me to understand, from the inside out, how these "dream" companies work and what it takes to get hired. She provides the interviewee's viewpoint, discussing her story and how she got accepted into every company you've ever dreamed of and she also covers the employer's angle, detailing the processes she and her colleagues used while making hire/no-hire decisions.

Of course, there is no "magic bullet;" you won't read this book and then wake up a Noogler! It takes work and you will need other resources to refresh your skills. Use this book to create a roadmap.

I went from feeling like I have slim chances to having an exact game plan on how to tip the odds heavily in my favor! I even read excerpts to my non-technical wife and it helped her successfully negotiate a signing bonus!

Overall, the practical advice, alone, is worth far more than the 12 bucks I paid to get it.


(as a core-skill refresher in software, I also recommend Cracking the Coding Interview from the same author, Algorithms in a Nutshell from O'Reilly, and Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software from the "Gang of Four")

As someone who officially decided to make next year their last year in their current position, Gayle's book couldn't have come at a better time for me.

Computer Science and Business Admin. are my major and minor but I decided to take a job in another industry. Five years later, I rekindled my love for coding and testing and decided to make a career change. I had no idea where to start or how to approach the companies I was interested in and spent a lot of time and money on resume writers and whatnot that had it all wrong. The Google Resume impressed me with its energy and humor. It reads more like a mentor or a well established peer giving you tips, advice, and sassy encouragement through the process. I know that without this book I would have made several of the faux-pas Gayle lists not to make from cover letter/resume submission to internal contacts and recruiters.

I have tons of resume and cover letter books that are a dry read and did not help much for the type of resume and cover letter I needed to get my foot in the door at a tech company. Thanks to The Google Resume, I can now tailor my career search and get better results and feedback from the opportunities I apply for and make stronger, more lasting impressions while networking via social networks and career fairs. After five years on the workforce, my resume and cover letter needed more than a dusting off, they needed a major tune up and repair and this book helped point me in the right direction.

'The Google Resume' is a neat book. Gayle Laakmann McDowell does a wonderful job of presenting material that could otherwise be somewhat drab, in a delightful manner - one that is laced with humor.

The book progresses at a good clip and can easily be read in a matter of days while providing vital information to the fledgling tech-student or adding to the knowledge pool of the already experienced professional.

As a job-seeker, I particularly found the following to be useful:

[1] The 'Dear Gayle' letters - a series of letters that are featured throughout the book in which the author carefully replies to interesting questions asked to her by people at various stages in their job search.

[2] The author's discussion early on whether you should consider startups or the bigger firms (because this is a topic that has more than one side to it).

[3] The section on resumes is outstanding. Gayle highlights several points that I found particularly insightful. For example, I've had many people look at my resume and tweak it here and there but it wasn't until I read this book that I realized that putting in quantifiable results, for example, is so important in a technical field. The chapter on dissecting resumes allowed me to glean some insights into some common faux-pas.

[4] The chapter on interview prep and overview gives you a very clear view of what is expected from companies and what steps you can take to be successful. The entire interview process can be a bit cryptic and unwieldy but this part of the book does shed some light on what you have control over and can change for the better.

In summary, this book is provides information and outlines the steps necessary to ace a technical interview while also providing laughs along the way.

After four years of working my tail off at a Fortune 500 finance company, this book has become an indispensible guide to my current career planning. Whether you are a student, a recent graduate, or an entry-level professional, this book is a rare map for navigating the relatively unchartered waters of a career at Google, Apple, Microsoft, or any other vibrant tech company.

Gayle Laakmann begins with an enjoyable personal recollection of how she initially landed an internship at Microsoft by accidentally doing everything right. From then on, we get insider information on nearly every aspect of intentionally doing things right to build a successful tech career.

This book reads like an engaging personal coaching session where the author draws on her experience interviewing over 120 candidates at Google. It is complete with résumé critique examples, comprehensive interview strategies, and interactive application questions.

What did I find most valuable?

1. The content: comprehensive, interactive, relevant
2. The style: personal, concise, engaging
3. The application: résumé drafting, interview prepping, career mapping

Now off to input my math academics and entry-level performance into Gayle's tech career algorithm!

This book is targeted at recent college grads, not experienced job seekers. If I'd known that I might not have bought it. It has good information for that target audience, but if you already know the basics, it doesn't have that much to add. I found it was also more general, not that specific to Google. I expected to find more specifics about Google, since that's the title of the book. I think the title is designed to sell books, but the book does not live up to the title. The resume section is not up to the latest techniques, no mention of using keywords which is critical to today's online recruiting world.

Great book for recent grad, otherwise I would pass.

I am a new grad computer science student. In general, I think this book is very good for students to start their job searches. Actually, I think if you are already a new grad. Then it will be a little too late to see this book. Some advices from this book should be read 1-3 years before graduated, like the meaty projects advices, open source projects advices, etc.

Another thing is the title. This book is not only about resume, but the entire job searches. It contains useful information about job search preparation, job application, cover letter, reference, offer and so on. Then the problem is, it only have two charters to talk about resume, which I think it is not enough. I expect a book have many resume samples and fully analysis on every samples.(But it has only three sample)

In general, it is a good book. Recommend it to 2th or 3th year tech students.

As another reviewer said, I felt like this book brought me into the hiring rooms at Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, etc. I have about 15 years of experience in the tech field, but now I finally "get" what it's all about. I feel much better equipped to navigate from my current position into these dream companies.

Just a few of the things I loved:
* All the stories about specific candidates, employees, and recruiters. The author obviously pulled from a lot from her own experience, but also from those around her. The examples of what to do, or not to do, were plentiful and gave me lots of food for thought.
* The resume examples ("deconstructing the resume"). The books goes through several resumes, line by line, to illustrate what's good or bad about them. I found a lot of my own mistakes in here.
* The suggestions for how to get an interview. The author addresses many of the well known things (keywords on resumes, job fairs, etc), but also brings into a lot of other very concrete suggestions about how to leverage your network better, operate better at a career fair, etc. Again, the stories are plentiful here - it makes it feels much more "real", and gives me a better idea of how to move forward.
* The job offer negotiation tips. Just... wow. It seems stupid now, but I admit that I was one of those people who was scared of negotiating offers and tended to accept whatever they gave me. But now I get how to approach it, and that it won't turn off the recruiters.
* Interview preparation tips. I've read a lot about how to prepare for interviews, and it's usually a lot of really vague or obvious advice ("be confident! research the company!"). This book's advice was very matter-of-fact "here's what you do." The author gives a fantastic framework for how to prepare for an interview so that you can talk effectively about your experiences. After going through this framework for myself, I feel so much more ready to handle questions.

Note that despite the name, this book is about much, much more than resumes. It's truly a job guide through the entire process (which, as the author points out again and again, really starts years before you walk through the door).