This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Deep Shah, a 30-year-old senior software engineer at Google, based in Mountain View, CA. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Since I joined Google in 2018, it has been amazing to see the impact I’ve had.
I started at Google Bangalore in India, where I was part of a team using machine learning and AI on Google Maps. After spending a few years there, I moved to the US in 2021 to work at the Google Mountain View location in California.
I’ve been at Google Mountain View for around four years, and over my career, I’ve learned that mentors are one of the greatest things to have. Good mentors have changed the way I approach problems and have impacted the engineer I’ve become.
Older peers became my first mentors
Growing up, I played computer games a lot and wanted to develop my own games. That was the main reason that I chose computer engineering in the first place.
I also learned through conversations with peers older than me, who were already working on their bachelor’s. They told me this field involves a lot of logical reasoning and automating machines to do things on my behalf, which was very intriguing.
During my bachelor’s, I became involved in competitive computer programming. That helped me get reach-outs from leading tech companies in India, and was one of the main reasons I got my first job.
A friend helped me decide to pursue a role at Google
At my first job out of school, I was part of an AI and machine learning team that helped advertising clients. During that time, I learned a lot of the fundamentals about how AI and machine learning work.
I was there for almost a year and a half, and then I had the opportunity to apply for a position with Google. Fortunately, I also had a friend who worked at Google, so I was able to talk to him and ask whether it would be a good fit for me.
After talking to him, I was convinced that Google could be the right place for me. I went through a standard Big Tech interview process, and then I landed my job at Google.
My network helped me transition from India to the US
Moving to the US was a big transition, but I wanted to be involved in improving the way users use Google search. The team working on that project was based in Mountain View, and my skill set was a very good match, so I decided to relocate here in 2021.
Google India has a culture very similar to that of Google US, making for a smooth transition. Outside work, I needed to get used to a lot of different things. Searching for housing is very different here, and so is setting up healthcare. I also had to get a car.
However, I had a couple of more senior peers and friends here who were able to guide me through these transitional things, which I was very thankful for.
Mentorship can determine what kind of engineer you are
I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of great mentors throughout my career, as well as in my undergrad, who actually supported me and gave me good ideas.
College students should try to be involved with a professor or someone who can give them exposure to any machine learning or AI problems that they’re excited about, no matter how small or large.
You can always start small, but as time passes, more and more things will naturally become attached to a project, and your ownership and confidence with it will evolve. That will also be a great addition to your résumé, demonstrating that you already possess the skills and experience required to succeed in a working environment.
Having a clear agenda with your mentor makes a big difference
My mentors taught me how to navigate organizational dynamics and influence stakeholders — skills that are rarely learned just by doing the core work.
It should be very clear what specific things you’d like to use your mentor for, and I recommend having a proper agenda to go over together. It helps them give you the right advice, and you can have clearer expectations.
Each mentor will teach you different things, and the person doesn’t necessarily need to be a professor. They could be an alumnus or someone who’s more senior at your college. It doesn’t matter how you find them, but they should be someone who you think is a good role model.
Do you have a story to share about mentorship in Big Tech? Contact this reporter, Agnes Applegate, at [email protected].
