Tanmay Joshi - Google

Hi everyone! I’m Tanmay Joshi, a final year student in the Electrical Engineering B.Tech programme at IIT Bombay. I am currently doing an internship at Google Hardware (India) in a core digital design profile. Let’s have a flashback and look through key tasks and events that led to me getting selected, and major hindrances. Since the actual internship experience is relevant only for people interested in working on core electrical profiles, I will also include general aspects about the internship season in this blog.

Let’s begin then! The first and most important question most people face when going into the intern season is about what field they would want to work in. In my case, I’d always wanted to work in the core electrical domain, but given that things might not have worked out as they did, backups had to be prepared for, and are always wise to have. To get an idea about the kind of work done in all the different fields, I’d talked to quite a lot of seniors who were doing interns in those fields and asked them about their experience, work, preparation, interviews etc. So eventually I’d ended up applying for some quantitative trading profiles along with core, which was motivated by the fact that even if I won’t be doing what I like the most, I’d at least be earning quite a bit of money. Backups aside, I’d also talked to seniors who were interning in Google, Texas instruments, Qualcomm about their profiles and work, and ended up sorting in a priority order the firms I wanted to work for. It’s best if everyone going into the intern season has a session of internal discussions about what they want to do in life, what the various internship profiles will enable them to achieve in the long run, and how the two are aligned. I could very well see this happening with Google, and now just had one small task left- getting selected :-)

The selection process for Google Hardware has three key aspects- Resume shortlisting, Google online challenge, and interviews. The google online challenge had questions relevant to the profile, based on concepts like logic, Hardware Description Languages, computer architecture and so on. It was an MCQ test which was remotely attempted online. Resume shortlisting and GOC results led to interview shortlisting. There were two rounds of interviews, both technical for me. Basic CS101 based C++ coding was asked, and concepts in subjects such as computer architecture, digital design, and verilog coding were tested. They were both 1 hour long, and were conducted online. The questions asked were pretty straightforward, and knowing the concepts taught in second year courses was quite sufficient. I’d revised many of these concepts before my interviews and tests, and practiced some tests and interview questions online. Courses like EE224, EE214, EE309, EE204 were the most relevant for preparation. Besides this, Verilog is the HDL used in corporate settings, which is not taught in the courses we do here. However, it is easy to pick up after learning VHDL in EE214

All of that being done, I got selected and am allotted the profile of an RTL design engineering intern. I’m thus working on digital design and implementation using Verilog. I find the work being done here really fascinating, in the sense that just so much effort is put into bringing a device to life, which is not very imaginable from a user’s end. The work environment and culture at Google is really supportive for growth and learning, and does not have unreasonable restrictions on employees or even interns. I found the learning curve to be decent, but getting familiar with the frameworks used was quite a challenge. My mentor was really helpful and guided me through it timely. The employees I have interacted with are really helpful and insightful, and I was provided with solutions for any roadblocks or problems which prolonged. Aside from this, Google also provides very good food :) which is available on all working days, cab services to and from office, and a lot of options for recreational activities. Furthermore, the cohort of my co-interns was really diverse and filled with very interesting people coming from a plethora of backgrounds, and I’ve had the opportunity to bond with them and get to know about a lot of different perspectives and experiences in this internship duration. It’s honestly been a really enriching experience for me, both personally and professionally.

With that being said, I’d again like to emphasize that the internship season can become really stressful at times, as there’s quite a lot at stake, but it’s just the start of a possible career for you. Even in the worst case scenario, if you don’t land up where you would have liked to, it’ll be a delayed start to the career path you had envisioned, not the end of it. Regardless, give your best to the tests and interviews coming for you, and don’t get stressed about it, rather look at them with a step-by-step approach in mind. This might even be the first time you will be giving interviews, and that can be a source of nervousness or fumbling, but treat interviews as mere conversations where you teach your friend a concept before the endsems and answer their doubts. It’s also helpful to practice mock interviews with your friends and analyse each other’s interviewing skills and technical knowledge. If it gets overwhelming, don’t keep it to yourself and talk to your friends as much as you can, help each other out. With that, I’ll end this long blog and thanks if you made it to the end :) All the best, people! Do feel free to reach out to me, I’d be glad to help with any queries or help :)