Being a Google employee has its definite perks. I’m pretty sure at this point in our human history children and high schoolers dream of one day being able to represent a company that has innovation as it’s forefront. Some dreams may be distant for a few; sometimes missing a piece of paper from higher education holds your genius back. But why should it?
In our own right, we all have a touch of genius. If you think about it - with the millions of people online a chosen few will actually comprehend what is going on. This chosen few will want to change the world, how it thinks, reacts, and adapts to problems which were once thought impossible. I’ve always thought that this was a precursor to what google is hoping for. Using what you’re capable of in your own ways and providing solutions to the impossible. I’m not telling you how to use your genius rather, how we refine it to an art.
Being a search giant Google will be able to search solutions to all of your issues. The problem with technology today is that we seek solutions, rather than a problem. In order for anyone to provide possibilities - you need to be able to correctly define the problem. They come in all forms in the world, however - can you correctly define a problem? The way anyone should approach a problem is to graph it:
Not enough Android phone Buy In
/ \
Children Adults
/ \
Ease of use No Reward for Buy-In
/ / \
Demographic Marketing One button Itune Xfer Reward Points
From what I've heard Google, does not look for solution seekers. Rather, someone who may be able to define a problem correctly. Where does your thought process come from? Your solutions are secondary only to the problem that you've presented. You can apply this to any aspect of your life. Everything seems overwhelming if it isn't defined in a manner your 4-year-old cannot comprehend.
Solutions are always secondary. If an impossible problem is presented there will always be various paths into solving it. Above we have taken a single issue and presented two paths in which a solution can be met. Paths that you've chosen will not matter because eventually, all will intersect with each other. Each path has a solution which can branch off, but all will ultimately answer the initial problem.
Even solutions you felt were infallible can fail like a Mike Tyson speech. And instead, you need to revel in this. Learn from it. The genius in you learns from the fail and presents another problem. This large company has its own failures, Buzz, Wave, and even Health (Which they should take a second look into since Electronic Health records are booming). I would imagine that the teams who thought of these products are proud of their failure. The main reason they are proud was because of a risk that they took upon themselves to make. You are a risk taker. If everyone jumped off a bridge, and so did you; Imagine how alive you’d feel on the way down.
Work in a small team. Present your problem. And accept various solutions. This is where Google strides in excellence. You need to be in a team. A genius seed yourself is one thing but you can usually only grow into a single possibility. Being in a team of seeds, the possibilities would be close to endless. You can find your team anywhere you see fit. Your community that you’re part of is a team on its own. Present a problem and solutions that you have thought of. People will easily reciprocate with you.
You got your problem, you have your solutions, your team, and now fearless in the world of failure. Now you're just missing the perks. Why would you need the perks, though? The world is out there and it won’t wait until google accepts your application. Take care of yourself, and positivity will shine through all the work you do. Positivity is always going to be key when addressing problems and solutions. I've seen multiple examples of this within community posts:
"I hate those new mood smileys on the Android platform. It is just creating more spam on my stream. Can you just remove this Google?
The positivity isn't in that statement. Instead how about we approach this is a positive light:
Mood Smilies are a great idea if rather than presented as a picture, they may just be incorporated into the post wording itself, similar to Japanese emoticons.
I've presented a problem much like the first statement. However - a solution was in place and the problem was not just attuned to me rather a problem which can be addressed to everyone as a whole. Be positive, and feedback will come right back at you in a positive light.
Regardless of what you presume your intelligence to be. Your a genius one way or another. I've seen construction workers on their time off program android apps. Retail employees who are a genius at a musical instrument. And homeless people with more understanding of business than a stock broker. Don’t let who employs you determine your worth or intelligence and on the same hand; that piece of paper from a university doesn't make you any more intelligent than the person who had printed it.
I want to refine the way you think of your issues, tackle with a sound mind and deploy solutions thought impossible. If Google is your goal, the best place to start is how you understand problems. Good luck if you had applied to the Big G!