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We had a chance to speak with intern Lu Chen this summer for the Googler Beta Series, and she shared with us 5 reasons why interning for Google is awesome. Continue below to get Lu’s unique perspective on working here at Google. Interested in being a summer intern at Google? Visit www.google.com/students to apply today. Name: Lu Chen School: UPenn Internship Focus: Google Blogger Team Hobbies: Eating/Hanging around the kitchen; Graphics & Animation Top 5 Reasons to Intern for Google 1) The People. Without a doubt, the Googlers are truly what makes working here awesome: every person I met was intelligent, dedicated, and just plain cool. Discuss this piece of code? Sure. Switch gears and talk about the latest episode of Top Chef? No sweat. There are smart and cool people at any job, but here at Google, finding them is a sure bet! 2) It’s real. Over the course of my internship, I have gotten an accurate taste of what a career in software engineering is actually like. Interns are treated as, and essentially are – full time engineers. I worked within the same codebase and wrote to the same standards as my colleagues. Additionally, my project wasn’t some busywork that no one would ever see or use after I left — rather, I had the pleasure of working on some front-end features that will end up being seen and used by thousands of Blogger users! From the practical experience of working on such a large and fast-paced application, I’ve learned a lot about web development, product life cycles, and programming in general. 3) Being ‘Googley’. Everyone at Google works insanely hard, but there is also a sense of fun that is endorsed by the company culture. During one offsite, I went on a white water rafting trip! Through the intern program, I also had the opportunity to have some fun with my fellow interns: paintball, indoor skydiving, hiking, etc. Alongside all of the fun, there is an unspoken expectation that every Googler knows his workload and gets it accomplished bt the end of the day. I wasn’t told what hours to work or where on campus I should work (work next to frozen yogurt machine, anyone?). Not many companies give their employees such trust and freedom, and the culture is one area where Google really outshines its competitors. 4) One big company, lots of diverse opportunities. Although I was a part of the Blogger team, I got to experience and learn much more than Blogger engineering. For example, I took a mini-course on UX (User Experience) sketching and learned how to draft quick prototypes on paper. I even took a seminar on making mochas and espressos! Between tech talks, seminars, and 20% time, Google offers so many opportunities to continue learning. Even in the scope of my own project, it wasn’t just daily coding; I had the opportunity to contribute towards the user experience, design, engineering and testing of my feature. 5) Where else will you find a T-Rex being attacked by pink flamingos?

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Googlers Beta – 2009 Edition – Lu Chen

We are pleased to announce the 2nd year of the Google RISE Awards! Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards are designed to promote and support science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and computer science (CS) education initiatives. We provide awards to organizations working with university and pre-university students to provide enrichment programs in these fields. Support may include a combination of monetary awards ranging from $500 – $10,000, volunteer resources and in-kind donations. Google believes that technology will continue to play an important role in shaping our future and knows that the youth of today will help innovate and drive these technologies for years to come. Through the Google RISE Awards Program, we aspire to help students take one step closer to achieving their potential by offering growth and development opportunities. Please visit the RISE Awards website for additional details regarding eligibility, the application process and past award recipients. The deadline to submit your application is Sunday, November 22, 2009 . Posted by Holly Benson & Sun-Hee Yeo, Talent and Outreach Programs

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Google RISE Awards – Only a few days left to submit an application!

We’re excited to announce the launch of Google Sites site templates. Site templates are pre-packaged sites that anyone can use to make creating your own website even easier. This is especially valuable for students so that when you’re making your site you can now skip a few steps, and instead of making a site from scratch, start with a template. You can use site templates to organize, publish and share information about your school, class, projects, fraternity or sorority, school club, intramural teams, or any other organization or event. Additionally if you create a site that you think others might like or use, you can create a template and add it to the gallery! To browse site templates click the Create new site button. You can choose one of the popular templates highlighted on the site creation page, or you can click Browse the gallery for more to see more options. Visit www.sites.google.com to start using site templates today! Posted by Ashley Chandler, Google Sites Team

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Introducing Google Sites templates

Google is pleased to partner with the Hispanic College Fund to offer scholarships for computer science students! Google HCF scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background, leadership and passion for computer science. Recipients will each receive a $10,000 scholarship for the 2010-2011 academic year. Selected students will also be invited to attend the all-expenses-paid Annual Google Scholars’ Retreat at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California in the Spring of 2010. Eligibility Requirements: Must be of Hispanic background Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident residing in the United States or Puerto Rico Studying at an accredited university in the U.S. or Puerto Rico for the upcoming academic year Enrolled (or plan to be) full-time for the upcoming academic year Have a minimum GPA of a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale Demonstrate financial need junior or senior undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a degree in computer science or computer engineering for the 2010-2011 academic year Application Deadline: February 16, 2010 For complete details, please visit www.google.com/jobs/scholarships Posted by Meghan O’Farrell, Talent & Outreach Programs Specialist

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Google Hispanic College Fund Scholarship

[Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog ] Today we’re excited to announce the most recent addition to our scholarship programs in Europe, the Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities. This scholarship is designed for students with disabilities who are pursuing degrees in the field of computer science anywhere in the European Union, plus Switzerland and Israel. Multiple scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic performance and demonstrated passion for computer science. Scholarships will be granted for the 2010/2011 academic year, and recipients will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid retreat at Google’s Engineering Center in Zurich in 2010. Here’s what Nelson Mattos, our VP for Product and Engineering in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has to say about this scholarship: “We’re committed to diversifying the long-term engineering talent pool for the industry as a whole. We hope that this scholarship will increase opportunities for students with disabilities and encourage them to pursue careers in computer science. The retreat fosters relationships so that scholars can form a supportive network lasting the full length of their academic studies and beyond.” We know that a diverse group of people use our tools and services and only an equally diverse workforce can anticipate our users’ needs. We’ve found that the diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products to the benefit of all users of the Internet. We hope that this scholarship works towards that end. The deadline to apply is March 15th 2010. For more details, visit www.google.com/studentswithdisabilities-europe . Posted by Beate List, EMEA University Programmes and Eleanor Mulligan, EMEA Diversity and Inclusion

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Introducing the Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities

Yesterday we announced an expansion of our Virgin America WiFi sponsorship to also include 47 airports. Both programs will offer free WiFi through January 15, 2010 and will cover more than 10 million passengers traveling this holiday season. There’s no Google account or credit card required to log on, but we’ll be offering the option to try out a Google product and also offer the chance to donate to one of three charities; we’ll be matching donations up to $250,000. We hope that this makes travel to be with friends and family that much better this holiday season. You can learn more about the program at http://www.freeholidaywifi.com Posted by Jeff Aguero, Product Marketing Manager

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Flying (and landing) in a WiFi Wonderland

“Students have first hand experience with real clients and real budgets to get real results. Is there a better way to gain experience with the real world?” “The Challenge energized me and my students. The ability to work with a real-life client and spend “real money” on Google AdWords was unique and exciting.” Registration for the 2010 Google Online Marketing Challenge is now open! The Google Online Marketing Challenge is a global student competition open to a ny higher education institution anywhere in the world. The 2009 Challenge had over 10,000 students in 57 countries competing and we want this year’s Challenge to grow even more …. please help us to get the word out! How it works …. Teams of 3-6 students receive US$200 of online advertising with AdWords and then find local businesses to work with to devise an online marketing campaign. Teams outline a strategy, run their campaign, assess the results and provide the business with recommendations to further develop their online marketing. The winners are judged by an international panel of independent academics. The challenge is a great way to get you and your classmates involved in the quickly evolving world of online marketing. It’s a skill you’ll want to have as you graduate and prepare to enter a tough job market and it’s definitely a fun way to gain real-world experience with a real client. Registration …. Your professor, lecturer or whoever teaches you, enters their student team into the Challenge. If you think your p rofessors, lecturers or tutors might be interested in signing their classes up for the Challenge, let them know about this opportunity! Your professor can obtain more information in the Academic Guide ( http://www.google.com/ onlinechallenge/students_ guides.html ) which is filled with information your professor will want to know to decide if the Challenge is right for their class. The Challenge is open to any university, any discipline, at the graduate or undergraduate level in any country. Timeline …. Registration closes: January 22, 2010 Challenge starts: January 28, 2010 Challenge ends: June 4, 2010 Winners announced: July 2010 Register now a t www.google.com/onlinechallenge . Posted by Meghan O’Farrell, Talent & Outreach Programs Specialist

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2010 Google Online Marketing Challenge

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog ) We had a busy summer here at Google interacting with students through a wide variety of scholarship, internship and networking opportunities across North America. Here’s a look back at a few of our programs (you can bet we’ll be hosting them again!) along with news on some upcoming initiatives. Rising college sophomores participated in two Google programs: Google FUSE , in its inaugural year, and the Google Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI). For FUSE, we welcomed 50 rising college sophomores to our New York City office for a three-day retreat designed to connect students from groups that are under-represented in the field of computer science. The retreat focused on making connections between students and Googlers, encouraging students to create meaningful academic experiences and allowing them to learn more about possible career paths via hands-on activities, panel discussions and a bit of fun around the New York City area. Another group of twenty rising sophomores spent two weeks at the Googleplex in Mountain View for the second annual Computer Science Summer Institute. This special program included an interactive and collaborative Computer Science curriculum, as well as a living-learning residential experience for student networking. Students worked in teams to create an interactive web application using Python in Google App Engine. When not in class, they heard technical talks from Google engineers, spoke with professionals from across the technology industry and academia about the many things they can do with a Computer Science degree. They also had some fun joining the Bay Area summer interns on a boat cruise and catching a baseball game after an exciting San Francisco scavenger hunt. In addition, our engineering internship program hosted more than 450 college (undergraduate and graduate) interns in 15 locations across North America. These interns were an integral part of the engineering team and made significant contributions this summer working on exciting projects including Android, Chrome, Docs and machine translation. We also had more than 100 students working across multiple functions, including sales and engineering in Mountain View, New York, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Boston as part of the Building Opportunities for Leadership and Development ( BOLD ) Program. BOLD is a 10-week internship program designed to provide exposure to the technology industry for students from groups that are historically underrepresented in technology. This summer experience includes a unique glimpse into a business or engineering career, professional development and leadership courses, as well as one-on-one mentorship designed to further support professional growth. Of course, we realize that growing future leaders in engineering and business doesn’t just start with college students. For this reason, we partner with the LEAD programs in both business and engineering to encourage outstanding high school students to pursue careers in these fields. This year, all four LEAD Summer Engineering Institute participants had the opportunity to tour a local Google office to attend technical talks and interact with Google engineers (okay, with some tasty food and video games thrown in as well). As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to recognizing student achievements and promoting leadership, we also offer a number of academic scholarships. We are currently accepting applications for the Google Lime Scholarship for Student with Disabilities in the U.S. and Canada, and the Anita Borg Scholarship in Canada , Europe, the Middle East and Africa , and the United States . In case you’re curious, we offer a host of scholarships for many other international regions. If one or more of these opportunities sounds like something you’d like to participate in, you can find applications for full time opportunities and summer internship opportunities on our student job site . Visit our scholarship page for more information on our scholarship opportunities. And follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates on application deadlines and new program announcements. Making an early connection playing People Bingo at Google FUSE . Taking a break from bowling during Google FUSE. Posted by Kyle Ewing, Talent and Outreach Programs – University Programs and Recruiting

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Growing the next generation of computer scientists and business leaders