Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

Education

Job Opportunities in Web 2.0

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Yesterday, I met Gilles Granger, the founder of Vinivi, a Web 2.0 startup in Mauritius. We had a very nice discussion on Web 2.0, the (lack of) bandwidth in Mauritius, entrepreneurship and passion.

His company, Vinivi, specializes into “unbiased hotel reviews and ratings by travellers”. Its website uses all sorts of Web 2.0 APIs like the ones provided by Google Maps, Google Earth, YouTube, etc.

Gilles Granger is looking for junior and senior developers to work at Grand-Baie where the company is based. For some obscure reasons ;-) , Vinivi uses Microsoft technologies (.NET / IIS / SQL Server)

I’ve set up a Job Opportunities section on the CSE website of the University of Mauritius. You’ll find some additional information there.

Dear students, I need your feedback!

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I would like to get the feedback of students with whom I’ve worked this academic year. Please click on the relevant link:

I need your feedback to become a better lecturer. And there are only 6 easy questions to answer. And, naturally, this process is 100% anonymous.

Please pass this message to your friends! And, naturally, whatever you say, whether positive or negative, will remain private…

I’ve been interviewed by Google…

By 28 Comments

… and the Google hiring committee has decided that (I quote) “[I am] not a strong match for [the] position [they are offering]”

Chronologically, this is what happened.

28 March 2007: First contact

Google sent me a mail asking me if I would be interested in exploring opportunities in their Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team. They had found my CV online and were keen to talk to me (I guess they used Google to find me :-) )

The SRE team members run the Google.com website as well as a number of other websites and they only employ people with very extensive knowledge of networking, Linux and programming.

I was extremely flattered to be contacted by Google. I knew, nevertheless, that the Google interview process was tough. And I couldn’t help thinking that (i) I am not an expert in networking and (ii) even though I know Linux and programming pretty well, I am neither a Linux administrator nor a software developer…

But I was ready to give the interview process a try and I replied affirmatively.

6 April 2007: First phone call

I got a first phone call from Mountain View, California, at 11pm(!) and, during our 45-minute conversation, I was asked a number of non-technical questions as well as three relatively straightforward technical questions on networking and Linux.

It was a positive experience for me and a few days later I got an email telling me that I did well enough.

26 April 2007: Second phone call

I was called by an engineer of the SRE team from Dublin, Ireland. We had a 1-hour conversation and I was asked a number of questions on networking (lots), Linux (some) and programming (two small programs to write).

Personally, I thought I replied well enough (as far as I know).

28 April 2007: Last email

I got an email from Google yesterday basically telling me that “[I am] not a strong match for [the] position [they are offering]” that is, as an engineer in the Site Reliability Engineering team.

This is how I feel about the whole experience.

Negatives

  1. I was not offered a job at Google.
  2. It was a stressful experience.

Positives

  1. I was contacted by Google! It’s tough to explain how dreamy this feels…
  2. I’ve been through the Google interview process. In a few months, I’ll apply for a more adequate job at Google (more in line with what I am really good in) and I’ll be better prepared.
  3. I’ve realised that I need to do more real (as opposed to academic) programming and I need to administer more Linux servers and face more complex issues. Consequently I’ve decided to start working on a secret software development project (watch this space…)

Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me (family, colleagues, students and friends).

And thanks Google (specifically Cecilia, Erika, Andrew and Nikesh) for the experience :-)