The Google Resume: How to Prepare for a Career and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft, Google, or any Top Tech Company [Hardcover]

I've always struggled with writing appropriate things on my resume. Specially when I had to squeeze everything in a single page.
Reading this book not only changed the way I now compose my resumes, but also how I view other people's resumes too. It is impressive how clueless people are when sending resumes which will not stand out among the other dozens (maybe even hundreds) of resumes sent to hiring managers.
Gayle has done a superb job at describing why most resumes are thrown away even before they are read completely. She will tell you how to avoid these mistakes and what you should do to build an impressive resume.
Gayle has also covered some important questions you should be prepared for in case you get called for an interview (which is more likely to happen if you read this book). It is definetely something you should pay attention to if you really want to make a good impression with your interviewers.
It is a pleasant read. She writes only the important stuff, giving no room for the things that don't matter.
If you are in college, just graduated, or struggling trying to get the "Dream Job", you must check out this book. It is an invaluable reference.

The Google Resume is a comprehensive guide to landing a job at any major high-tech company.

This book could not have been written by a more passionate and qualified person. In fact, the author Gayle Laakmann McDowell not only worked at Google and other tech giants, she was responsible for interviewing 100+ candidates while she was there!

The Google Resume opened up my eyes to how rigorous and intimidating a tech interview can be and I feel very lucky to have found such a well written book on this topic, while only a junior in college. Gayle provides all the tools and knowledge so that you can start preparing for the challenging job/internship hiring process now! This puts you at an advantage over the other candidates, who will probably be blindsided when asked to write a non-trivial algorithm on the spot during an interview (See the Programming Interview chapter).

Here are some of the highlights of the book:
Chapter 2: Advanced Preparation. i.e., if you're still a student, what should you be doing right now to build a skill set that would compel a recruiter and manager to interview and hire you.

Chapter 3: Getting in the Door. This chapter has a section that talks about the "Black Hole" of online job submissions. If you don't know what the black hole is, it's when you spend 30 or more minutes submitting your resume online, only to never hear back. She provides many important tips in this chapter to avoid the pitfalls of online resume submissions.

Chapters 4-6: These chapters are all about the fundamental qualities that a tech resume and cover letter should have. I see conflicting resume advice scattered all over the web, Gayle on the other hand, provides very clear and meaningful tips throughout these chapters. I thought I had the perfect resume before reading this, boy was I wrong.

Chapter 9: The programming Interview. This chapter is all about what you can expect from the technical portion of a programming interview, including how you can prepare and what sort of coding questions you can expect. One of the most valuable sections in this chapter is the "Must Know" topics for programing interviews. She provides a list of all the data structures, algorithms and computer science concepts that one would be expected to know at a bare minimum. If you're still a student, this allows you to know in advance what topics will carry over into industry, and should therefore be taken even more seriously.

Chapter 10: Getting into Gaming. I have always wondered what it's really like to work in the video game industry. She provides very insightful commentary on the ins and outs of gaming related jobs. 12 hour days working in gaming, ouch!

In addition to all this, Gayle has a companion website called CareerCup, that gives you company specific interview tips that have been graciously submitted from users that have gone through interviews at companies like Qualcomm, Microsoft and of course Google:)

Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it has zero fluff and can easily be read in a few days.

I've read other advice books related to other topics and I've put them down after a couple chapters, thinking the author was no more knowledgeable on the subject than me. I think it's rare to find a book written by someone with such genuine knowledge on a topic, and who's willing to share it!

if(you want a clear path to a high paying job in tech)
purchase and devour this book;
else
proceed blindly into the technological abyss;

This book was far better than I expected. Reading it feels like pulling Google, Microsoft and Apple into a conference room and picking their brains for hours about exactly what it takes to get hired!

Why? Because not only has the author interviewed and WORKED for each of those companies, she also was a lead interviewer, served on Google's Hiring Committee, assessed over 700 applications, evaluated thousands of resumes and interviewed 150+ top candidates! Beyond that, she runs a website entirely dedicated to this subject. The author is definitely this book's distinguishing edge.

Gayle Laakmann is passionate about this, to say the least. By all definitions, she is an expert and, above all, she is genuinely motivated to help. So, I can't think of a better person from which to take such advice.

Then, she does a fantastic job of giving that advice! This book demystifies the process of landing a job at top tech companies, providing behind-the-scenes insight that allows you to separate fact from fiction so you don't feel blindsided. The chapters cover the entire process:

C H A P T E R S
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Advanced Preparation
Getting in the Door
Resumes
Deconstructing the Resume
Cover Letters and References
Interview Prep and Overview
Interview Questions
Programming Interview
Getting Into Gaming
The Offer
On the Job
Final Thoughts
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Like a powerful résumé, each chapter contains only the most relevant information, keeping the book short and fluff-free. The primary audience is college students but even as a professional with over 10 years experience, I still found it indispensable. To me, the best part was the hand-selected Q&A after every chapter, excerpted from actual real-world questions. Often, someone made the same inquiries that were on my mind and her answers provided a fresh and authoritative perspective.

Drawing from personal experience, Laakmann helped me to understand, from the inside out, how these "dream" companies work and what it takes to get hired. She provides the interviewee's viewpoint, discussing her story and how she got accepted into every company you've ever dreamed of and she also covers the employer's angle, detailing the processes she and her colleagues used while making hire/no-hire decisions.

Of course, there is no "magic bullet;" you won't read this book and then wake up a Noogler! It takes work and you will need other resources to refresh your skills. Use this book to create a roadmap.

I went from feeling like I have slim chances to having an exact game plan on how to tip the odds heavily in my favor! I even read excerpts to my non-technical wife and it helped her successfully negotiate a signing bonus!

Overall, the practical advice, alone, is worth far more than the 12 bucks I paid to get it.

(as a core-skill refresher in software, I also recommend Cracking the Coding Interview from the same author, Algorithms in a Nutshell from O'Reilly, and Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software from the "Gang of Four")

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