How Do I Earn a Mechanical Engineering PhD?

Zhou Hong, a graduate of the China University of Science and Technology in 1990, received a PhD in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in computer science from Stanford University at the end of 1999. He has lived and worked in the United States for many years, and is now returning to China as Google enters China.

Zhou Hong

(Google's first Chinese engineer)

As

In 1999, Zhou Hongcong

Zhou Hong: I want to transplant Google's culture to China

Kaifu's job change from Microsoft to Google has not only caused legal battles between the two major companies, but also caused people's surprise to Google. What made Li Kaifu quit Google's vice president position and chose Google?

Zhou Hong, who has joined Google since 2000, attended the youth class of the Chinese University of Science and Technology at the age of 14 and then attended Stanford University in the United States. Her first job was Google, and she was also the first Chinese engineer at Google.

For Zhou Hong, in the past 5 years, what she felt most about Google was "Google is a place full of passion", "because what everyone does at Google is their own favorite thing." Kai-Fu Lee, who had just arrived at Google, praised that what shocked him was Google s "Magic of Passion", "Many friends I know have gone there, some are senior researchers and scientists, and I found that they were They disappeared, they were full of vitality; some were my students, and I found that they seemed to have found a dream home, and they seemed to enjoy themselves at work. "

Recently, as Google s "cultural ambassador", Zhou Hong accompanied Li Kaifu to China and she will assist Li Kaifu in exploring the Chinese market and recruiting employees.

"Back to China is also a completely new challenge. It will also go through the process of Google from scratch in China. Although there are many uncertain factors in it, it is challenging, so I think this is a good one. Opportunity. "Despite living in China for more than 20 years, this time returning to China, Zhou Hong felt that this was not the same mood as returning to China on vacation.

At the time, Google was still a small company that had just started a business, and agreed to hire her companies including Oracle, SUN, Cisco and other well-known companies; but Zhou Hong finally chose the Google that gave her the hardest interview questions

In 1999, Zhou Hong graduated from Stanford University in the United States. She received a PhD in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in computer science at almost the same time.

Zhou Hong recalled the situation of entering Google at the time and said, "After graduating, I started looking for a job. At that time, I was lucky. Oracle, SUN, Cisco, etc. were willing to hire me. It was a very chance that I went to Google."

"When I went to SUN, it was because I was a summer intern, because one of my Stanford classmates is also a good friend. When I work at SUN, when they recruit an intern, they hope that I will pass by. When I graduate, they say I hope to hire me. I think that in SUN, that's also very good. They are very formal and need a letter of recommendation. When I was at Stanford, there was a professor who I particularly admire, called David Cheriton. At that time, when he was writing a recommendation letter for me, he said to me, 'If you haven't found a job and you're not completely sure, I can recommend you to several other companies'; then, he recommended Cisco and Google. "

She quickly submitted her resume to Cisco and Google, and Cisco quickly responded. After an interview, she quickly said she was hiring. However, Google resumes have not been answered.

At that time, she sent a mail to David Cheriton, and David Cheriton helped her to send her resume to Google. On the second day, Google had feedback, saying that the vice president was interested in her after seeing her resume, and let her First did a phone test, and it was relatively smooth, then she was given the opportunity to come to Google for an interview.

Zhou Hong said, "When I was interviewing, I felt that this company was completely different from other companies, such as Oracle, SUN, and Cisco. They were all big companies. The company was very large and the buildings were beautiful. Google was very small at the time. I can hardly find it. It doesn't even have a house number. There is a small note on the roadside pole, Google written with a ballpoint pen, hit an arrow, I drive over, and finally found the company. "

At that time, the company had only a few dozen employees. In an ordinary building, the first floor was leased to another company, and the second floor was Google.

What surprised Zhou Hong was that in that case, Google not only had kitchens, but also facilities and services such as washing machines and massage rooms, and all of them were free until now. When Google submitted its IPO plan in April 2004, it was made clear to prospective investors that these benefits must be accepted, "to be increased in the coming days."

Since she went to Google for an interview early, she didn't eat breakfast and did not expect that the interview went through 3 rounds until 4pm.

In the first round of interviews with Zhou Hong, she asked her to write 3 programs. "It is very demanding. After all, you must make this program run, give the correct answer, and it is the best. This is very mental. I'm a bit exhausted. " Her questions were interviewed in the second and third rounds and she was shocked. At the end, a director in charge of recruitment gave Zhou Hong a shirt; she thought at the time: after much torture, if not accepted by Google, she would use this shirt printed on Google to mop the floor. Fortunately, the day after the interview, she was notified by Google.

"Later, I thought about it. The reason why I chose Google is because I especially like to interview me. The tube was called at 9 pm on the second day. I think I was very moved and was responsible for recruiting. They have to work until 9 o'clock in the evening, let alone the engineers, and the work is very hard. "Zhou Hong said that she chose Google because the interviewer gave her the hardest questions; Each of my colleagues is very smart, "I want to work with them must have a lot of fun, and I can learn a lot."

Another idea for Zhou Hong to choose Google was, "I just came out of school and chose a small company, I still have a lot of vision for the future."

In Google s current office building, there is a model of the earth in motion, and there will be a highlight on the model of the place where Google searches. Zhou Hong said, "When you walk by every day, you will see a shiny globe turning, I felt that the few lines of the program I wrote were being used by others, and that feeling would be very good. "

After Zhou Hong entered Google, she learned that David Cheriton, who recommended her to Google, was Google s first angel investor. It was because of his introduction and introduction that Google s founders Peggy and Brin and his friend Andy Bechtolsheim ( Andy Bechtolsheim), met for the first time in the backyard of David Cheriton's house, and because Andy Bechtolsheim was very tight at the time, he signed a check for $ 100,000 without listening to Page and Brin's business plan.

After just 5 years, David Cheriton and Andy Bechtolsheim received a generous return for the $ 200,000 they invested. When Google was listed on the Nasdaq, Andy Bechtolsheim and David Cheriton, the market value of the stocks held by the two would be about 300 million US dollars, while the price of each stock of Google at that time was 85 US dollars; today, each of Google's The price of the stock has reached as high as $ 353.06 (the price on November 3).

Half a year before Zhou Hong entered Google, that is, June 7, 1999, it was a historic moment for Google. On that day, Google acquired two of Silicon Valley's most famous venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers ( (Crenna Buckins) and Sequoia Capital (Sequoia) have a total investment of $ 25 million.

Half a year after Zhou Hong joined Google, Yahoo invested $ 10 million in Google's icing on the cake.

Unlike companies that generally experience ups and downs, Google has been developing steadily and at high speed. It was during the dot-com bubble that other companies were desperately burning money, but Google saved money very much. Since 2001, Google has been profitable. Since listing, Google has become a Nasdaq myth.

As a Google employee, Zhou Hong said, "What I feel most deeply is that Google is a place full of passion, because what everyone does at Google is their own favorite thing. You can do it in the middle of the night You can hear colleagues playing the piano in the lobby, or there is always a lot of people talking, and there are always cars in the parking lot. " And it's this passion and creativity that makes Google's employees care less about working long hours.

At Google, there is an employee who joined the company at about the same time as Zhou Hong. The boy is mainly responsible for detecting how many visits Google has every day. Since he likes to draw crayon drawings, he spontaneously draws on a large piece of paper how many visits Google has today and how many visits tomorrow? He painted the history of Google with traffic. He has been doing this for 4-5 years, and he has painted an entire wall of Google. Colleagues spontaneously marked their own crayon drawings on daily visits, marking some of their own things, such as "I join Google today", some interesting people to visit and so on. It can also be said that there are a few records here. Milestones, and these are all spontaneous.

And in order to create a free culture of the company and the passion of the employees, Google has implemented some humanized systems since its inception.

In the past 5 years, Zhou Hong has never worried that she will be late for work, because she usually goes to work at noon. Because Google implements a flexible work system, employees do nt have to go to work nine to five. Our company employees sleep late and get up very late. For me, I usually go to work at noon and work until Going back in the middle of the night, I think this flexible work system is also very good for one's creativity; if you limit the working time to '9 to 5', how can you innovate? When can inspiration not come?

To encourage innovation, Google also stipulates that 20% of employees' work hours per week do things other than their own work.

Zhou Hong said that innovation is very important for an enterprise. If you want to be invincible, you must continue to innovate. "You can only last long if you keep recreating yourself." Therefore, Google encourages employees to often try different things during working hours. "20% of the time in a week, you can master the time yourself. Many of the company's products are made 20% of the time. For example, Gmail is a person's creativity. It s very meaningful to do it as you go.

In addition, at Google, there is a clear rule that management cannot restrict the free movement of an employee between different departments within the company.

Zhou Hong is deeply touched by this. In the past, because of her interest, she went from one department to another. "Only doing what you like can be very creative. If there are restrictions, it will be difficult to play. Individual maximum potential. " It is in this atmosphere of passion that in the past 5 and a half years of software development, Zhou Hong has 4 software patents.

Google s freedom and passion also infected Li Kaifu. When he first arrived at Google, he saw Chinese employees for the first time. Dozens of people expressed their willingness to return to China. He asked, Your boss team is only For two or three people, the boss will not be afraid of you leaving, and advise you to stay? "And they are puzzled by Li Kaifu's idea, because no matter which department the employee goes to, it is for the better future of the company.

For the talents we recruit, I have to have a very smart mind, a solid foundation, and a strong hands-on ability. We must be practical people. We strongly emphasize the ability to program. Understand, the most important thing is that you can adapt to the culture of Google innovation

At present, Google has more than 4,000 employees worldwide and has just started in the Chinese market. It plans to recruit 50 employees, all of whom are fresh graduates who have just graduated from college.

Regarding returning to China, Zhou Hong said, "I think Google has done a very meaningful thing. It has improved people's lives and made it easier for people to understand this information. Now Google attaches great importance to the Chinese market. As far as I am concerned, I am very willing to do something for China. For me, doing so is very fulfilling and satisfying. "

From a job applicant to an interviewer, from entering Google to returning to China, Zhou Hong's role has also changed positions. She believes that Google s requirements for recruiting talent in the United States are high, and in China, this standard will not be lowered. index".

Zhou Hong said, "I remember when I first joined Google, the company organized some training, including how to recruit? How to interview? Among them, the very important point is that you can be very smart, but you have to be a good person; that is, , We need very smart people to come in, but we also emphasize the team spirit, you must be able to work with others; if you are working alone and do not want to communicate with others, then your development in the company will get limit".

Speaking of Google's specific recruitment criteria, Zhou Hong said that as a job applicant, she not only needs to have a good idea, but also to realize this idea well, which is important for any company pursuing innovation. If you want to enter Google, you must pass the assessment. Generally, you have to pass a written test and an interview. "During the conversation, what method does he use to solve a problem and can he feel creative through communication?"

Since Google started with technology, it must have a solid foundation in terms of the talents it employs, and it must have a strong hands-on ability; if it is an engineer, it must have strong programming skills and a deep understanding of the computer discipline; At the same time, seekers must agree with Google's innovative corporate culture.

There are many world-class experts in Google. If you work with them, you will feel that you are learning new things every day and doing something very meaningful. In the eyes of Zhou Hong, the reason why the famous Google experts have achieved success is inseparable from their hard work. Whether on weekends or daily work, you can often meet them in the office, and they not only work hard, It is also very approachable. The relationship between colleagues in the company is handled very well. "They are a model for any new colleague who joins Google."

As Google s cultural ambassador, Zhou Hong said, I want to transplant Google s corporate culture or human resource mechanism to China, so that Chinese talents can feel the same free development.

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