This year was a remarkably great one and I'd like to mention why I think so.

On January 14th I received an e-mail from IBM that stated that my resume had been chosen and that they were inviting me to participate in the first stage of the recruiting process in Rio de Janeiro. The first stage was composed of a logical reasoning test, an English test and a composition. The estimated duration of the stage was about 2.5 hours. OK, I went there on January 19th at 3:00 P.M. and I did all the tests. On January 23rd I received an e-mail confirming that I had been approved in the first stage (tests) of the IBM passport (as they call the whole process). They stated that they’d schedule the second stage (group dynamics) as soon as possible. I received other e-mail on the same day and I was greeted with the following phrase: “You’ve been approved in the first stage and we’d like to invite you to the second stage (group dynamics) of the IBM recruiting process.” Again I went to the same place Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro on January 24th at 9:00 A.M. to take part in the second phase. In a timespan of just two days I received a message stating the following: “We thank you for your participation in the second stage (group dynamics) of the IBM passport internship program and we inform that your profile doesn’t fit in any of the open opportunities we have at the moment. We emphasize that this result doesn’t eliminate the possibility of a new entry in the next IBM internship program after a period of 12 months from this participation. Respectfully, IBM Brazil (Recruiting and Selection).”

From the above experience I have good memories. In the first stage I went to Rio de Janeiro with my dad. That was a great trip and an unforgettable one. My dad sad at the time: I think you’re going to succeed in it. But it wasn’t the time yet. I remember of a moment in which I was in the hall of IBM’s building right before the first stage and for sure I knew that was just the beginning of a great journey. At that time I was heading to the last two terms of the computer engineering course. This year I had to develop the final project too.

By the end of the year I realized it was time to start searching for a place to work. So I created a LinkedIn account and sent my resume to some places.

One of the messages was sent to a contact I got at LinkedIn site on December 13th. The message title was Job Opportunity and the recipient was Kerry Xin, a software engineering recruiter that works for Google. He replied my email asking me what's my phone number and confirming that he would call me. I then replied the e-mail writing: "There is only a problem: here in Brazil not everyone has access to broadband internet. So, I still use a dial-up internet connection. This way, my phone will be occupied while I'm on the internet. If you can, set a time for us to get connected on the phone." He then replied with the following: "I would like to call you at 8pm Brazil time, which is in half an hour. Is that ok?" Of course it was OK. I was going to talk with someone from Google. That was above my expectations. I just replied that message stating that he could call me at 8:00 PM. And so I talked to him on the phone. That was my first English phone call. We talked for about 15 minutes. The talk was about the available locations to work at Google and the specific area to direct three technical questions. I answered the first two questions but wasn't sure about the last one. In a later e-mail I sent him my resume and wrote that I can read and write almost everything in English, but to talk is still really strange (I'm not in the right environment). I need an opportunity to practice. I know I can master the English language if I'm in the right place. After a week I received a message from Kerry with the result of the preliminary phone interview. The hiring committee's feedback for the Google/SRE position wasn't positive. He thanked me for my time and interest in Google. According to them my background and experience was carefully reviewed and unfortunately they couldn't find a position that is a strong match with my qualifications at the time. He then affirmed that he would keep my resume active in their system and try to match my profile with new opportunities and would reach out to me if they find an opening for which I may be qualified. I then replied the "Thank you from Google" e-mail with the following: "Thank you for considering me. It was a pleasure to talk to you on the phone (my first English phone call). For sure I'll remain enthusiastic about Google. It's a splendid company! I use Google's services everyday and it plays a great role in my life." I think it was a good FIRST experience with Google.

More to come...