By Henry Chandonnet
Publication Date: 2026-01-05 10:04:00
Big Tech can seem impenetrable. This Google alum has some tips for getting your foot in the door.
Maddy Zhang spent over four years working as a software engineer for Google, touching both the search and advertising businesses. She now works at Airbnb, per her LinkedIn, and previously held internships at Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft.
On the “A Life Engineered” podcast, Zhang shared five tips for landing a job at Google or one of its competitors.
First, she recommended applying to jobs early — as in, within hours of the openings being posted.
“Because there’s so much competition, it’s honestly an employer’s market,” Zhang said. “If you wait a day, probably there’s going to be hundreds of applicants for it.”
