VinUni University graduates share secrets to passing interviews and "conquering" Google

Minh said that if students want to start working early, they should start their internships in their second year or earlier. If they have no experience, they can present projects they have done in class to demonstrate their abilities.

Tuong Minh at the graduation ceremony of VinUni University. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

Road mobility and more

Having just graduated from VinUni University, Nguyen Tuong Minh - a new graduate of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Computer Science , VinUni University has signed an indefinite contract with Google, as a Program Management Engineer at Google Vietnam.

Few people would have thought that Minh entered university with somewhat vague questions about his future direction. For Minh, the university journey is not only a place to learn professional knowledge but also a place to find out who he is.

Finding yourself

Minh studied high school in the US from grade 9, but when he returned to Vietnam, he was very confused, not knowing what he would study in university because he didn't know what he really wanted to study or what he would do.

“I chose Mechanical Engineering at VinUni because I thought I liked being creative and making things, so maybe this was the right direction for me. In my second year, I even wanted to change my major because I found it too difficult, but my score wasn’t enough to change,” Minh said with a laugh.

The second year also marked a change for Minh when he started his internship and realized that this was a field of study with many interesting applications and many practical directions. Each internship helped the male student gain new experiences and improve his qualifications.

Minh's first stop was a Korean company, not too stressful but the internship helped him get used to the working environment.

In his third year of university, Minh was accepted to intern at Bosch – the world’s leading technology and service corporation. Minh said that his internship at Bosch was an important turning point as he was able to participate in many large and complex projects, helping him quickly mature in his work style.

And with that maturity, Minh's profile caught Google's attention when the company launched an internship program in Vietnam. Minh was proactively contacted by Google's human resources department to apply.

Nguyen Tuong Minh. (Photo: VinUni)

Practice early and don't be afraid to ask questions

From his own experience, Minh said that Google doesn't care if the candidate is a student or not, as long as he can do the job. The male student had to go through three rounds of interviews over nearly two months.

According to Minh, Google is an environment that respects and trusts employees, including interns, with an extremely systematic internal document system, making learning very proactive and effective.

Sharing the secret to conquering big companies while still in school, Minh said that if students want to start working early, they should start interning at businesses from their second year or earlier. If they have no experience, students can present projects they have done in class to demonstrate their abilities.

“When going for an interview, there will be two types of questions. One is about real experiences, students should answer according to the STAR method [situation - task - action - result]. The other is a hypothetical question, for example, “If the boss doesn’t like me, what should I do?”. With this type of question, don’t rush to answer. Ask again to clarify the situation and then offer a solution. That shows how to analyze and respond to situations – something that employers highly appreciate,” Minh “revealed”.

According to Minh, studying at VinUni gives him an advantage in interviews with international businesses because he has good foreign language skills, not only in communication but also in professional contexts. In addition, having to do many projects at school helps him improve his teamwork skills, from coordination, presentation to conflict resolution, all of which are practiced regularly.

Another special point is that he learns quickly and is not afraid to ask questions about his expertise. When he doesn't know something, Minh will ask his friends and teachers until he really understands.

Looking ahead, Minh said he plans to focus on learning, gaining experience, and developing his career at Google Vietnam. Minh also harbors the desire to create 'made in Vietnam' technology products like VinFast is doing. "I want to contribute to creating things with real value, owned by Vietnamese people, not just processing or testing," Minh shared./.

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tan-khoa-dai-hoc-vinuni-chia-se-bi-quyet-vuot-qua-phong-van-chinh-phuc-google-post1048691.vnp