Before joining Google, Alexandria Sauls worked at Amazon, Uber, and PayPal. She currently has a career coaching business on the side, where she reviews resumes and conducts mock interviews. Sauls told BI about mistakes she sees from applicants, such as absences. Impact on resume.
This told essay is based on a conversation with Alexandria Saules, a 33-year-old Google employee who runs a career coaching side business called No Ceilings. Edited for length and clarity.
My introduction to the tech industry was at an on-campus career fair. Amazon was hiring a lot in operations, so they gave me the opportunity.
I was then able to find jobs at Uber, PayPal, and Google through cold applications on LinkedIn or the company’s website. Usually within the next 24-72 hours, I’ll see that someone at my company has viewed my profile. From there, the interview process began.
I officially started my career services business, No Ceilings, in 2022 and have helped over 100 clients, primarily with resumes and mock interviews. I’ve helped people across small technology companies as well as large technology companies. Some people just need a little adjustment, while others want a complete change of direction.
These are red flags you’ll see during the application process.
Don’t: Stay away from the question.
We recommend that you respond very briefly. Sometimes when I’m nervous because I don’t understand a question, I go full throttle and say, “Wait, I don’t know if this is actually the answer.”
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I learned the “star” format on Amazon and have used the same format of answers at every company ever since. “Star” stands for a situation, task, action, result, and by stating the problem you were trying to solve and the specific actions you took to get there, you will be able to fully solve it. You can get it back on track. -Out as a result.
It helps because the interviewer can read your notes and understand what you did. Your ability to communicate concisely also has a huge impact on how you are seen in business.
I usually recommend the STAR format for behavioral questions, but you can also get questions like “How did you put together your strategy?” You won’t answer in the same format, but think about the process you went through as if it were a behavioral question.
Don’t: List responsibilities without influence.
The biggest drop-off I’ve seen is people listing only their responsibilities, such as “preparing weekly reports” or “scheduling X number of meetings.”
When I read through a client’s resume, I ask probing questions within the document, such as “Do you have any examples of projects? Or what are the implications?” Once you understand the big picture, you think, “Wait, I just solved a very complex problem that I typed in because I’m submitting a weekly report.”
Writing like this doesn’t convey the full picture of the project they worked on, nor does it convey its compelling impact. Each bullet point should be an “R” in “star” format, or “Result”. Therefore, you need to make sure those verbs and words match the job description and its results.
When looking at your resume, ask if it captures everything that’s great about you. If not, please go back and fix it further. But I can guarantee you that there is a way to tell the full story in more detail.
Don’t: Repeat your resume when asked to introduce yourself
“Tell me about yourself” is a huge question, but I tell people it has to be a bit of a combination of personality and a clear understanding of why they’re applying for the role.
This is not a resume walkthrough, documentation is provided. I usually recommend mentioning your university if you just graduated, then talk about the industries you’ve worked in, what projects you’ve worked on, and what led you to apply for the role.
This usually takes less than 3 minutes.
Gray Area: Small talk with interviewers and resume formatting
When it comes to small talk, I don’t want to talk about everything about my life. But I would like to say that I am from Houston and have lived in New York City for the past five years with my husband and our pup, Kygo. Usually I try to keep it light.
I once had a very formal interview with someone for one role, and then a more casual interview for the next two roles. You need to adapt to people’s atmosphere and understand that everyone is different.
I don’t have very strong opinions on resume format. I still choose the standard black and white resume and always tell people to focus on keywords and content over layout.
As for the number of pages, if you have less than 10 years of experience, you’ll be told to keep it to two pages or less. However, the resume I applied to at Google was indeed two pages long. I wanted to get some good examples. For example, you don’t want to compromise on including relevant certifications just because it’s one page long.
