**********************************THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER ACTIVE*********************************
This blog captured my summer adventures while an APM Intern at Google.
I have currently moved-on to full-time work in the start-up world and am writing my new Sprucing It Up blog instead.
Thank you for reading!
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Intern at Google by day; San Fransisco devotee by night.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Thanks for being an intern: Here's your $4,000 bonus!

I had decided awhile ago I wasn't going to write this post. I think the idea can come off a bit pompous... so I will attempt to be completely transparent here: my intention is to playfully speculate at the a dollar amount representing the ridiculous perks I have been privileged to enjoy this summer. The value, however, is noisy for two reasons, 1) I have not included every single perk I've been part of, and 2) I am generally guessing at the value of benefits which I don't fully understand (imagine an extreme version of the Price is Right, where estimation skills are tested beyond the grocery-store-level!).

If you're reading this to learn about Google salaries, feel free to stop reading. You won't find any details around that topic here. Okay, let's move onto finding a price to describe "ridiculous"!

You may ask what spurred me to change my mind and actually write this post? Yesterday, Google topped itself in a way didn't even think possible. I was told to arrive at work at 5AM. The day essentially boiled down to a one-day, insanely fun, round-trip airplane ticket trip to an off-site location. (The vague description is intentional, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for future APM interns who will search the web in hopes of discovering the day's agenda!). I began to realize, "Wow, how much is Google 'paying' me extra to fund all of these outrageous activities?" And since I am an engineer also love numbers, I decided to go through the exercise and attempt to get an actual dollar estimate.

As I compiled this magical value, here are the kinds of free perks I was assigning values and adding up:
  • paid while attending secret APM off-site, as described above
  • free breakfast ($4), lunch ($5), and dinner ($5), 5 days a week, all organic, hormone-free meats, better-than-most-restaurants quality ... for 12 weeks. Not to mention all of the wine tasting events during afternoons on the patio and regular beer/wine/appetizer Friday afternoon parties.
  • 2-3 cups of coffee a day; around 3 smoothies a week
  • free tickets to see the musical Wicked in downtown San Francisco
  • use of free Google rental car service on 3 occasions
  • not paying for gas all summer by commuting 2-hours via shuttle
  • free 8 week hip-hop dance classes, 4 weeks of Bollywood dance classes 
  • Kayaking off-site with sea creatures in Pacific
  • one visit to free on-site Google doctors
  • 10 loads of free on-site laundry/detergent/etc.
  • ...and many more...
After creating (fairly conservative) estimates and a little math...POOF! It would appear that I'm getting about an extra $4,000 in perks for 3 months of work -- this number blows my mind! I'll be the first to admit that interns get spoiled more than full-time employees...but still, $4000!? As a college student, I tend to understand the magnitude or wow-factor of a number by comparing it to how many Chipotle burritos it's worth (for example, when considering whether or not to go to a movie, I might ask myself, "Is it really worth 1.5 Chipotle burritos, Katie?"). That game here is laughable: it's as though Google has awarded me 500 of the tastiest burritos on the planet! I am one, happy college student.

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