Meet some Googlers
Ted Cho, Engineering Director, Seoul
Ted Cho is the Engineering Site Director for the Seoul, Korea office. He comes to Google with many years of industry experience having ventured in numerous start ups where he grew, as well as managed, large engineering teams. He has led in technical, business, and investment arenas, both in the US and in Korea. He has a strong technical background in Internet technologies, multimedia communications, intelligent systems and pattern recognition. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from KAIST in 1995, a M.S.in Computer Science from KAIST in 1990, and a B.S. in Computer Science from SNU in 1988.
Junho, Software Engineer
Describe your background:
I joined Google in January of 2007, right after finishing my B.S. degree in Computer Science department at Pohang University of Science and Technology. I also have 3 years of experience working as a software engineer.
Why did you decide to work for Google?
It is a valuable chance to work in a company where innovation is driven by engineers.
What are you presently working on?
I’m working to improve search results for Korean users. We are working on a global search engine by cooperating with global teams. We technically, not manually, improve search quality to meet cultural differences.
How does strong communication between colleagues support problem solving?
It’s simple. There are documents written about every product and service. But they are limited because documents cannot describe everything and do not update as much as the actual product. So I may need immediate response from someone who is working on that product. I definitely need someone’s immediate explanation or one-on-one contact to understand what something does or does not support. Because our system is huge at Google, a project cannot be done by 1 engineer or 1 team. I’m happy because at Google, whenever I send emails to another team’s mailing list, almost always, more than 1 person responds to my question. Not only do they respond but they are enthusiastic about sharing their expertise on the product and service. Sometimes, people even fly to other offices to communicate more efficiently. Having direct interaction between teams is very helpful.
What are your long term goals here at Google?
I’m interested in accessibility. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. I hope all users, including impaired users, may access as much information as possible.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your work here at Google?
I can easily read and understand source code. Sometimes it’s easier than reading a news article. Not only because it’s written by smart people but because Google’s code review process is really well defined. Google invests not only time, but also a lot of effort to build tools for code review and other code processes.
How does Google’s work culture fit your personality and working style?
I love to commute a few hours later than rush hour. Google’s flexible hours allow me to do this. This saves me time! What would you tell a potential candidate about why they should consider Google? Almost every methodology of software engineering I’ve heard about from books and blogs is actually done at Google.
What makes this office special or unique?
It’s extremely rare to find an international software company that is actually working on their products in Korea. This office is actually making changes.
They say Google has a strong innovative culture. Is this true? How so?
The 20% project is every Googler’s privilege that allows people to do what they really want to do and try and experiment in different areas. I get to have 20% of my week’s time to work on any project.
Jungkhun, Software Engineer
You weren’t always in the software industry. Describe your career path.
After earning my master degree in EE, I worked at electronic device companies for eleven years. I started out as a hardware engineer and moved to the software industry gradually.
Really? How did that happen?
While developing my own Windows application, I was attracted to the creativity of software and how my efforts had an effect on the way people utilize computers. I noticed that the web software industry was growing and would provide a way for me to engage in this exciting work.
Why is the work exciting at Google?
I have the option to choose projects that I want to work on. At previous companies, the projects were assigned to me and I had to struggle with the manager to transfer to new projects. But at Google I can choose my own project if it is available. I can also select my working hours. I start work early so I can go home to spend time with my wife and daughter.
How else do you save time while working at Google?
I can be efficient with my working time and get home earlier by having healthy snacks around vs. spending the time to go out and eat. Once I started working at Google Seoul, I have never experienced an empty stomach. In the morning I eat Kim-bab and I really enjoy snacking on cherries, grapes or bananas. This is on top of our delicious catered lunch.
Other than having daily access to good, healthy food, what are some other positive aspects of working here?
A lot of freedom is given: working hours, projects, work style and even how I decorate my work space. I feel I have more ownership over what I do and my productivity level has increased. Also I love to work over wireless connection on a bean bag in my own office room – this is quite comfortable and relaxing.
What are your long term goals here at Google?
Enhancing the ways people use computers. User experience is my passion.
Really? How did that come about?
Prior to Google, I developed my own Windows application and while developing it, I realized that I am motivated when the customers are satisfied with my features. It was a local area messenger and many users told me their productivity increased and they really liked my application. I communicated with the users and through their feedback I was able to implement new features and receive positive feedback.
I believe software changes the way people use the computer and work at the office and as a long term goal, I would like to improve the ways people interact with the software applications.
One of Google’s main focus area is the user. Do you have a favorite Google product that you love using?
Gmail. Before I joined Google, I disliked web based application email because I have to start the web browser, log in; it was a hassle to save documents, but after joining Google, I started using Gmail and realized it was more productive than the other non web based applications.
I had 100 emails a day and had to categorize these into specific folders. Gmail categorizes related emails in the same thread. I also don’t have to duplicate the information and use a lot of memory when I am using a different computer.
So you enjoy using Google products and enjoy the working culture at the Seoul office. Besides what you mentioned earlier, what’s one thing you would tell a potential candidate about why he or she should consider Google?
In my previous companies, a dream was just dream. But at Google, I’m getting more confident that dreams will come true if you have the will and the ability to realize these dreams. If you have dreams, make them real at Google. It’s possible because the culture here is such that if a project idea is reasonable, it is likely to be adopted.
Google is a flat organization or bottom up company and people are encouraged to express their ideas. And because there are so many smart and experienced engineers, you have a great resource of people who can help you get your project dream executed. There are many famous people working for Google and they are here to help and provide expertise. My Korean engineering colleagues are very smart and their future here looks very promising.
Great point. It seems Google is well known for its talented group of people. But what makes the Seoul office unique?
Seoul office is growing quickly. We have many committees – events, hiring, mentoring, open source, to name a few that allow us to get more involved with the development of this office. Also we have highly open discussion groups – Product Strategy Groups. Everything is new so we have to discuss and brainstorm as to how to make our environment the best that it can be. People are very energetic, optimistic and full of enthusiasm to make this office better everyday.
Dohyung Kim, Software Engineer
Why did you decide to join Google Korea?
I dreamed that I could learn what I had not learned while in University, work with more brilliant people than ever before, and eat great foods that I had never tasted. I believed that working with great people would make me great.
What do you like best about working at Google?
If I have an idea that may change the world, I can make it real. Google has great infrastructure - and engineers whom I can work with to make things happen.
What has been the biggest surprise about working at Google?
There are endless opportunities through which I can improve myself, including (access to) educational documents and technical talks. I can access every source code and document that Google has ever developed. Many engineers are ready to explain what I want to know.
What is your favorite perk/benefit about working at Google?
I enjoy eating good food every day and spending time with my family thanks to flexible working hours. Most of all, I can enjoy my work as I did while in University.
What is unique about working for Google in Korea?
I feel that every engineer is equal. Every engineer has the same title – software engineer – and together we discuss topics freely.