Arun Rao is a Senior Hardware Engineer at Google. In this episode, Arun shares his journey from facing difficult times early in his career to how his graduate experience changed his path and ultimately led him to securing an internship and later a full-time position at Google. He also sheds light on the impact of the current economic climate on the Big Tech industry and offers advice to those who are interested in pursuing industry roles despite the market downturn.

If you're an early career professional or an academic/PhD looking to transition to big tech/Google, this episode is for you!

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Access past episodes and other free useful resources at: https://phdtoindustry.substack.com/

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Show Notes:

[00:33] Arun Introduction

[02:28] Arun's Decision on going back to Grad School for PhD

[05:31] Arun's experience on 2 years working before PhD

[10:28] Google Internship

[13:56] Breaking into a Full Time Role at Google

[15:40] Would Arun redo his PhD?

[16:50] Day to Day as Hardware Engineer

[18:37] How collaboration is different per phase of projects

[22:15] Example of Google Hardware Products

[25:34] Hardware vs Software at Google

[28:07] Layoff Impacts and If People Should Not Explore Tech Jobs Right Now

[33:13] Arun gives 2 Pieces of Advice to Current PhDs

[37:11] Lightening Round

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Where to find Arun: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raoarunj/

Where to find Aditya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adimahara/