From Saarland University to a top job at Google: With just one application (which wasn’t even for Google)

Aprajita Jain has a top job at Google headquarters in the USA. She studied at Saarland University in Saarbruecken and describes herself as a "global soul with Indian roots and a German upbringing." How she started at Google: This is her story.
Aprajita Jain vor dem Google Headquarter in Mountain View. Foto: privat/Google
Aprajita Jain vor dem Google Headquarter in Mountain View. Foto: privat/Google

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Well-travelled photo board: From her student apartment to Mountain View

Her job takes Aprajita Jain around the world. Not very surprising: as Chief Brand Marketing Evangelist at Google, she regularly talks to very large companies. Louis Vuitton, Lufthansa or Coca-Cola are among them. „I’ve always loved collecting photos and postcards from my travels,“ Aprajita tells SOL.DE. She usually pins her travel memories on a picture board. She first put this board up in her student apartment in Saarbruecken twenty years ago. Today, it is in Aprajita’s home on the U.S. West Coast, near San Francisco.

Aprajita laughs, „If I could only save one item in a fire, it would probably be this photo board.“ Today, it’s even more pinned with travel memories than it was back then in Saarbruecken.

Aprajita convinces big companies to use Google’s services

When Aprajita began her studies at Saarland University in 1999, she would never have dreamed of eventually working for Google at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Today, she convinces the CEOs and marketing heads of major companies such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble (Ariel, Gillette, Pampers and other brands), Louis Vuitton, BMW or Porsche to shift multi-million budgets from TV advertising to Google products such as Youtube or Google Ads, since more and more consumers switch to digital media. This allows companies to reach their target groups much more precisely and to measure their advertising success more efficiently,“ she says while describing the advantages.

Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Photo: bennymarty/Adobe Stock

What she particularly liked about Saarbruecken

Aprajita has been working for the search engine company for almost 19 years and for the past three years as Chief Brand Marketing Evangelist. She studied business administration at Saarland University from 1999 to 2003, majoring in marketing. As the daughter of Indian parents who moved to Idar-Oberstein because of the gemstone business, Aprajita chose the university in Saarbruecken which was an obvious choice for her studies because it was barely 90 kilometers away. In addition, Professor Joachim Zentes, who had an excellent reputation far beyond Saarbruecken, taught international marketing management there.

Aprajita says she gained a lot from her education at Saarland University. Above all, she appreciated the freedom of thought. The education system of American universities is typically much more scholastic, she says.

But she also liked Saarbruecken, the city, back then. „I had my student apartment halfway between the university and downtown Saarbruecken“, Aprajita recalls. „I loved strolling along the stores on Bahnhofstrasse.“ After high school graduation in Idar-Oberstein, a small town with a population of just under 30,000, the Saarland state capital was a bigger deal. However, Aprajitas ambition could not be slowed down by strolling on Bahnhofstrasse: After 8 semesters, she had her business administration degree in her pocket. That was in 2003.

She only wrote one application

What now? Aprajita wrote only one application, which, by the way, has remained the same to this day – and she didn’t send it to Google. Because she had always loved to travel, Lufthansa was the obvious choice at the time. Marketing for a major airline would have interested her. To be on the safe side, she submitted her curriculum vitae to the job platform monster.com: Daughter of Indian parents, high school diploma in Idar-Oberstein, marketing degree from the university in Saarbruecken.

While Lufthansa turned her down, another mega-company was interested in her. A recruiting firm that worked for Google contacted her. Could she imagine working for the Silicon Valley company? Aprajita reacted in disbelief, „I wanted to do marketing, what would I do at a tech company? In the first two phone calls, I asked a lot more questions than the interviewer“, she laughs. Nevertheless, she accepted the invitation to a personal interview in Mountain View, California. After seven more interviews at Google headquarters, she had the job.

 

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Einverstanden

In 2000, Google introduced its advertising system AdWords (today known as Google Ads). In 2003 – when Aprajita was interviewing for her job – Google’s Display Network was launched. From then on, the search engine company turned the global advertising market upside down – and Aprajita was there right from the start. The irony of the story: Aprajita did join Lufthansa – but on the other side of the table. Today, the airline’s bosses are among her interlocutors – as a Google manager.

By the way, her „Indian determination“ during her studies in Saarbruecken first had unpleasant consequences in the U.S.: „Because I had already graduated after eight semesters, my degree only counted as a bachelor’s in the U.S. I was simply too ambitious for it to count as a master’s degree“, Aprajita explains. She earned her advanced degree at Berkeley, and later at Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, while working at Google.

Why Google is actually a „family business”

In her LinkedIn profile, Aprajita describes herself as a „Global Soul with Indian Roots and a German Upbringing.“ And when does her German upbringing show? Aprajita ponders for a moment, „Punctuality is a very German concept after all“, she says. „I’m always on time, whether at work or at a private invitation.“ At Google, meetings would usually start 5 minutes later. „We call it The Google Five. You get another coffee or do something quickly.“ Her colleagues would then always say, „You’re so German.“ Her Indian side, on the other hand, shows itself in improvisation and efficient work: „Indians are used to making a lot out of a little“, says Aprajita.

Aprajita describes herself as „Global Soul“ – with Indian roots and German upbringing. Photo: private

Growing up and commuting between worlds may even be her personal secret to success: in her job, she sits across the world from people from very different nations. „It’s easy for me to adjust to different mentalities“, Aprajita says. That’s one of the reasons why she prefers to staff teams with people from as many nations as possible. Aprajitas younger sister has also started working for the search engine leader in Mountain View. Google is now a „family business“, so to speak.

Her parents still live in Idar-Oberstein. On her trips to Europe, Aprajita likes to drop by home. We also conduct our interview via video call between the small town in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarbruecken. Aprajita has just come from a Google event in Amsterdam. She continues to keep in touch with former fellow students from Saarland University.

„Second hand innovation“ instead of taking own risks

Because of her frequent flying visits, Aprajita sees developments in Germany in fast motion, so to speak. Catchword digitalization: She definitely perceives the „hunger for more“ in this country, she says. At the same time, Germans are very cautious. There are often concerns about data protection. The Google manager is convinced that Germany risks missing opportunities. „Data is the most important raw material today, for example for AI developments“, she says.

What also often characterizes German entrepreneurs is the desire for „second-hand innovation“, as she calls it. German companies typically want proof that an idea has already been successful somewhere else before they invest themselves. „Second hand“, in other words – instead of going ahead with higher risk.

And what is the time-lapse view on the topics of integration and welcome culture? The scenery of the streets has definitely changed over the past two decades, says Aprajita. „Today, you meet more people with an immigrant background in Germany. When she was a student, that was still more the exception,“ she says.

Google is fascinating her anew every day

Nevertheless, she continues to perceive a certain German reticence. Just recently, she experienced this again when she was looking for a location for a larger family celebration with her Indian parents. „There is this waiting at the beginning of an encounter – do they even speak German?“ is how Aprajita describes the situation. Her impression is that people elsewhere are more open-minded and interested in people who visibly have a different background. Exciting insights from a „global soul”.

And what still fascinates her about Google after 18 years? „It’s not one day like another“, she reflects, „and the interesting people with their exciting ideas.“ Just recently, she says, she met a colleague who was an astrophysicist before joining Google. So, Aprajita will continue to travel the world for Google and the board with postcards and photos that originated in her student apartment in Saarbruecken will continue to be filled with memories.

Sources:
– Interview with Aprajita Jain
– Original text translated by Eileen Klein