How to succeed in IT companies? Tips from a former Google employee

To achieve success and career growth in large IT companies, you need to help colleagues, communicate with them correctly and, of course, boldly go your own way. Charlene Lee, a former product manager at Google, shared these tips.

In an interview with Business Insider, she shared her experience of an intra-giant career and reveals the secrets she learned while working at this influential technology company.

For those who are just starting out in their careers, Lee stresses the importance of choosing a good boss.

“This is a person who will not only inspire you personally, but also knows how to work in a team and loves to teach employees,” says Lee.

Another important lesson she learned is the need to boldly go her own way, not always following the standard rules.

“Of my most important life decisions, the best were made by my intuition, not my brain,” Lee emphasizes.

She also shares her realization that at Google, scoring by titles and positions is the wrong way to go. Experience has shown that the pursuit of promotion can lead to negative consequences.

“It seemed to me a huge setback to watch my peers climb the corporate ladder and I didn’t. It's really an arbitrary criterion based on someone's definition of height," she says.

Advising those who aspire to succeed in a corporate environment, Lee stresses the importance of networking with colleagues, even those with higher positions and other responsibilities.

In her story, she tells of a time when she helped one of the managers conduct a training and prepare a newsletter, despite the fact that it was not part of her formal duties.

“Two years later I joined his team. Then he helped me get the opportunity to work in Shanghai. Now I always try to help others first before asking for help myself,” says Lee.