jess knows best: I Want to Be a Googler

That's right, I wanna be a Googler. I'll have to learn to play Guitar Hero, of course. And I'll probably need to brush up on my pool playing skills. I'll also need to be able to sit still for an hour straight... that will come in handy when I get my weekly massage. I won't need to take my lunch to work; they'll have free chef services for that. And, oh, yeah, I might need to learn a thing or two about computer programming. But, you know. I have this blog and all. Right?

Me at Google. See how well I fit in?!

Yesterday, a colleague from work and I flew up to Sydney for the day and visited Google, which has to be one of the coolest companies ever to work for. Their benefits? To die for. The building? Amazing. The work? As my techie skills involve restarting as a highly advanced trouble shooting method, I might not cut the cheese there.

Firstly, the building itself is astonishingly green. Google is on the 4th and 5th floor of the building pictured above, so their view from the 5th floor cafe (where you can get FREE gourmet meals) looks like this:

As you can see, the building is on the harbor, and 90% of the water used in it is gray water from the harbor that is pumped, filtered, used, and returned. Even the air-conditioning is green... it uses gray water to cool big metal beams in the roof. The beams cool the air around them, the cold air falls, the hot air takes its place, the hot air gets cooled... The building has earned a 6 Green Star Certification, which means that it is a 'World leader in environmentally sustainable design and/ or construction'. Really, very cool. And the interior is just as awesome. Look at their reception desk:

In reception, they also had this TV screen (computer screen, probably) that showed real Google searches as they happened (with a filter, I'm sure). While we were there, 'Paris Hilton', 'rental' and 'Paris Hilton sex video' all popped up (no joke-- apparently people really are obsessed with Paris). All those ferns, by the way, are alive. Just in case you thought Google put in the big bang at the front and forgot about the rest of the building, here's a couple of their many meeting rooms:

How cool is that?! And, if you're wanting to do some research, look no further than Google's own library, complete with reading areas:

If I worked at Google I'd definitely take breaks by the fish tank:

Do you see the tiles on the floor? They all have this goo stuff where you step on them and they go funny shapes. Why? Cause its Google, that's why. They also had free snack rooms (three of them for a staff of 300) where you could pick up a coke, some breakfast, and whatever else was on offer. If you'd been working all day at a computer, you could take a break and play a game of pool, play Guitar Hero, or play Chess.

Google Snack Bar.

You could also get a massage... $7 for a 30 minute chair massage and $21 for an hour table massage. The sign up sheet goes around once a week, apparently. I can just see my Google supervisor coming up to me... 'Uh, Jessica. You can't actually sign up for 15 massages in one week.' he'd say, interrupting my pool shot. 'But its Google!' I'd reply, innocently. 'Oh, right. Go ahead then. Why don't you just put your name down a couple more times. You've only got two scheduled on Tuesday!' And we'd both have a nice chuckle. Because of course I could have 15 massages in one week. Its Google! They've also got a whole slew of other benefits other workplaces lack. Like a $500 maternity take out allowance in addition to your 12 weeks maternity leave, 12 paid holidays, and 4 weeks vacation. Cause who wants to cook when you just popped out a baby? Wanna take your dog to work? Not a problem. Bring the kids, too! They can attend the Google Childcare Centre at very reasonable rates (read: free). Seriously, you don't ever need to go home. In fact, you could just bunker up here, in the Office Tent (part of their camp decor area):