Internship Spotlight: Tanner Lujan Google

Tanner Lujan '23 BSBA (Finance and Accounting) was a Finance BOLD Intern at Google in Austin, Texas.

What was the process of getting this internship, job, or summer experience?

After interning with Enterprise Holdings in their Accounting department during summer 2021, I realized that I really enjoyed the corporate side of finance, but not accounting as much. Going into the Fall 2021 semester, I wanted to apply to a large corporation and work within their finance department, so I started to look into Google. That was when I found the BOLD Internship for business interns for the summer 2022 period. At this time, I applied through their website and went through 4 interviews, with the first one being all online and selecting which pictures best represent myself. Then, I interviewed with two professionals that worked within Google Finance answering traditional interview and finance questions. After that, I had my final interview with the head of the Finance BOLD Internship. I ultimately received my offer in December of last year and started on May 31st.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

My favorite part of the experience by far was gaining experience on how much of an impact financial strategy and operations has on a large company's success. As Google has been growing for years, especially in the past 2-3 years, I was able to see how much planning, forecasting, and projecting goes into not only Google Finance's success, but the overall company's success as well. I also really enjoyed meeting some of the most creative and intelligent people in the world daily through coffee chats, intern events, team meetings, and company trainings.

If you worked on a big project, please describe it below:

While I can't go into the specific details of what the project exactly entailed and found, I conducted headcount analyses within Google Finance using internal and external resources to evaluate performance in relation to industry metrics. A side project that I worked on with my co-host assisted in the creation of the very first Google Finance DEI Summit through video planning and project management.

What advice do you have for other students looking for a similar experience, or advice for future students to be successful?

I would highly recommend students to apply for this internship! While this is different than a traditional banking track in Finance, it provides a great idea into the many different financial roles after graduation while also giving students hand on experience in these. I suggest people to start looking and applying near early fall around August and September as the application process is only open during this time. I would also recommend students to run through practice interview questions, especially financial ones, because this will not only take pressure off in the interview, but also help make them stand out against other applicants.

How did Eller Prepare you for this experience?

Aamir Khan did an exceptional job in preparing me for this internship and the interview process. Nearly every single question that they asked me during the interview was already taught and explained to me during my Corporate Finance class with him in Fall 2022. He also was able to broaden my overall experience of the financial world that made my transition into the internship very smooth as I had a good idea of what was coming my way and the jobs that the organization has. 

Did you feel supported by the company or organization you worked with?

During my time here, I could not have felt more supported and welcomed to Google. Not only was the StratOps team extremely welcoming and excited to have me join them, they quickly showed me around the office, set up 1:1 meetings with me, and gave me tips of advice for my project and internship. Google also did a great job at getting us to meet the fellow interns at the Austin office, along with those in other hubs like Chicago, Mountain View, and New York through intern meetings and coffee chats. The office provided breakfast and lunch for everyone and gave us access to all of the great amenities and features, such as the gym, cafes, massage rooms, and conference spaces. Ultimately, this company goes above and beyond to treat their interns and employees well, and for that, I could not be more grateful.