You may know Niharika NM from her hugely popular Instagram Reels or her appearance on Koffee With Karan – but did you know this 25-year-old once turned down a job at Google? At the Moneycontrol Creator Economy Summit on Tuesday, Niharika spoke about what it takes to crack a Google interview, why she decided to turn down the amazing opportunity and the value of education.
Bengaluru-born Niharika NM, who completed her MBA from Chapman University in California, said that turning down Google was not an impetuous decision. In fact, her whole family sat down and weighed the pros and cons before she declined the offer. She did so because as a content creator, she did not want to do marketing for other brands. Instead, she wanted to be the brand.
“Honestly, my mum would have been proud if I’d took that job. So maybe I’m not doing things by the book. But it was an incredible thing [to be selected] – it was my dream until my dream changed,” she said on the sidelines of the summit.
“To get that job, that was my dream. I worked hard for that. And when I did get it, it wasn’t easy to just be like ‘no, now I don’t want it’. No, it was a family decision,” she explained. “We sat down. We made sure I’m realising that I don’t want to do marketing for some other brand. I want to be the brand.”
Niharika NM on how to crack that big Google interview
Selection at Google depends on a lot of different criteria, and there is no one-formula-fits-all for cracking the interview, according to Niharika NM.
Asked about what it takes to land a Google job, or any dream job, she said: “Depends on what position you’re applying for, really. What your course is, who your mentors are, the network that you have, the college that you’ve been to, the alumni, the people.
“If you’ve done an MBA, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you’re applying to Google I’m assuming you have done an MBA. So, man, you do you,” she added.
She also had some very practical advice for youngsters who are stepping into content creation because it is their passion. She advised them to complete their education, get a degree, or, if they are working, keep their job and pursue content creation as a side hustle.
“Keep those degrees, keep those jobs until you can switch to social media full-time and you’re still getting that cheque. Passion is passion, but you still need bread and butter. You can’t eat passion for dinner,” she said.
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