This week, the CBMP marketing interns on the 2022 Creative Internship Program, supported by the City of Sydney, had the pleasure to e-conference with Robert aka Robbie Hopkins and talk about all things Google and marketing.
Robbie is currently working as a Senior Partnerships Manager at Google Play Games in the UK. He gave us a crash course on his career which surprisingly to me, didn’t start with a degree in Marketing. Initially, I thought that to get a career in Marketing, you needed a degree in it.
Robbie definitely proved me wrong.
Photo credit: CBMP - Marketing Interns meet Robbie Hopkins of Google Play UK
THE ROBBIE CRASH COURSE
We began the personable web chat with Robbie giving us a quick summary of his fascinating career. After high school, Robbie decided to take a year off before jumping into university so that he could work. Once he began university, he worked part-time in five-star hotels which he believed allowed him to gain the people skills he would be using in his career onwards.
Like many students in university, Robbie had applied for many jobs but also didn’t hear back from a lot of them. At UNSW, he studied mandarin in International Studies, where he realised the significance of language both for work and life. He then got an opportunity to study in Beijing which he returned to after graduating to work at Cochlear. After working in marketing in China for a few more years, he moved back to Australia and then started exploring digital services and app development.
He then continued to tell us that he started wanting a little more to progress in business and decided to take another year off to study another language. It was at this point that I gathered that Robbie was a huge learner. He decided to do a bilingual MBA in Barcelona to learn Spanish where he told us that it was highly rewarding to study and learn a language in another country. He then told us that while in Barcelona, he realised he wanted to move into tech.
It was through this MBA where Robbie was given an opportunity by Google to tour their London office where he got offered an interview. After successfully passing the many interview stages where he was also interviewed in Mandarin and given a Spanish test, he started working for Google in Shanghai with the International Growth Team.
To kill two birds with one stone, Robbie applied for news and gaming in Google London because first of all, he was interested in politics and tech, and second of all, he also really just wanted to move to Europe. And, now he is where he is now at Google Play Games. Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more mind blown by Robbie’s career, he concluded his crash course by telling us that he was thinking of starting a law degree.
ADVICE FROM ROBBIE
What advice can you give someone who is applying for a lot of jobs but getting rejected?
Make sure your words are aligned with the job description on your CV. Many companies use programs to screen resumes which look for big buzz words. Also make sure you try to find networks and connections. Even if your connection is a friend of a friend of a friend, a little help can go a long way.
What do you think the advantage is in learning a language?
Languages give you a lot of cultural competency. Not only does it make you more valuable to companies, but knowing the language of those you talk to allows you to understand certain reactions and ultimately help you interact effectively with diverse cultures.
How do you find gateways to careers overseas?
Again finding networks and going to networking events is important. Also finding an industry that fits your career objective and building a portfolio to support that.
What would you expect from an interview at Google?
Google does screening interviews where the first step is usually a judgment of your ‘googliness’ which is quite simply a ‘vibe check’. They look at certain attributes like compassion and kindness, but also look at ways you come about solving a problem. Always make a point for talking about diversity and challenge the interviewer in a respectful way. The interviewer wants to challenge you and see how you respond. In the workplace, you want to work with people that will challenge you and your ideas in a good way.
WANT TO HEAR FROM ROBBIE HOPKINS AT GOOGLE?
Join our next cohort by applying for the 2022 Creative Internship Program which aims to upskill university students of Asian heritage and anyone with an interest in Asia through creative professional mentorships. The 2022 Internship Program is partly funded by the City of Sydney Matching Grant and CBMP is proud to be part of the intern's career journey to Connect, Exchange and create Job opportunities within the creative industry. Choose from three streams: Journalism, Marketing and Production.
About the blogger
Zyri Dela Cruz is a Filipino-Australian currently in her final year of studying Biotechnology and Marketing at the University of Technology Sydney. With bilingual skills of speaking Tagalog and English, she has a great appreciation of her own Filipino culture and is continuing to navigate and celebrate this through her experiences in Australia. Beyond her studies and work, she enjoys traveling and broadening her musical skills.
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