Laszlo Bock, VP People Operations, Google shares job search insights with students

Laszlo Bock, Vice President People Operations at Google visited Wake Forest University and shared strategies and tactics on “how to get the job” with MBA, MA and undergraduate University students.

Bock leads Google’s people function globally, including all areas related to the attraction, development and retention of “Googlers,” a term the company uses internally for its employees. He joined Google from the General Electric Company, where most recently he was a vice president of human resources within GE Capital Solutions. He had earlier served as vice president of compensation and benefits for GE Commercial Equipment Financing. Before GE, Bock was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, serving clients in the technology, private equity and media industries on issues of organizational design, talent acquisition and development, and cultural transformation. His client work also extended to broader business growth and turnaround strategy. Earlier, he worked as a compensation consultant at Hewitt Associates, an HR consultancy.

While at the University, Bock held four separate discussions with students. The first meeting was with the 1st year MBA class and he shared Google’s “employment brand” philosophy and delved into the reasons why his division is called People Operations and not HR. According to Bock, “At Google, we believe that people are our most vital competitive asset and the single most important ingredient to ensuring our future growth and success.”

In another meeting with the MA in Management class he covered similar topics, but also added in a discussion and insights about “your role as a manager.”

After holding a roundtable with a group of eight Wake Forest MBA students considering careers in Human Resources, Bock held a session for 60+ University undergraduate and graduate students titled simply “Your Career.” Here he discussed everything from strategies and tactics of getting your foot in the door, to resume do’s and don’ts, and job search insights.