Why everyone wants to work at Google (and you should too)

Google isn’t just a tech company anymore, it's an aspirational lifestyle. Once employees secure a coveted spot, they're almost cult-like in their reverence for their workplace. Not that getting hired is an easy feat—Google currently gets more than two million job applications each year. (Imagine the HR department!) If you still aren’t sure what all the hype is about, then read on. Here are 10 of the many reasons why so many people are trying to get their foot in the Google door.

1. Salary

There may still be a really terrible gender gap at Google, but overall the company pays its engineers better than anybody else. Base salaries start over $128k per year, and the highest earners make more than $600k, plus bonuses. The company can be very tight-lipped about specific numbers, but know that employees are very well compensated.

2. Competitive benefits

The trick to quality employee retention these days is stellar benefits. Google knows that happy employees who feel safe and looked-after work harder and stay longer. Some examples of their offerings include a long (for the United States) maternity leave of 18 weeks, several months of parental leave for other primary caregivers, and excellent health care, investment plans, and survivor benefits.

3. Smart and motivated coworkers

Google makes a big song and dance about recruiting top talent. When you’re a huge fish in a massive pond of other big fish, it can really push you to be more inspired and do even better work. Google wants to change the world, and its employees are all grateful and jazzed up to be along for the ride. The company also encourages its employees to spend up to 20% of their time on their own personal passion projects. This kind of daily inspiration really makes for happy workers.

4. Free grub

The food is plentiful and flowing, and we’re not talking cafeteria food here. We’re talking healthy, varied, gourmet breakfast, lunch, and snacks (even dinner for the midnight oil-burners). Plus, during the day employees have access to coffee bars and juice bars galore. This saves employees time and money (and often makes them eat better), plus has the added benefit of increasing socialization among colleagues during breaks.

5. Pets welcome

No, seriously. At some campuses, you can bring your dog to work. You can even take your pup out for a walk during your breaks.

6. Gadgets galore

Google workers get to live in the future. They used Chrome before it hit the market. They have all the latest tablets and phones. This little sneak peak at the trends of the future makes workers feel like they are in the know and shaping everybody else’s tomorrow.

7. 24/7 tech support

No matter how late you’re working, you’ve got the best IT peeps in the country to help you out when you need it—whether your issues are with hardware or software.

8. Massage credits

In some campuses, if you do good work you can earn credits (via recommendations from other employees—not just your boss) that can be redeemed for one-hour massages on the Google campus. Shoulders hurt from all that hunching to get the big project done? No problem.

9. On-campus fitness options

Imagine a world of free fitness classes, a free gym, and organized inter-campus intramural sports. This is great for social interaction, as well as for keeping all those bodies as sharp as the minds they’re carrying around.

10. Learning opportunities

Google is notable for the amount of time and energy they put into developing their employee’s careers and seeing to it that their best and brightest continue to rise. This includes making sure everyone stays sharp and keeps learning, whether though regular tech talks or guest speakers from every industry imaginable.