1. Go to Stanford, Harvard, or MIT. though Google has relaxed its GPA standards of late - and now considers candidates with less than a 3.7 average - be prepared to discuss any B's you may have earned.

2. Stress how well you get along with others. Unlike some companies that tolerate lone wolves, Google (Charts) wants team players who'll gladly work cheek by jowl with their teammates.

3. Talk about your many diverse interests ("I fly-fish! And love chess! And breed water buffalo!") Narrow interests or skills are a big time turnoff at Google.

4. Be prepared to get up at a whiteboard and write software code during your interview. Brush up on "bit twiddling," by the way. Really.

Don't

1. Joke about the whole Don't Be Evil thing. Googlers take their goodness very seriously.

2. Go on and on in your interview about the doctoral project that you didn't bother building or trying to commercialize. Google likes doers, not thinkers

3. Talk about money. they'll think you're just trying to get rich. Even though you probably are, it's something you're not supposed to discuss out loud

4. Mention the competition. in its eyes, everything at Google is sui generis. Other than programming languages, if it wasn't invented at Google, it's not worth discussing.

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