[MUSIC PLAYING]
DOUG STEVENSON: Hey, everybody.
Welcome to "Meet Firebase," the show
where you get to meet the Googlers that
make Firebase happen.
On the show with me today is Tina Liang.
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[CHEERING]
Tina, thanks for joining me on the show.
TINA LIANG: Thanks for having me.
DOUG STEVENSON: So, Tina, I'm excited to have you
on the show.
What team are you on?
TINA LIANG: Well, I joined Firebase
as part of Cloud Functions, and then I
transitioned onto a new team who--
we're working on a product that hasn't been released yet.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, OK.
So this is kind of a secret, hush-hush thing right now?
TINA LIANG: [LAUGHS] Sort of hush-hush, yeah.
Some people might know about it.
If you know, you know.
If you don't--
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
TINA LIANG: --you'll find out soon.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
Well, I'm going to guess everyone
who's watching this right now does not know,
but can you give us kind of a hint?
Like, what kind of problems are you trying to solve here?
Because Firebase has a lot of things--
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: --under its umbrella.
So what else is-- what's missing that could be worked on?
TINA LIANG: Firebase has a lot of products
that solve a lot of use cases, and what we've seen
is that a lot of-- some of these use cases are very common,
so a lot of developers have the same uses for our products,
and they like to use them in conjunction with each other.
So our product is trying to bring those use
cases to the developers in a more accessible way.
So some way that's easy for them to implement without actually
having to do it from scratch every single time
for every developer who needs to use that.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, OK.
So it sounds like-- so Firebase is already pretty easy to use,
but what you're saying is we're trying
to make it even easier for some common use cases?
TINA LIANG: Yes.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: So I'm excited to see how much time that
saves people.
It sounds like something that could be very helpful.
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: So I'm kind of curious.
How did you end up landing into the Cloud Functions team?
I'm curious to know, because everyone has a little bit
of a different story.
TINA LIANG: So my story begins with the engineering residency
program.
It's a one year program that Google offers for people
who just got out of college.
There's eight weeks of training, and during the eight weeks
of training you essentially learn
what you would learn in two days through Noogler orientation,
but it's spread out over eight weeks,
so you get to go much more into depth for each topic
that you cover in Noogler orientation.
DOUG STEVENSON: So Noogler orientation,
what does that, for people who don't know at home?
TINA LIANG: So Noogler orientation
is the orientation that every new Googler goes through.
DOUG STEVENSON: Ah, Noogler is new Googler?
OK.
TINA LIANG: Yes.
We cover all of those topics, but in eight weeks,
instead of two days.
And we have people who are experts in those fields come in
and give us talks.
We also go through a lot of things
that the Noogler orientation doesn't go through,
such as how to reach out to your managers
if you're having issues or how to find resources
that you need in Google.
So just a lot of things about how to navigate Google,
because Google is such a big company,
and there's so many things that you have to learn.
They tried to condense into like eight weeks
just by throwing all of that information at you.
DOUG STEVENSON: Is that something
you have to apply for?
Like, how do you get into that program?
TINA LIANG: There is an application process.
I did not go through the application process.
I was actually flagged through my interviews
as a candidate who would be a good fit for the engineering
residency program.
DOUG STEVENSON: So interviews-- you interviewed at Google?
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: And then someone said, oh, you
would be a good fit for engineering residency?
So--
TINA LIANG: I've heard of people going in through both ways.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
Interesting.
TINA LIANG: I don't know what they're doing these days.
But it seems to be getting really, really popular,
so I'm very happy for it.
So one last thing that I can say about the engineering residency
program that I really enjoy is just the mentorship
that you get as part of the program.
So when you start your rotations, the 4 and 1/2 month
rotations, you're matched with a mentor and a second mentor
on the team.
And they essentially help you scope
and complete your project over the 4 and 1/2 months.
Actually, interestingly enough, the project
that I did with Cloud Functions became--
it became like the first proof of concept for the thing
that I'm working on now.
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh, really?
OK.
TINA LIANG: Yeah, yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: So it all ties together, you work?
TINA LIANG: It all does, yeah.
Like, I started out here, and then I came back to here.
DOUG STEVENSON: Outside of work, what do you do?
What are your hobbies?
TINA LIANG: Currently, I am also a lifeguard at the Chinatown
YMCA.
I like it because I feel like you're learning--
or I get to keep up to date with a lot of skills that I think
are very important, and that otherwise--
DOUG STEVENSON: Such as swimming?
TINA LIANG: Swimming, Yes.
DOUG STEVENSON: And what else is there?
[LAUGHTER]
TINA LIANG: So you get CPR certified, so
CPR and just basic first aid.
So knowing how to recognize signs and symptoms
of very common illnesses that some people can encounter.
DOUG STEVENSON: So the idea is to learn what those look like,
and then that would help you protect people who might have
problems in a pool environment?
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
I mean, being a lifeguard, normally you're
not saving people all the time, or I would
hope you're not saving people.
DOUG STEVENSON: Yeah, it's not like "Baywatch," right?
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
So the more common scenarios that you will encounter
are just people who have swam too hard
and maybe they're short of breath,
so maybe they have asthma, or just maybe they
fell and scraped themselves, stuff like that.
DOUG STEVENSON: I see.
TINA LIANG: It's also a great place to work on soft skills.
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh, really?
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: So it's not just blowing a whistle and telling--
TINA LIANG: [LAUGHS]
DOUG STEVENSON: --people to stop running at the pool?
There's more to it than that?
TINA LIANG: That works for kids, generally.
Adults are a little tricky.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, yeah.
So what kind of things do you run into at the pool?
Like, where do you-- how do you have to work with people,
so to speak?
TINA LIANG: Oh, man.
Some swimmers are very particular
about their exercise.
And so I've had situations where some swimmers will just
call me over and be like, hey, this guy in my lane
is swimming too slow.
And it's just like, how do you deal with that?
Because it's not really my place to be like,
I don't think you belong in the fast lane.
You should move over to the other lane.
But at the other side, you've got this like patron
who very clearly wants the guy to move over to a slower lane,
so it's just like--
DOUG STEVENSON: I see.
I see.
So keeping some order at the pool
and making sure everyone is sort of satisfied with their--
TINA LIANG: Yeah, being a mediator, I guess.
DOUG STEVENSON: So what else are you interested in?
What are you doing these days?
TINA LIANG: So I am actually part
of a program called Why Corps.
It is a program for young professionals in the Bay Area
who want to make or want to feel like they're
making social impact.
So maybe you've been interested in volunteering or working
with nonprofits, or you strongly believe
in a cause such as fixing homelessness in the Bay Area
or literacy for all, stuff like that.
DOUG STEVENSON: So social programs?
TINA LIANG: Yeah, social impact programs.
And so they gather a bunch of young professionals.
We bring the skills that we're using in our day-to-day careers
to these nonprofits who otherwise probably
wouldn't be able to have access to these sorts of skills.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
TINA LIANG: I feel like I'm also learning a lot of skills, too.
Part of being in this program is like learning
how to fundraise for your organization,
so that's been an interesting--
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh, fundraising.
Yeah.
TINA LIANG: Fundraising is--
DOUG STEVENSON: That's a special skill, isn't it?
TINA LIANG: Yeah.
[CHUCKLES] Not very well versed in it, so it's been a ride,
but it's been fun.
And it's like, learning about nonprofits
has been very interesting.
DOUG STEVENSON: Sounds like you're
working on some interesting stuff,
and I hope we'll get to see an announcement about that
at the Firebase Summit coming up pretty soon.
TINA LIANG: I hope so too.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, yeah.
No promises, right?
But--
TINA LIANG: No promises, but--
DOUG STEVENSON: But there will be some new stuff to see?
TINA LIANG: Many wishes.
DOUG STEVENSON: So-- well, thanks
for being on the show, Tina.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
It was a pleasure having you.
TINA LIANG: Thank you.
DOUG STEVENSON: And thank you for tuning in.
Be sure to subscribe right here to the Firebase channel
on YouTube to get more video content,
more meet Firebase, ask Firebase, and other video
tutorials.
And I'll see you here next time.