Google director says Waterloo's co-op program helped launch his career

It’s been almost 20 years since Jeromy Carriere graduated from the University of Waterloo but his early years here still resonate. Now a director of engineering at Google Inc., Carriere credits co-op as a significant enabler for the many opportunities he has had in his career.

“My co-op placements with companies like Bell-Northern Research gave me the practical foundation I needed to be a successful engineer in my career after graduation. Not only did it help shape how I think about business and software, but it also helped me make connections and launch into a great sequence of positions once I graduated,” says Carriere.

Carriere (BMath '95) received the J.W. Graham Medal in Computing at Waterloo’s spring convocation for his exemplary business contributions, entrepreneurial initiatives and innovations in computing.

“I was extremely surprised to receive this award. I am deeply honoured as it helps me to stay connected to the University of Waterloo and also helps bolster the University’s reputation in the U.S. where I have lived and worked since shortly after my time at Waterloo,” says Carriere.

From Yahoo! to Microsoft and Google

Carriere holds a long list of business accomplishments including Chief Architect at X.commerce, Distinguished Architect at eBay Inc. and Yahoo! Inc., Architect Advisor at Microsoft Corporation and Co-founder and Chief Architect at Quack.com, to name a few.

Carriere returned to campus to speak to students about his experiences working in startups and large corporations after graduation. He also shared his observations on why software development organizations appear to lose their momentum as they grow.

“Throughout my time working in companies of various sizes, I have seen the phenomenon of each one losing software delivery velocity as they grow. Beyond technical considerations, organizational culture shifts and risk tolerance starts to decrease as they get bigger and bigger. I am excited to share my ideas with students on why this happens and possible ways to mitigate it as they begin their careers,” explains Carriere.

In his role at Google, Carriere manages teams all over the U.S helping the tech giant to build software infrastructure that supports both internal Google engineers as well as users of Google’s fast-growing public cloud platform.

When asked what advice he has for new graduates starting their careers in the computing space, Carriere explains “be curious and allow yourself to go off on tangents and explore ideas. I have always found that when I let myself do this, great ideas eventually emerge.”