I got a job at Google even though it's harder than going to Harvard, I was underqualified, and I'd already been rejected – thanks to the clever way I sent my application

Securing a job at Google is a difficult task for even the most qualified professionals. It's said to be ten times harder than getting a job at Harvard, and two million people apply every year.

However, Mariana Kobayashi overcame the odds and secured a position as Account Executive in the Dublin office, despite having previously been rejected, thanks to her creative approach to her application.

After Mariana was fired from LinkedIn, she applied for a position at Google in June last year take a short recording clamp to explain why she was right for the role despite being somewhat underqualified.

According to Business insiderit took Mariana ten hours to make the clip, but it paid off when she was offered a role at the prestigious company.

Mariana included all the information typically found in a resume and cover letter, but presented it in a fresh format to stand out from the crowd.

She explained in the application: 'I'm Mariana, I've just applied for CSA, Dublin. I'll tell you in one minute why I'm going to make your life easier, so watch until the end.

“I applied with the referral of someone who works with the team,” she continued.

Speaking in Spanish to highlight her language skills, she added, “In case you haven't seen my application yet, I thought I could help you.”

Elaborating on her experience, the Account Executive continued: “I think everything in life is sales, and so I founded my first pancake company at the age of 14, which allowed me to self-fund international education and entrepreneurial pursuits, which led to opportunities. '

She then listed her experiences from previous roles, before giving some general information about herself.

“I'm half Portuguese, a quarter Lebanese and a quarter Japanese,” she said. Mariana continued, “They are all high-context cultures. So instead of describing myself, I asked some Google and LinkedIn friends to describe me in one word. '

The video then showed clips of Mariana's friends associating her with words like “a light,” “charismatic,” and “a visionary.”

Mariana was previously rejected by Google, so she developed the video to stand out from the crowd

Mariana then concluded, “I hope you will reply to this email so we can get to know each other and see what we can build together.”

She then sent the video directly to Google's hiring manager.

Mariana also uploaded the video to YouTube, alongside the caption: “If you're going to apply to a dream company, make it fun.”

The clip quickly caused a storm online and has since been viewed more than 25,000 times.

Speaking to Business Insider, she revealed: 'A lot of people contacted me offering coffee calls and letting me know about features'

“Then the recruiter for the position contacted her, and I called her.”

After submitting her application, Mariana went through a three-step interview process before being offered a position at Google's Dublin office

Initially, Mariana was told she was too qualified for the role, but she continued to contact the hiring manager to check for different roles.

Two months later she saw the role of Account Executive and applied immediately.

“It was a very targeted application, so I think that made me stand out, and because the recruiter was already kind of on my side, that helped,” she said.

Once she secured an interview spot, Mariana developed two documents.

One document outlined her gaps in her experience, and another explained how she was going to change that.

Mariana then underwent assessments and further interviews.

A month after the application process was completed, she received the good news that she had gotten the job.

Now the Account Executive has encouraged others to follow in her footsteps and get creative with job applications.