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Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

thehustle.co

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Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#11

Post by technofiend »

x00gler123 wrote: post #10

So first of all this is not "a secret" at all and you don't need to be "special" to do it. And of course you don't get targeted personally but they do an automated/anonymous match on your search history. It's just one of many inbound HR/recruiting funnels and it was featured in an internal newsletter that went out to all of Eng some time ago. Second, they tell every applicant that openly discussing the interview proc…

LOL. I was wondering how long before a response like this showed up. "Formerly" secret-ish process, and who told you you could tell?

That didn't take long. :-)

Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#13

Post by jackmaney »

sametmax wrote: post #3
makeitsuckless wrote: post #2

> "Google used it to identify me before I had even applied anywhere else" Add another item to the list of anti-trust charges Google is facing around the world. > "they respected my privacy" No they didn't. Not even close. But if Google is full of people with these notions I understand the major disconnect Google has with privacy regulators outside the US.

And just regular not-regulators people that are starting to get scared about this. Honestly, this video is supposed to be an ad for Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olFEpeMwgHk But when I watch it, it feels more like a trailer for Terminator 16 to me.

http://bfy.tw/1c9R

Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#16

Post by nxb »

x00gler123 wrote: post #10

So first of all this is not "a secret" at all and you don't need to be "special" to do it. And of course you don't get targeted personally but they do an automated/anonymous match on your search history. It's just one of many inbound HR/recruiting funnels and it was featured in an internal newsletter that went out to all of Eng some time ago. Second, they tell every applicant that openly discussing the interview proc…

> Second, they tell every applicant that openly discussing the interview process (esp blogging about it) will get you disqualified/blacklisted from any future positions at google.

Wow, it's like they're fully aware of how poor many of their interviewing procedures have been over the years, and instead of making them more employee-friendly to compete with the rest of the industry, they'd rather just punish the employees instead.

Right in line with Google's reputation.

Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#17

Post by dragonwriter »

makeitsuckless wrote: post #2

> "Google used it to identify me before I had even applied anywhere else" Add another item to the list of anti-trust charges Google is facing around the world. > "they respected my privacy" No they didn't. Not even close. But if Google is full of people with these notions I understand the major disconnect Google has with privacy regulators outside the US.

> Add another item to the list of anti-trust charges Google is facing around the world.

How, specifically, does that violate anti-trust law?

Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#18

Post by cableshaft »

onion2k wrote: post #5

Google used it to identify me before I had even applied anywhere else At a point where the author would be in a weak negotiating position because he wouldn't have other offers to take (besides staying in his current job, but applying for a new job indicates he wasn't entirely happy with that.) and they made me feel important while doing so. Doing a search that matches a regular expression is all that it takes to make…

Well, it evokes The Last Starfighter movie kind of feel, where a kid beats a video game and thus proves he's ready for something greater, so I can understand feeling special "for being chosen", no matter how automatic that criteria likely was (the human brain can deceive itself into thinking events are more deliberately chosen and less random than they actually are)

Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#19

Post by x00gler123 »

nxb wrote: post #16
x00gler123 wrote: post #10

So first of all this is not "a secret" at all and you don't need to be "special" to do it. And of course you don't get targeted personally but they do an automated/anonymous match on your search history. It's just one of many inbound HR/recruiting funnels and it was featured in an internal newsletter that went out to all of Eng some time ago. Second, they tell every applicant that openly discussing the interview proc…

> Second, they tell every applicant that openly discussing the interview process (esp blogging about it) will get you disqualified/blacklisted from any future positions at google. Wow, it's like they're fully aware of how poor many of their interviewing procedures have been over the years, and instead of making them more employee-friendly to compete with the rest of the industry, they'd rather just punish the employe…

I honestly think their process is pretty good (at least it was for me). There are no bullshit questions and they are honest in their feedback/telling you what you should and should not expect. A lot of people are pissed because they didn't get in and feel it's google's fault for having a 'broken interview process'. But reality is that google is one of the most profitable/successful companies in the world and gets voted "top employer" year after year. A lot of people want to work for them, so they can afford to be picky in the interview process; but that doesn't mean anything is broken. Quite the opposite actually.

As per the secrecy; I reckon they want to keep part of their process secret so that people don't try to game it. At the scale they are operating (millions of applications per year) you obviously need some standardized tech testing for the first interview rounds (where no engineer is present yet) and if everybody just posted their questions and answers online you could kind of forget about that.

Re: Google Has a Secret Interview Process and It Landed Me a Job

#20

Post by hias »

While this is a great idea from Google I would be concerned that the Google recruiter would also receive a list of my search history queries which do not always include programming topics at all ;-) Interesting thought though, will Google check my search history if I apply with a known Gmail adress?
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