What kind of things a person should be able to do to get a job at Google? Do you have to be a genius or can a normal competent programmer find his way there? Is it possible to do for a self-taught programmer or do you need a CS degree? What sort of stuff do you need to have in your portfolio? How does the application process look like? Can you share some experience/advice?
Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
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Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#2Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of applications and only tens of thousands of programmers hired over multiple years). However, by a similar argument it is less selective than Major League Baseball.
Google hires self-taught programmers. But the median autodidact has low ability compared to the median formally-educated computer scientist. Google cares less about credentials than they used to, and even in the early days they were willing [http://www.codersatwork.com/jamie-zawinski.html] to hire jwz-caliber self-taught programmers. But your interview performance must be on par with traditionally educated candidates. You must be able to write plausible code in 45 minutes to solve a challenging problem that can be described in 2 minutes. That essentially requires that you are familiar with fundamental algorithms and data structures (or that you are a genius who can reinvent these on-the-fly) and some popular programming language.
The portfolio doesn't matter very much. The hiring committee will expect if you are young that you are capable of contributing in some way immediately and show promise for doing much more in the future. If you are older they will expect that you have a track record of exceptional accomplishment that they can expect you will extend at Google.
For info about the process, see https://www.google.com/about/careers/. It's going to be (1) submit your application (2) do phone screens (3) do onsite interviews (4) review offer.
The penalty for trying too early is that it will take some of your time to do interviews and you won't be able to try again for a whole year. So you should put some effort into it if you seriously want to work at Google, but you should not dedicate years of your life to taking a single shot at it because you can and many do successfully reapply after rejection.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#3Be good in algorithm. If you can do same work in most efficient and effective way than any one else in this earth. You will be part of google.
Also, google has many other job opportunity than programmer. Try them out, if you are too much google lover.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#4Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of applications and only tens of thousands of programmers hired over multiple years). However, by a similar argument it is less selective than Major League Baseball. Google hires self-taught programmers. But the median autodidact has low ability compared to the median forma…
There is a limit though - I think it was 3 lifetime rejections before HR stops considering you as a candidate. So don't be shy about re-applying if your circumstances have changed, but also don't "scattershot" apply to Google if you think there's no chance at all of getting in.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#5If you want to work there so desperately, then read "Cracking the Coding Interview." Past that, it's about getting a response from a recruiter or getting someone who works there to refer you. Once that's done, you should perhaps look into other (better) companies. You can use sites like Glassdoor, Comparably, and Paysa to get insight into what it's actually like at these companies (ie, you may hear something you don't like).
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#6Also recognize that getting in there may not be what you really want, despite reasonable compensation and having them on your resume. Aspirants are, more often than not, hired into a candidate pool and don't know what they'll be working on at interview time. If being a Googler is worth years of working on crufty ad sales dashboards, then have at it.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#7Google is just another big company at this point. They want early career people because everybody there thinks that he/she is the expert.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#8Also recognize that getting in there may not be what you really want, despite reasonable compensation and having them on your resume. Aspirants are, more often than not, hired into a candidate pool and don't know what they'll be working on at interview time. If being a Googler is worth years of working on crufty ad sales dashboards, then have at it.
I totally agree, and this was the scariest part when I was hired. But you do have some choice in the matter, and you are expected to stay in your first role for 18 months. I was hired into a "crufty ad department" and made my move after 18 months into a department I love.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#9I think this link http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-goog... is by far the best advice you can find out there.
Re: Ask HN: What does it take to get a job at Google?
#10Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of applications and only tens of thousands of programmers hired over multiple years). However, by a similar argument it is less selective than Major League Baseball. Google hires self-taught programmers. But the median autodidact has low ability compared to the median forma…
There is a limit though - I think it was 3 lifetime rejections before HR stops considering you as a candidate. So don't be shy about re-applying if your circumstances have changed, but also don't "scattershot" apply to Google if you think there's no chance at all of getting in.
I personally know people who were hired on their 5th interview. All that matters is your "data points", i.e., how are you improving over the years (it can take from 6 months to 1 yr to be able to re-apply).