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Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

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Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#71

Post by nostrademons »

rhizome wrote: post #9
thetrumanshow wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to think that Google really suffers when smart people like you don't even try to apply. I think the typical awesome engineer is just a shade too self-deprecating to even think it possible to get hired there.

I don't think Google (or really any large company) is a good place to work for autodidacts.

FWIW, I'm mostly autodidactic (have a CS degree but got it mostly in my last semester, after learning all the CS stuff while blowing off my physics major) and don't consider myself particularly social, and I've found Google to be a pretty good fit so far.

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#72

Post by erik_p »

cd34 wrote: post #54
thetrumanshow wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A great story of persistence, until the last bit. Were you just playing a game of tit-for-tat hard-to-get against Google hiring managers? Joking, but I am actually curious why you finally said no.

I think he was suggesting extra poll options, but the markup in the comments collapsed his line endings.

cd34 is correct. No wonder I didn't get a call back :P

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#73

Post by edge17 »

byoung2 wrote: post #2

I used to go to a bar in Santa Monica (Warszawa) where the Google folks go every Friday for happy hour. The recruiters kept trying to get me to apply, but I never did. I get the impression that they want people with Engineering/CS backgrounds and here I am a programmer with an English degree. I bet I'd have a better chance of building a startup and selling it to Google so that I could work there than going through th…

I had recruiters calling me for 9 months; including somehow trying to reach me through calling my parents house (i don't know where they got that info, but I guess it's on google... either that or a really really old resume). I started the interview process while working on a startup, but then cut it off in the middle and decided google would always be there but my 20's wouldn't.

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#74

Post by ndl »

dadkins wrote: post #34
silvajoao wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll mention a related question I've been pondering on lately: how does one assess his own skill level? When one has people around who are clearly more able programmers, one can take the chance to learn from them and try to achieve their skill. But when you believe you might be the top programmer around your office, how do you determine whether you're really good, or you're just in a not-so-great environment? A lot o…

"The reason for failing to be hired is invaluable feedback on your shortcomings, which are much harder to self-assess." Good luck trying to get any useful feedback from a Google or Facebook rejection. Often it's just random.

I applied for internships at both companies. Google actually mentioned in their rejection email that I should feel free to ask questions - so I did. No answer.

With Facebook, I at least had a phone interview and could run post-mortem on what I might've messed up there. Google appeared to just toss my resume down a black hole.

I later decided that really, I didn't want to be a programmer, I wanted to found a startup. I was still in school and not 100% sure of myself at this point, so I applied to 1 programming job at a small place in Connecticut. I got a phone interview and then a rejection. I blamed my "failure" then on my lack of interest probably showing through.

Sadly, I had the same null feedback experience with many seed funders that spring. Most of the time it was a black hole. 2 (Lightspeed and IO Ventures) of them gave a brief explanation, which matches some (but not all) of my own post-mortem analysis. I think that given the high probability of rejection, rejection feedback significantly increases the value of applying.

While I don't think rejection from a place like Google is necessarily "random," I would certainly agree that it rarely provides actionable info.

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#75

Post by notJim »

BarkMore wrote: post #55
elliottcarlson wrote: post #20

Solicited by Google recruiters but never applied: a) I don't think Google is a place for me in terms of age and society. b) I don't come from a CS background, am self taught but have over 12 years of professional experience behind me - I know what I am doing but can't rant of algorithms off the top of my head.

Google does not necessarily require a CS degree. Google hired me with 10 years professional software development experience and no CS degree. Google hired my friend with similar years of experience and no high school diploma.

Did they ask a lot of questions about algorithms and data structures in your interview? While they may not require a CS degree (it would actually be surprising to me if they did), they certainly have a reputation for wanting people with a strong CS background, regardless of where they acquired that background. Is this reputation inaccurate from what you've seen?

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#76

Post by ammmir »

someone at google referred me (but never told me), so i got to the onsite interview. on the application, i didn't put down the name of the googler who referred me. that definitely didn't help my chances :(

i haven't applied again because consulting and startupping have been more exciting than working for medium-large companies. but then again, i wouldn't know :)

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#78

Post by JohnnyBrown »

silvajoao wrote: post #23
thetrumanshow wrote: post #5

So, at least one person said they were hired by Google. I have a question for those folks... When you applied, did you have any reasonable expectation that you would actually be hired to work there, or was it just on a whim... like a lottery ticket?

I'll mention a related question I've been pondering on lately: how does one assess his own skill level? When one has people around who are clearly more able programmers, one can take the chance to learn from them and try to achieve their skill. But when you believe you might be the top programmer around your office, how do you determine whether you're really good, or you're just in a not-so-great environment? A lot o…

This. This is why I've been applying to top-notch companies for summer internships. I feel head and shoulders above most people at my school but have no idea how I stack up in the market at large. (it's a public university that would have devolved into little more than a Java certification course were it not for the few curious students who pass through each year and demand more)

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#79

Post by BarkMore »

notJim wrote: post #75
BarkMore wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google does not necessarily require a CS degree. Google hired me with 10 years professional software development experience and no CS degree. Google hired my friend with similar years of experience and no high school diploma.

Did they ask a lot of questions about algorithms and data structures in your interview? While they may not require a CS degree (it would actually be surprising to me if they did), they certainly have a reputation for wanting people with a strong CS background, regardless of where they acquired that background. Is this reputation inaccurate from what you've seen?

Many of the questions required knowledge of basic algorithms and data structures. This is all stuff that I picked up from reading a book used in a CS101 class. The questions did not cover any advanced topics (operating systems, compilers, cryptography, databases, machine learning, ...).

Re: Poll: Have you ever applied to work at Google?

#80

Post by thetrumanshow »

erik_p wrote: post #72
cd34 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he was suggesting extra poll options, but the markup in the comments collapsed his line endings.

cd34 is correct. No wonder I didn't get a call back :P

Ah, and I too would have been rejected, if nothing else than for poor reading comprehension. :{
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