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Google tries new angle on hiring

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Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#21

Post by groys »

Nitramp wrote: post #14

When I interviewed some months ago, I had one telephone interview and five on-site interviews. If I understood them correctly, some candidates also go through a second telephone interview. So a maximum of seven if you include phone interviews. The interviews were quite challenging (and of increasing difficulty), but there was nothing even resembling a trick question or a mind teaser. I researched a bit before the int…

I had a similar experience, 2 telephonics and 4 on-site interviews. This is a blog post from an ex-googler and it explicitly mentions the manhole question was banned. http://www.technologywoman.com/2010/05/17/debunking-the-goog...

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#22

Post by Stormbringer »

bkhl wrote: post #7

I went through 8 interviews (over the course of 8 months) before I got an offer from Google. By the time Google gave me the offer, I already accepted an offer from the other company. I told the HR of Google that their process sucks (of course, I said it indirectly) and she agreed with me. I'm glad to hear that Google is finally making changes here.

Are they still limiting it to only PhDs and Masters? That to me always struck me as their biggest mistake.

The common perception from people in the industry is that many of the best programmers are self taught. That doesn't preclude doing a degree of course, however even the really good programmers I've met that did degrees say that they really ramped up their learning efforts after leaving university (and that was my experience too).

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#23

Post by alecco »

WildUtah wrote: post #3

They've been sending recruiters to me regularly for about six months. I get regular pitches and emails about working for them about twice a month from various people. I'd like to be able to consider it but I'm not in their candidate pool (around forty, no regular job for a few years, non-tech schooling, travel, no high tech work for years before that). Must be hard to reach out to the kind of people Google does like…

FWIW, most jobs at Google or any other big corp are very boring and menial. And you have to deal with politics.

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#24

Post by Stormbringer »

WildUtah wrote: post #3

They've been sending recruiters to me regularly for about six months. I get regular pitches and emails about working for them about twice a month from various people. I'd like to be able to consider it but I'm not in their candidate pool (around forty, no regular job for a few years, non-tech schooling, travel, no high tech work for years before that). Must be hard to reach out to the kind of people Google does like…

"no regular job for a few years,"

Given your situation, and the fact that going to a couple of interviews is enormously low-risk compared to the potential reward, maybe you should say yes to the Google recruiters? What is the worst case scenario here?

Also, maybe they heard (through the grapevine) that you do good work. Stranger things have happened. :D

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#25

Post by Stormbringer »

alecco wrote: post #23
WildUtah wrote: post #3

They've been sending recruiters to me regularly for about six months. I get regular pitches and emails about working for them about twice a month from various people. I'd like to be able to consider it but I'm not in their candidate pool (around forty, no regular job for a few years, non-tech schooling, travel, no high tech work for years before that). Must be hard to reach out to the kind of people Google does like…

FWIW, most jobs at Google or any other big corp are very boring and menial. And you have to deal with politics.

Politics is what happens when three or more people get together to make a decision. It doesn't matter who you are, that is still true. The only way to avoid it is to work exclusively for yourself, and also somehow avoid all contact with customers. Good luck with that, and may the ramen noodles be with you, always.

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#26

Post by StavrosK »

eliben wrote: post #11
sliverstorm wrote: post #10

Too bad they won't ask about manhole covers anymore. I figured that one out on my own a long, long time ago. (free points!) P.S. If you know why they make them round, then do you know why they don't make them triangular? ;)

I'm pretty sure a triangular one can fall down its hole if tilted properly.

I think so too, but how? It doesn't seem like there's a distance in an equilateral triangle longer than its edge.

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#27

Post by dtby »

EnderMB wrote: post #9

If I'm perfectly honest, the reason I haven't applied to companies like Google is because their process scares me. I studied at a modest university and achieved a good degree, but the kind of horror stories I hear make me firmly believe that I received a terrible education, because the level of employees they seem to attract (Jon Skeet, anyone?) are a class apart from myself. It didn't help that the university next d…

I attended a "modest" university. I am not Internet famous. I am old.

Google will not leave me alone for all of the times I have told them "I am not interesting in working at your company." I think they assume I am kidding.

It's my experience that if you really want to work there they probably want you.

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#28

Post by Stormbringer »

Bossman wrote: post #17

75,000 applications a week? Guess I shouldn't be surprised with how big of a company Google is, but still crazy to see that number.

By my rough calculations they're hiring 1 person for every 650 applications. That's quite the winnowing process.

If they have two pre-qualifying rounds of CV burning where at each stage they trash 80% of the CVs, then they'd be down to about 26 before even talking to anyone. Now four rounds of interviews where 50% of the people are eliminated and you still have 1.625 people left...

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#29

Post by dtby »

WildUtah wrote: post #3

They've been sending recruiters to me regularly for about six months. I get regular pitches and emails about working for them about twice a month from various people. I'd like to be able to consider it but I'm not in their candidate pool (around forty, no regular job for a few years, non-tech schooling, travel, no high tech work for years before that). Must be hard to reach out to the kind of people Google does like…

I'd like to be able to consider it but I'm not in their candidate pool (around forty, no regular job for a few years, non-tech schooling, travel, no high tech work for years before that).

I am not in their candidate pool, either by your standards. Quickly approaching forty, dropped out of 'society' for 5+ years, non-high tech work during that period, no Ivy League degree. And, yet, despite the fact that I have made -exceptionally- clear that I have no interest in working at their company, they will not stop recruiting me.

I think you should go for it and put in that application. It's way more likely that they want you to work there than that you want to work for them.

Re: Google tries new angle on hiring

#30

Post by stcredzero »

alecco wrote: post #19
klochner wrote: post #6

God bless the manhole cover problem. That's been making the rounds for over a decade.

I don't like those problems. IMHO, they encourage rationalizing things that probably just evolved/happened over time. The real answer for me is because no better shape happened or showed to be significantly better. Also, since almost all follow the same shape, it's harder for other shapes to enter the market. Winner takes all.

It's not arbitrary. "Because it can't fall in the hole" is a compelling geometric and safety reason. The circular manhole cover is the simplest shape that has this property.
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