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Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

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Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I were to guess, Facebook's recruiting pipeline is centralized. Whether or not to hire is done at the executive level. When Facebook hires someone, they are first a "Facebook employee", go through the bootcamp, and decide on a team 1-2 months into the job. Google on the other hand, the recruiting pipeline is more spread out. Whether or not to hire is done at the organizational level (i.e. Cloud, Ads, Search, Core,…

Going by your words, Google’s hiring process seems to be hurting them right now (which makes sense). But what are the benefits of hiring this way over Facebook’s style? (or rather where does centralized hiring fall short?)

I always thought it was just political/bureaucratic cruft nobody bothered to fix, because they're Google, and they can have the shittiest interview process in the world and it wouldn't really matter. It seems inferior in every way to Facebook's process. Even outside of this Coronavirus thing they lose out on a lot of good talent because of how long it takes

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There can be no absolute correct number of layers. That is obviously too many layers for a 20 person company. And what if Google grew to one million employees. Would that still be the right number of layers?

I think it's possible that there is no correct number of layers for a 1 million person company, i.e. such a company should not exist and should split up into smaller, more focused companies.

It appears that the two US companies with > 1 million employees are Wal-Mart and McDonald's (counting franchisees).

Obviously a lot of people don't like them, but it's not obvious to me that they would naturally break up into more focused parts.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#293
post #237
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sandberg announced last week or so that they are going to do accelerated hiring spree That was a message to the stock market. In reality I haven't heard from a Facebook recruiter in a month now.

Not sure why RivieraKid was getting downvoted - there's no "just a message to the stock market". Lying in this context would be illegal, and would open FB up to shareholders suing the company IMO.

I'm not a securities lawyer, but I would assume that there is little deterrence for "sending a message to the stock market" with statements about hopes, plans, or predictions for the future. As long as there's nothing definitively false as of the moment you say it...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward-looking_statement

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#294
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has a notoriously slow hiring process. For new grads and internships, the time between initial coding assessment to final hiring confirmation is often several months.

One has to think why the concept of employment is still considered like marriage that require such an extensive ultra-deep multi-level deliberations. Let's say you were local, why it shouldn't be possible to give someone on-the spot offer after half-day of interviews as well as let them go with, say 2 weeks of standard severance if things don't work out?

I mean, in some places, with some companies, they hire people as temps or contractors and later make them permanent. That effectively amounts to the arrangement you describe. This can't be obscure, so I don't understand your tone as if it was. It's just a matter of what kind of employment you consider worth applying for.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Senior Vice President.

Every hire at google needs to be OK'd by a Senior Vice President?

Until 201x (not sure exactly when it changed), every hire needed to be approved by Larry (ref both my memory and https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-larry-page-on-hir...).

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#297

I’ve been stuck in the final SVP approval part of their hiring process for a week. At this point I think I’m just going to keep my current job. Too bad — seemed like a good time to get equity at a good “strike” price

I was rejected by an SVP at Google. Recruiter was surprised but said it happens. Said I did a good job and could pick a different role (wasn’t for SWE), got the offer the second time around but had to start all over and got passed to a new recruiter.

How common is this? What was it like going through a second time? Any stigma or negative associations you detected?

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#298

I’ve been stuck in the final SVP approval part of their hiring process for a week. At this point I think I’m just going to keep my current job. Too bad — seemed like a good time to get equity at a good “strike” price

If you are past team matching phase then it is likely that you would get an offer. Note: I don't represent Google.

How often does one get past hiring committee but not match to a team? What happens then typically?

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every hire at google needs to be OK'd by a Senior Vice President?

Until 201x (not sure exactly when it changed), every hire needed to be approved by Larry (ref both my memory and https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-larry-page-on-hir... ).

Thanks.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Demand has fallen off a cliff globally - this is far worse for companies than most realise, this has never happened before 2. All companies are facing a cash crunch, gov loans are slow to arrive and they have fixed costs like rent 3. Companies need to conserve cash, turning off ads is a click of a button, and given no demand, it's an obvious choice This is going to be bad for google and Facebook if it lasts any si…

On the other hand, Amazon is going gangbusters. I wonder if covid-19 will ironically prompt a longer term re-alignment away from virtual interaction in favour of real-world connections, as people realize how much they miss real things during lockdown.

I imagine Amazon will do well in some areas (consumers) initially, but overall will see a drop in demand as the crisis really bites - businesses have stopped ordering, and consumers will stop ordering soon to save money. It will be interesting to see how this plays out but I think US markets are far too optimistic at present, and this is going to have a very large impact economically, because it won't be over as soon as say Trump hopes, and premature attempts to reopen will be disastrous.

Strangely enough I think the disease and its impacts will have far less impact on our behaviour than the economic impact of mass layoffs and shuttering the world economy for months. I don't think we've ever seen a drop in consumption of this magnitude and the road back to normality will be slow.

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