I Didn't Get Hired to Google • Hacker News Board

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#31

Post by falcolas » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #4

He made an extensive repository of information on how to get hired at Google[1], gave talks on the subject[2], and studied full time for 8 months[3]. And it's not that he interviewed and didn't get the job...they didn't even let him interview, not even the phone screen. That's pretty rough. [1] https://github.com/jwasham/google-interview-university [2] https://googleyasheck.com/presenting-at-code-fellows/ [3] https:/…

Kind of reinforces how much luck plays a part in recruitment at a scale such as Googles. Makes the "I don't hire unlucky people" trope a bit more relevant.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#32

Post by jaimebuelta » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #4

He made an extensive repository of information on how to get hired at Google[1], gave talks on the subject[2], and studied full time for 8 months[3]. And it's not that he interviewed and didn't get the job...they didn't even let him interview, not even the phone screen. That's pretty rough. [1] https://github.com/jwasham/google-interview-university [2] https://googleyasheck.com/presenting-at-code-fellows/ [3] https:/…

I find quite interesting the trend of "preparing for an interview at company X". I think that, ideally, interviewing should be discovering if there's a match, not set up a challenge for someone to achieve.

Technical interviews should be more about doing due diligence over someone having the knowledge they say they have... not some sort of game people write books on how to train for it...

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#33

Post by guitarbill » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

oldopsguy wrote: post #25

tyingq wrote: post #4

He made an extensive repository of information on how to get hired at Google[1], gave talks on the subject[2], and studied full time for 8 months[3]. And it's not that he interviewed and didn't get the job...they didn't even let him interview, not even the phone screen. That's pretty rough. [1] https://github.com/jwasham/google-interview-university [2] https://googleyasheck.com/presenting-at-code-fellows/ [3] https:/…

I can definitely see how preparing in such a public way would raise flags at the lower recruiter level.

Not only that, if he got the job it would give him "proof" to say "look, my method works... now buy my book!" and a substantial side business.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#34

Post by tyingq » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:42 PM UTC

oldopsguy wrote: post #25

tyingq wrote: post #4

He made an extensive repository of information on how to get hired at Google[1], gave talks on the subject[2], and studied full time for 8 months[3]. And it's not that he interviewed and didn't get the job...they didn't even let him interview, not even the phone screen. That's pretty rough. [1] https://github.com/jwasham/google-interview-university [2] https://googleyasheck.com/presenting-at-code-fellows/ [3] https:/…

I can definitely see how preparing in such a public way would raise flags at the lower recruiter level.

I can see that...it's almost like corporate stalking. Personally, I don't get the company worship thing...there's plenty of interesting jobs outside of Google, Facebook, etc.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#35

Post by JosephRedfern » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:43 PM UTC

ipunchghosts wrote: post #15

You didnt get hired at google because you have no life, no sense of self. Your entire blog is about how you make yourself hireable by google. Who cares what google wants. What do you want?

Some people have more than one blog, and this chap appears to be one of them. This blog is about getting hired by Google, so it's natural that it would have posts about getting hired by Google. Not something I'd personally write about, but it doesn't mean he's devoted his whole live to the task.

If you look at the about page, you'll see that he considers his main blog to be: https://startupnextdoor.com/

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#36

Post by brikelly » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:45 PM UTC

Maybe they didn't want the method of "create an interview study guide and write a popular blog about studying for it" seen as being one of the ways to get hired at Google, and having a flood of imitators try to do the same thing.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#37

Post by iplaw » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:45 PM UTC

I have to assume that they didn't want someone who was so fanatically and excessively eager and ambitious. He broadcasted that he studied full-time for eight months for the interview. They want people who can walk in and own the interview, with minimal interview-specific preparation.

The entire blog just reeks of desperation and lack of confidence (or worse, misplaced confidence). I think that they flagged him before he ever applied.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#38

Post by RawData » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:45 PM UTC

enzanki_ars wrote: post #29

str33t_punk wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pretty depressing

He instructed people on how to be hired at a company he was never hired at. I don't think I would ever hire someone making claim like that.

That's incorrect. He wrote a blog about what he was personally doing to get hired at Google... he wasn't claiming to teach people how to get hired.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#39

Post by RealityVoid » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:45 PM UTC

Does anyone know if rejection letters from Google pre-phonecall-phase are normal? I mean, I've applied a couple of times (I might look faded compared to other brilliant people that apply and I had nowhere this guy's drive and level of involvement but thought that it is worth a shot) and every time I didn't hear anything back. I though they just contact you in case of a positive.

Re: I Didn't Get Hired to Google

#40

Post by iplaw » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 2:45 PM UTC

eva1984 wrote: post #23

akjainaj wrote: post #12

Posts of people crying so much about not getting hired by a company (usually Google) are top cringe. It's like writing on Facebook that you feel miserable because a girl rejected you. Just move on, kid.

I respect a lot of awesome work from Google. But this is just really bad press. Not that Google initiated this kind of cult in the first place, the spontaneous worship is a little overwhelming TBH.

This is bad press for the candidate, not Google. They dodged a bullet.