Natalie pointed me to this WSJ article, Google Adjusts
Hiring Process As Needs Grow:
Google Inc.’s recruiting process is legendary in Silicon Valley. Tales abound of job candidates who suffered through a dozen or more in-person interviews, and applicants with years of work experience who were spurned after disclosing they had so-so college grades.
I suspect she sent this to me because I interviewed with Google back in 2004 and quickly grew tired of the chaos and disorganization of their interview practices and it was not long before I dropped out of their interview process. Which after watching their stock IPO and then climb indefinitely may have been a mistake but whatever.
I also find it strange that 2 years later they’re still suffering from some of the same problems especially when their competitors, Microsoft/Amazon/etc, have what is in comparison, velvet glove treatment, with quick turnaround times, clear use of CRM on their backend, and bending over backwards to accomodate new college hires.
Another issue Google is going to face is maintaining their high bar for incoming talent. I definitely saw Microsoft struggle with the problem of requiring more headcount and having to lower the quality bar in order to fill spots. I suspect this will change the nature of the Google organization.
On a related note, Joel has just published verion 3.0 of his interview guide.
Google can get away with it because everything they do is sexy.
On another topic, this Halloween give those dollars to the Canadian Red Crossin Ottawa, not Unicef. In Africa 1 in 20 children under the age of 5 dies from malaria. That is 27,000 babes and toddlers per day or a million innocent children per year. The Red Cross hands out free bed nets that are highly effective for no cost. Considering that a lot of these mothers only have a dollar a day to feed their families, they certainly cannot afford to buy a bed net when the children are starving.
Also don’t forget those folks in the mountains of Pakistan who are no where near recovery and are not prepared to survive another winter living in freezing tents with little food. Give as you please but please give some of that surplus change or the price of a night out to someone who just wants to survive. Each of us can make the world a better place.
good blogs on the interview process at Amazon and MS. I think google’s process is very much automated – they asked me at least 15 to 20 question when I submitted my CV. MS has a HUGE system – the recruiters are very hands-on – takes time (read ‘few months) to get to a CV that is useful/relevant to them.