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34 Comments
- Mipmap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Question #22: When faced with a difficult problem, how do you solve it?
Google for the answer?
Status: Hired - dgaspard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18Grades aren't everything. There's a difference between someone who remembers a few lines of code for a test and someone who can solve a problem from scratch.
- saska, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7superpotential, did they hire you?
Your description of the -interview- process may be accurate, but that's because it's boring to ask someone what their SAT scores were when you're talking to them face to face.
I've got first-hand accounts of Google declining to make offers on the grounds that college grades from 15 years ago weren't "good enough" -- and Google flat out stated that as the reason. - tchawla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Agreed. A lot of people learn this near the end of college, when they start searching for a job. Sure, grades will get you the interview, but if you haven't learned anything, and are tested on the spot (and will be for most technical and business jobs, maybe writing some code, analyzing a circuit, or designing a business process) you are going to look like a fool, and will not get a job, sadly. Moral of the story? Work hard in college, don't just study for tests.
- greepoman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Bringing people to your area still has an economic benefit, especially since these will probably be well-to-do middle class people. These people will be paying a pretty decent amount of taxes. Also, as long as there are people coming in there will be service jobs created to serve those people. Count your blessings.
- atgunning, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Hey, I have ***** grades - But I have 3 cats, surf, and read Digg!
Google, here I come!! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10This is NOT true. I've interviewed with Google a while ago and they didn't give a flying crap about grades or SAT's. 99% of the interview was all kinds of questions, many very similar to what you find here http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/001031.html
They want to see your ability to invent, think on your own, think outside the box, and do something with your time when you aren't bossed around.
No respectable company cares about SAT's. Grades maybe, but not SAT's. - dgaspard, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7color me retarded. I replied to the wrong article. I really need to start closing tabs in firefox. Just pretend it's Monday and bury my comment.
- controlguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5FTA: ...Mr. Bock says he is already seeing success in easing the company past its obsession with grades. “More and more in the time I’ve been here, we hire people based on experience as a proxy for what they can accomplish,” he said. “Last week we hired six people who had below a 3.0 G.P.A.”
Just a point, the CS classes I took always had you come up with code on the fly on tests -- no memorization -- so I'd say grades in those classes were a fairly decent measure of performance. But I agree it's not everything, as evidenced by Google's own decision to begin looking beyond them. - tchawla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Some companies do realize grades aren't everything and at least give people with average or below average GPAs (probably down to about 2.5) first round 30 minute interviews, and screen them from there. Some people perform, some people don't. While there is probably a loose correlation between GPA and problem solving skills, correlation doesn't imply causation.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ superpotential
Interestingly, most of those "riddles" are solved here - http://mathworld.wolfram.com/news/2004-10-13/google/ - diecastbeatdown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i recently interviewed with google as well and i'll have to say it all depends on the job you are going after. if you are looking to be a sys admin or entry level programmer they are probably not too concerned about these things. but if you are going after an engineer position, high level applications programmer then yes i would say they take these things into account to some degree.
i declined to accept the position but had the job in the bag. It was a new data center in Oregon, position is probably still open. - yahoofrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How dare Google try to hire me. I hire Google. Wait there Google, I will interview you.
- dinonion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2About time, I live in Ann Arbor and I attended a conference here when they were hiring new people. "Google bringing 1000 jobs to Michigan" was the headline, but when I was at the conference 2 out of 30 of the new hires were actually from Michigan. Irony?
- Maggette, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Top schools actually don't look for well-rounded candidates. They look for a well-rounded class full of candidates who each excel in particular things.
- sambo357, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wise man once say, "If you want to hire the best hackers, make your hiring system hackable."
- soogy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Maybe not superpotential, but it seems like Aleksey Vayner is a perfect candidate according to these requirements.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They did give me an offer - only I couldn't accept it because of grad school commitments at the time.
I don't consider my grades bad at all, but I'll note though that they never asked for my SAT scores or transcripts throughout the whole time. All they had was my resume, a couple of interviews, and things I told them I had done. - sammal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Are they hiring teenagers now? What does it matter what I did in high school if I'm say 30+? I don't exactly know what kinda the SAT:s are used in the USA, but I wonder if scoring good points in a high school level exam proves nothing about grown up people, especially those who have acquired academic record. The more you work more you learn, or at least you should. 'Yeah I started a bridge club in high school and my mommy says I was smarter than anybody else'. Geez, can't people get jobs at google based on what they know NOW or what they are NOW at the moment of hiring?
- tchawla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually, that isn't a bad answer. A lot of companies would rather you be self sufficient in figuring out things yourself (learning new languages, for example) by reading about them online or buying books - a lot of companies will even comp you for the books! It is more worth it to them for you to take some time and learn it alone rather than pestering the rest of the employees for their knowledge/advice. Of course, one needs to know the line to draw as to when to google and when it is time to ask someone.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh, and a recommendation too.
- Kamorra2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I also interviewed at Google but after finding out how low they paid said screw that. But if anyone else here wants to deal with the worst traffic in the Bay area for less money than anyone else is paying just to have free lunch, have at it.
- aeoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If something is hackable by design, then hacking it is not really hacking.
- JonAtkins57, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I used to want to work for Google, until I read through that. I am obviously not qualified enough. Reading the solutions was interesting and informative though.
- dgaspard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I like oxymoron s.
- karinkim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think all companies should be looking at a person's moral values as well as skills and talent. Ultimately what employers want is responsible, honest, trustworthy, hardworking people who are friendly and maybe have a good sense of humor.
- joshua5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0How could they really know what your G.P.A. and/or S.A.T. scores were? Is that information publicly available? Whats to stop someone from just lying?
I wonder if those automated surveys prioritize skin color.
/sarcasm - MaddoxComeHome, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2FYI: "objective opinion" makes my brain explode.
- pabster, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Makes perfect sense.
Google already knows more about most of us than we know about ourselves! - Rivetgeek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Well I can tel you that my cousin is a principle engineer over there are he got straight A's in high school and graduated ivy league with honors...
- PonyGumbo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Google is widely regarded to have the healthiest corporate culture of any US technology company, so it's not surprising that they have specific hiring requirements.
- st88up, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Google can s*ck my b*lls. The only thing worse than a geek is a stuck-up, arrogant geek. You have to fill out a bio for a job? F that. The only info I'll be giving Google is my bank account number when they buy out my startup.
- rholloway, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1(edited--just saw his retraction)
- dgaspard, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4I'm calling *****. I want to see the pictures they used. I'm willing to be the white people were wearing suits, while the black guys were dirty and up kept. I'm also willing to be the kids were swayed one way or another before and /or during this experiment. This study and this article was written for a purpose, not an objective opinion.
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