4 ms·

I've heard the same, and yet I still don't work at Google.

dgacmu 11y ago
I suspect there may be two things going on: (a) Google doesn't care about the degree per se; but: (b) Google's interview process for general SWEs tends to test relatively quick recall of algorithmic fundamentals of the sort that get hammered into you during a BS. See, for example, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11246917 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11246917 and https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1z97rx/from_a_googler_the_google_interview_process https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1z97rx/f... It's also quite possible that the amount of test-taking/etc. people get in undergrad helps with some forms of interview programming. Hypothesis only - don't take too seriously. I'm a computer science professor with a Ph.D., who's spending the year hacking code in C++ & Python at Google, and I can tell you with certainty that if I didn't study, there are some forms of dynamic programming or tree data structures (I can't remember the details of a red-black tree to save my life without googling it) that I'd flub in a time-pressured interview. Many of those things are problems that some programmers might never encounter in day to day life. I do a lot of data structure stuff, and I've still never implemented a red-black tree or huffman coding after undergrad. I have std::map and gzip, for crying out loud. :) (That said, one of my Ph.D. students did once, in a very specific context where we needed it tightly integrated with something. He's also one of the best programmers I've met - far better than I - so take that with a grain of salt.)
- cmrdporcupine 11y ago
  As a person without a CS degree who somehow works at Google, I'd have to say: 1. I work in an office where almost everyone went to the same university, which is in the same town as the office. Recruitment of grads from that university is a high priority. 2. Like you said, the interview process does bias towards things emphasized in CS programs. Recent exposure to algorithms courses would definitely help. 3. The culture within Google itself feels very much like a university culture. Perf (promo through 'demonstrating impact' and basically being in a lot of design docs and PRDs, rigorous and extensive peer review, committees evaluating people's work almost like a thesis defense), etc. To me at least. 4. I've never been on hiring committee but I do get the impression that degree will be considered. Even if not for hire, but for determining the hiring level the person is slotted into. I can't say that for sure, tho. Anyways, although I have been here 4 1/2 years I do feel like an outsider, and I feel a lot of this is being sans-degree.
  - brazzledazzle 11y ago
    Just curious, but would it be their Madison or Waterloo office?
  - whitenoice 11y ago
    Yeah in pittsburgh, google hires heavily from CMU, when I was in grad school I was surprised to see so many undergrads with internship experience at google.

I suspect there may be two things going on: (a) Google doesn't care about the degree per se; but: (b) Google's interview process for general SWEs tends to test relatively quick recall of algorithmic fundamentals of the sort that get hammered into you during a BS. See, for example, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11246917 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11246917 and https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1z97rx/from_a_googler_the_google_interview_process https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1z97rx/f... It's also quite possible that the amount of test-taking/etc. people get in undergrad helps with some forms of interview programming. Hypothesis only - don't take too seriously. I'm a computer science professor with a Ph.D., who's spending the year hacking code in C++ & Python at Google, and I can tell you with certainty that if I didn't study, there are some forms of dynamic programming or tree data structures (I can't remember the details of a red-black tree to save my life without googling it) that I'd flub in a time-pressured interview. Many of those things are problems that some programmers might never encounter in day to day life. I do a lot of data structure stuff, and I've still never implemented a red-black tree or huffman coding after undergrad. I have std::map and gzip, for crying out loud. :) (That said, one of my Ph.D. students did once, in a very specific context where we needed it tightly integrated with something. He's also one of the best programmers I've met - far better than I - so take that with a grain of salt.)

cmrdporcupine 11y ago
As a person without a CS degree who somehow works at Google, I'd have to say: 1. I work in an office where almost everyone went to the same university, which is in the same town as the office. Recruitment of grads from that university is a high priority. 2. Like you said, the interview process does bias towards things emphasized in CS programs. Recent exposure to algorithms courses would definitely help. 3. The culture within Google itself feels very much like a university culture. Perf (promo through 'demonstrating impact' and basically being in a lot of design docs and PRDs, rigorous and extensive peer review, committees evaluating people's work almost like a thesis defense), etc. To me at least. 4. I've never been on hiring committee but I do get the impression that degree will be considered. Even if not for hire, but for determining the hiring level the person is slotted into. I can't say that for sure, tho. Anyways, although I have been here 4 1/2 years I do feel like an outsider, and I feel a lot of this is being sans-degree.
- brazzledazzle 11y ago
  Just curious, but would it be their Madison or Waterloo office?
- whitenoice 11y ago
  Yeah in pittsburgh, google hires heavily from CMU, when I was in grad school I was surprised to see so many undergrads with internship experience at google.