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Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of application

Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of applications and only tens of thousands of programmers hired over multiple years). However, by a similar argument it is less selective than Major League Baseball. Google hires self-taught programmers. But the median autodidact has low ability compared to the median formally-educated computer scientist. Google cares less about credentials than they used to, and even in the early days they were willing [http://www.codersatwork.com/jamie-zawinski.html http://www.codersatwork.com/jamie-zawinski.html] to hire jwz-caliber self-taught programmers. But your interview performance must be on par with traditionally educated candidates. You must be able to write plausible code in 45 minutes to solve a challenging problem that can be described in 2 minutes. That essentially requires that you are familiar with fundamental algorithms and data structures (or that you are a genius who can reinvent these on-the-fly) and some popular programming language. The portfolio doesn't matter very much. The hiring committee will expect if you are young that you are capable of contributing in some way immediately and show promise for doing much more in the future. If you are older they will expect that you have a track record of exceptional accomplishment that they can expect you will extend at Google. For info about the process, see https://www.google.com/about/careers/ https://www.google.com/about/careers/. It's going to be (1) submit your application (2) do phone screens (3) do onsite interviews (4) review offer. The penalty for trying too early is that it will take some of your time to do interviews and you won't be able to try again for a whole year. So you should put some effort into it if you seriously want to work at Google, but you should not dedicate years of your life to taking a single shot at it because you can and many do successfully reapply after rejection.

nostrademons 10y ago
There is a limit though - I think it was 3 lifetime rejections before HR stops considering you as a candidate. So don't be shy about re-applying if your circumstances have changed, but also don't "scattershot" apply to Google if you think there's no chance at all of getting in.
- thalesfc 10y ago
  I personally know people who were hired on their 5th interview. All that matters is your "data points", i.e., how are you improving over the years (it can take from 6 months to 1 yr to be able to re-apply).
- ekr 10y ago
  Does it count as a rejection if they don't even call you back for an interview/ i.e. all you get back is an automated reply?
  - yolesaber 10y ago
    No. It only counts if you fail the subsequent callback interviews. Google takes a long time to respond. I applied right after I graduated and didn't hear back from then until two years later.
lgieron 10y ago
> Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of applications and only tens of thousands of programmers hired over multiple years) That is very debatable. You could argue that a large portion of high school grads in the world would be interested in going to Harvard, but they don't bother to apply because they know they have no chance of getting in. In contrast, one's chances of getting hired by Google aren't that easy to assess (there are no standardized tests for example) and also it's easier to apply, so proportionally way more people do IMO.

nostrademons 10y ago

There is a limit though - I think it was 3 lifetime rejections before HR stops considering you as a candidate. So don't be shy about re-applying if your circumstances have changed, but also don't "scattershot" apply to Google if you think there's no chance at all of getting in.

thalesfc 10y ago
I personally know people who were hired on their 5th interview. All that matters is your "data points", i.e., how are you improving over the years (it can take from 6 months to 1 yr to be able to re-apply).
ekr 10y ago
Does it count as a rejection if they don't even call you back for an interview/ i.e. all you get back is an automated reply?
- yolesaber 10y ago
  No. It only counts if you fail the subsequent callback interviews. Google takes a long time to respond. I applied right after I graduated and didn't hear back from then until two years later.

lgieron 10y ago

> Google is famously more selective than Harvard (both places have self-selected applicant pools, but Harvard admits 5% while Google has "millions" of applications and only tens of thousands of programmers hired over multiple years) That is very debatable. You could argue that a large portion of high school grads in the world would be interested in going to Harvard, but they don't bother to apply because they know they have no chance of getting in. In contrast, one's chances of getting hired by Google aren't that easy to assess (there are no standardized tests for example) and also it's easier to apply, so proportionally way more people do IMO.