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Google doesn't hire losers

40 points by rpcastagna 8y ago

jacques_chester 8y ago
What's the actual point of this post, other than a click-bait title?
throwaway98121 8y ago
Not a fan of googles hiring process. I interviewed in 2015 and never got past the phone screen. I was given a contrived programming problem, which I solved and explained runtime complexity. The interviewer called me for the screen about 15 minutes late and then he was upset with me because the google doc link I was given to write code was not the one he was opening. Miscommunication on his end. He struggled to speak English, which I’m fine with, but his inability to communicate made him get more and more frustrated. The recruiter never called back. Even if they weren’t going to move forward, a simple courtesy call wouldn’t have been so terrible. This interview was for an entry level engineer. In less than 4 years, I’m a senior engineer now at another top tier tech company. I don’t think my interviewing skills or coding skills were the problem. Googles recruiting process is half assed.
- GavinMcG 8y ago
  This isn't really a relevant response to the content of the article, in my view, so I downvoted.
kbrackbill 8y ago
False, they hired me. There is a huge element of randomness in google's hiring process. So much of it depends on whether you and your interviewers were having a bad day that day. I suppose being hired there means you're above some minimum bar of competence, but I don't think being rejected means anything other than you got unlucky.
- rpcastagna 8y ago
  It's important to realize this post doesn't make any assertions about the fundamental merits of people who are rejected by Google.
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magicalist 8y ago
What a weird post. > The minor point I want to get across here is that if someone has Google (or any other ${BigTechCo}) on their résumé then it’s something to be interested in but you should also be asking about what led to that I mean thats great a great goal for interviewers, but the idea that because google was on your resume that what came before must have been interesting seems...self aggrandizing? I'm not sure exactly, but it definitely doesn't follow. New grad hires alone throw a wrench in the works, but so does the Google interview reputation for caring less about the resume than coding questions.
CoolGuySteve 8y ago
This article is surprisingly aggressive considering it doesn't really say anything other than "tests as interviews can cause you to hire non-traditional pedigrees." Also, some of the worst people I ever worked with came from Google. The process seems to filter for test-taking rather than pragmatism or work ethic. But that's a whole other issue.
hvass 8y ago
What’s the argument and point of this? Can someone clarify?
deleted 8y ago
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tptacek 8y ago
This isn't a good article, but it's not off-topic, and flags aren't downvotes. I vouched it.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  I flag when the article isn't of a quality worth discussing. This certainly meets that criteria.
  - drharby 8y ago
    That's subjective tho. Granted, i suppose flagging is democratizing, unironically.
    - malvosenior 8y ago
      It is, and I don't do it often but this was really bad.
- throwaway2048 8y ago
  Its perfectly fine to flag garbage ontopic articles.
bgdnyxbjx 8y ago
Maybe not, but they seem to hire lots of arrogant jerks.
draw_down 8y ago
Good thoughts here but the writing could really be refined to clarify what the author is trying to convey. I'm also a person with a somewhat unusual pedigree and have those feelings of being condescended to by people who came in on the Stanford -> Big-Name Tech conveyor belt.
chaboud 8y ago
I know plenty of losers that were hired by Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, etc. I don't actually know of one golden company that has never hired a dud. Not one.
drharby 8y ago
This article adds no signal to my world view except that there is an employee at google who thinks its professional to 'fail the fuck' out of me.
BuckRogers 8y ago
He certainly sounds like a loser, while trying to say Google only hires winners. There's a problem with society when children are blogging that they'll, "fail the fuck" out of you while working at Google. I think I'll pass on applying if I'll have to with him. All he says his with poor communication and social skills is that people with unrelated but impressive backgrounds work alongside him. Pat yourself on the back. We now know it's possible to work at Google but have a brain the size of a pea.
deleted 8y ago
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40 points by rpcastagna 8y ago

What's the actual point of this post, other than a click-bait title?

Not a fan of googles hiring process. I interviewed in 2015 and never got past the phone screen. I was given a contrived programming problem, which I solved and explained runtime complexity. The interviewer called me for the screen about 15 minutes late and then he was upset with me because the google doc link I was given to write code was not the one he was opening. Miscommunication on his end. He struggled to speak English, which I’m fine with, but his inability to communicate made him get more and more frustrated. The recruiter never called back. Even if they weren’t going to move forward, a simple courtesy call wouldn’t have been so terrible. This interview was for an entry level engineer. In less than 4 years, I’m a senior engineer now at another top tier tech company. I don’t think my interviewing skills or coding skills were the problem. Googles recruiting process is half assed.

GavinMcG 8y ago
This isn't really a relevant response to the content of the article, in my view, so I downvoted.

kbrackbill 8y ago

False, they hired me. There is a huge element of randomness in google's hiring process. So much of it depends on whether you and your interviewers were having a bad day that day. I suppose being hired there means you're above some minimum bar of competence, but I don't think being rejected means anything other than you got unlucky.

rpcastagna 8y ago
It's important to realize this post doesn't make any assertions about the fundamental merits of people who are rejected by Google.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

magicalist 8y ago

What a weird post. > The minor point I want to get across here is that if someone has Google (or any other ${BigTechCo}) on their résumé then it’s something to be interested in but you should also be asking about what led to that I mean thats great a great goal for interviewers, but the idea that because google was on your resume that what came before must have been interesting seems...self aggrandizing? I'm not sure exactly, but it definitely doesn't follow. New grad hires alone throw a wrench in the works, but so does the Google interview reputation for caring less about the resume than coding questions.

CoolGuySteve 8y ago

This article is surprisingly aggressive considering it doesn't really say anything other than "tests as interviews can cause you to hire non-traditional pedigrees." Also, some of the worst people I ever worked with came from Google. The process seems to filter for test-taking rather than pragmatism or work ethic. But that's a whole other issue.

hvass 8y ago

What’s the argument and point of this? Can someone clarify?

deleted 8y ago

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tptacek 8y ago

This isn't a good article, but it's not off-topic, and flags aren't downvotes. I vouched it.

malvosenior 8y ago
I flag when the article isn't of a quality worth discussing. This certainly meets that criteria.
- drharby 8y ago
  That's subjective tho. Granted, i suppose flagging is democratizing, unironically.
  - malvosenior 8y ago
    It is, and I don't do it often but this was really bad.
throwaway2048 8y ago
Its perfectly fine to flag garbage ontopic articles.

bgdnyxbjx 8y ago

Maybe not, but they seem to hire lots of arrogant jerks.

draw_down 8y ago

Good thoughts here but the writing could really be refined to clarify what the author is trying to convey. I'm also a person with a somewhat unusual pedigree and have those feelings of being condescended to by people who came in on the Stanford -> Big-Name Tech conveyor belt.

chaboud 8y ago

I know plenty of losers that were hired by Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, etc. I don't actually know of one golden company that has never hired a dud. Not one.

drharby 8y ago

This article adds no signal to my world view except that there is an employee at google who thinks its professional to 'fail the fuck' out of me.

BuckRogers 8y ago

He certainly sounds like a loser, while trying to say Google only hires winners. There's a problem with society when children are blogging that they'll, "fail the fuck" out of you while working at Google. I think I'll pass on applying if I'll have to with him. All he says his with poor communication and social skills is that people with unrelated but impressive backgrounds work alongside him. Pat yourself on the back. We now know it's possible to work at Google but have a brain the size of a pea.

deleted 8y ago

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