The biggest company wants the best. The best deserves to work in the biggest. With over 2 million applicants per year, it is clear that many desire to be a part of the Happiest Company in America, GOOGLE. Out of these applicants, only 7000 are selected every year. These candidates are selected via the unique hiring rule of Google. Google is extremely choosy and particular when it comes to recruiting and hiring employees. Well, seeing the number of applicants per year, Google, being specific is completely justified and understandable.
People often think that they must score a very high GPA to make into Google. As per the hiring rule of Google, marks are just numbers that do not have much real significance. If you could not secure a decent score in your graduation, but you consider yourself eligible to work in Google, there is no right time to apply than today. Google’s Senior Vice President of People Operations Laszlo Bock gives an excellent explanation of why metrics do not matter much and reveals some secrets on the hiring rule of Google. “Academic environments are artificial environments. People who succeed there are sort of finely trained, they’re conditioned to succeed in that environment”, Bock says.
The founders establish a company, but the achievements and developments of the company are a result of a strong workforce. Selecting the right talent and managing it is an essential for evolution of any company. Undoubtedly, Google has achieved this and is trying to improve it further. Here are some insights into the hiring rule of Google.
Set high bar for quality and do not compromise
Bock says, “Never ever evereverevereverever compromise on quality.” It is better to progress slowly and have higher-quality people than to improve fast with mediocre players. Google averages 130 applicants to make one hire. They keep on eliminating people at every round and the remaining one is lucky. The hiring rule of Google is framed such that they will not have to compromise with the quality of the workforce, because it might be harmful for the company later. The success of a company is greatly determined by the caliber of its employees.
One way in which Google ensures that it keeps a high bar for quality is by taking the hiring decisions away from its managers because they are biased while selecting employees. Instead, an independent committee reviews the interview results and gives the final decision. And surprisingly, Larry Page still reviews every offer that goes out the door.
Find candidates themselves
Yes, you read it right. This might sound queer but, it happens. Even after receiving so many applicants, Google has its own way to find out potentially strong candidates for their company. They refer to Google+, LinkedIn profile of the professionals to find the best match to their requirement. Earlier Google collaborated with recruitment companies like Monster in case they needed to set a new team in some other country. But, according to the latest hiring rule of Google, it relies on its career portal only and through the referrals they get from the existing googlers.
Review and Consideration
Day by day, the company is increasing in terms of number of employees. According to the hiring rule of Google, it’s clear that it is looking for employees with sound knowledge and competent nature. Even after getting a huge number of applicants, Google scrutinizes each one of them with patience. Applications that are rejected or are not found suitable are reviewed again so that they do not miss a potentially valuable candidate. Thus, the applications are considered and re-considered to avoid the slightest mistake from their side.
Assessing candidates objectively with structured interview and standard criterias
There have been volumes on why most interviews fail to produce correct results. The reason is most interviewers generally assess the candidates in the first four to five minutes of interview and rest of the time is spent to confirm one’s beliefs or hypotheses. The hiring rule of Google does not follow the conventional approach of unstructured interviews and brainteasers. Instead, they follow the method of structured interviews or a consistent set of interviews. Applicants are required to go through a work sample test of sorts, where they have to solve problems related to their field.
Also Read: 12 invaluable leadership lessons to learn from Google’s Doyen Larry Page
The hiring rule of Google clearly specifies 4 areas on which the candidates must be assessed:
Leadership
Google is looking for “emergent leadership”, which means the ability to step into the position of a leader, even though you are not officially appointed. Take control over the situation, achieve collaboration among the team members and complete the task successfully. What they want is a person, who can take the lead, as well as leave that position when someone else takes over it, because he is worthy of it.
Role-related knowledge
Google is looking for people who have excellent knowledge in their respective fields. By this, it clearly does not mean that they are looking for people with isolated skill sets. They prefer those who have a variety of passion, strengths and skills, so that they can contribute to the success of the company greatly. For engineering students specifically, coding skills and technical areas of expertise is checked.
General aptitude and thought-process
Like told before, according to the hiring rule of Google, candidates are not evaluated on the basis of their GPA’s and transcripts. Instead, they are more interested to know your way of thinking and solving a problem. Google is not expecting you to arrive at the “right answer” immediately. They judge how well can you tackle with a problem.
Googlyness
Google wants to see that thrill and enthusiasm that you “really” want to work in this company. By googlyness, they wish to know your true side. They will see if you are comfortable with ambiguity, you can add a new flavor to the team and possess intellectual humility. Google does not believe in hiring people similar to them. Instead, they are looking for a person with eccentric qualities, someone who is different and unique, and someone who can set the targets even higher.
Giving candidates a reason to join
Bock made an optimistic remark on the hiring rule of Google, “Our challenge as recruiters is to draw the connections between the jobs we have and the people we want to hire. Every single job can be a calling. It doesn’t matter whether you work at a textile factory, a deli, Google, or at your company.” Not only do you prove yourself as to why are you a suitable fit for an employee in Google Inc., Google will also give you reasons as to why you should actually join the company. The recruiters draw parallel lines between the field of the candidate and the existing job vacancies. The recruiters place a clear picture before you, which includes the kind of work you would associate into and the liberty at work.
The hiring rule of Google is actually unique in its own kind. It is not as simple as it seems to be. To get hired in this mega giant is a tough row to hoe. Yet, it is not impossible either. If you work hard and try, success is bound to come soon. We wish good luck to all the aspiring candidates!
Rashika Daga
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