Googles secret society entrance

bornkillerbornkiller AdministratorIn your girlfriends snatch
Quick summary: Dude gets offered a job because of a certain search objective?

My question: Why is it I'm not a porn star today?
If Google sees that you're searching for specific programming terms, they'll ask you to apply for a job. It's wild. Here's how it works.

Three months ago, I thought I wasn’t ready to apply for a job at Google. Google disagreed.

I was in the midst of a career transition. I had spent three years working as a management consultant and then at a startup, but I wanted to become a computer engineer. I was earning a Master’s in computer science through Georgia Tech’s online program. I knew that I was slowly developing the skills that I would need in an engineering role, but I still lacked the confidence to apply for a full-time software role.

One morning, while working on a project, I Googled “python lambda function list comprehension.” The familiar blue links appeared, and I started to look for the most relevant one.

But then something unusual happened.

The search results split and folded back to reveal a box that said “You’re speaking our language. Up for a challenge?”

I stared at the screen. What? After a moment, I decided yes, I was most definitely up for a challenge.

3SIY5cI.jpg

I clicked through and landed on a page that called itself “foo.bar.” The page resembled a UNIX interface, so I typed the command to see the list of files. There was a single one called “start_here.txt”. I opened it and saw two sentences:

“Type request to request a challenge. Type help for a list of commands.”

I typed “request” and half expected to see “Follow the white rabbit, Max.” Instead, the screen displayed a paragraph outlining a programming challenge and gave instructions on how to submit my solution. I had 48 hours to solve it, and the timer was ticking.

0M3fKgu.jpg

I won’t post the problem here, but solving it required a bit of knowledge about algorithms. I had the option to code in Python or Java. I set to work and solved the first problem in a couple hours. Each time I submitted a solution, foo.bar tested my code against five hidden test cases.

Once my solution passed all of those tests, I could submit it and request a new challenge. Over the next two weeks, I solved five more problems.

After I solved the sixth problem, foo.bar gave me the option to submit my contact information. I typed in my phone number and email address, fully expecting that to be the end of things.

Much to my surprise, a recruiter emailed me a couple days later asking for a copy of my resume. I emailed it to him, and we set up a phone call.

Google’s recruiting process is well documented online, and from this point my experience was pretty typical. The only difference is that I didn’t need to go through a technical phone screen since I had already demonstrated some proficiency with coding through the foo.bar exercises.

For my interview, I spent a day at Google headquarters in Mountain View solving problems on a white board.

The office visit was the first time I felt confident I wasn’t the victim of an elaborate prank. When I first encountered foo.bar, I asked several friends (including Google employees) if they’d ever heard of it. None of them had, but all of them thought that it was a brilliant idea.

Although it took two weeks, eventually I received good news: Google extended me an offer! I enthusiastically accepted and spent the next week meeting with potential managers.

Three months after the mysterious invitation appeared, I started at Google.

Foo.bar is a brilliant recruiting tactic. Google used it to identify me before I had even applied anywhere else, and they made me feel important while doing so. At the same time, they respected my privacy and didn’t reach out to me without explicitly requesting my information.

Overall, I enjoyed the puzzles that they gave me to solve, and I’m excited for my first day as a Googler.

Sauce: http://thehustle.co/the-secret-google-interview-that-landed-me-a-job

Comments

  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    I knocked on foo.bar's door and they sent me to the dining table in the alley by the dumpsters.
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    I knocked on foo.bar's door and they sent me to the dining table
    Awesome .... A dining room table.
    in the alley by the dumpsters.
    Right next to the main food supply. Living the dream I tell ya, living the dream. :)


  • SlartibartfastSlartibartfast Global Moderator -__-
    I would have great difficulty accepting a job offer at Google (Not that I have the skill set required). They seem to work you to the bone and have an expectation that you to be grateful. You have to sacrifice your existence to the company and it's a constant dick-measuring contest of peer evaluation politics and moonshots. It's basically a zoo for PhDs.

    Apparently they've been doing this for at least a year:
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8588080
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    I would have great difficulty accepting a job offer at Google (Not that I have the skill set required). They seem to work you to the bone and have an expectation that you to be grateful. You have to sacrifice your existence to the company and it's a constant dick-measuring contest of peer evaluation politics and moonshots. It's basically a zoo for PhDs.
    I always imagined google staff as a bunch of dorks walking around with blueberry, rasberry, lemon and lime slushy's while getting free range access @ any time to VR gaming through google googles.
  • Kind of a neat way of recruiting. Easier than my constant hunting for clients.
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    Kinda scary though when you think about how google use keyword searches. Let's say you have a software idea that could be worth billions. The first thing a person does is searches google to see if that idea is original. Then to resolve the software's coding you search google for relative interest in that particular field. All this time google is tracking your projects success near the end giving google that perfect opportunity to put a copyright on it before it's complete. Things that make you go hmmm.....
  • And that is why I don't use google when researching my inventions. Oh, I'll use them for bits and pieces here and there, but I'll split any serious digging between as many search engines, IP addresses, and MAC addresses as I can. I honestly have no idea how much good that does.
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    Prometheus wrote: »
    And that is why I don't use google when researching my inventions. Oh, I'll use them for bits and pieces here and there, but I'll split any serious digging between as many search engines, IP addresses, and MAC addresses as I can. I honestly have no idea how much good that does.
    I'm hearing ya! I try not to use google for anything because they tend to restrict my search results for certain subject interests..

  • I would like permission to post this story in a different forum. I think it's fascinating. Reminds me of something else too. Something like cicada. I'm sure you guys heard of it.
  • SlartibartfastSlartibartfast Global Moderator -__-
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    Gen_Why wrote: »
    I would like permission to post this story in a different forum. I think it's fascinating. Reminds me of something else too. Something like cicada. I'm sure you guys heard of it.
    Dude! If it's on the interwebz it's all yours. Everything put on online is open source, that's what I say. Without this philosophy the wonderful world of torrents wouldn't exist. :D

  • Yeah I don't know what I was thinking. Just trying to be polite I guess lol
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    Gen_Why wrote: »
    Yeah I don't know what I was thinking. Just trying to be polite I guess lol
    Heh. All good. :-)

Sign In or Register to comment.