Google Job Applicants Post Tales of Rejection
Google is hot right now. Its stock price may have taken a bit of a hit lately, but new offerings like GrandCentral continue to revolutionize the Internet, and with its Android phone operating system poised to conquer the mobile world, things are looking good for the company. Naturally, then, the brightest tech employees want to get in the door, and Google's interview process is notorious for being lengthy and arduous. It's no surprise, of course, that not all applicants are welcomed with open arms. Some of those who got the cold shoulder treatment are posting their experiences online for the benefit of those who might interview with the Big G in the future.
The stories range from the mundane, like an interviewer with a thick, "Chewbacca-like" accent that was hard for the job candidate to understand ("I'm obviously partially retarded," says "Rod"), to tales of wonderment, such as one applicant who was too dazed by the lunch offerings to put together a comprehensive interview. Then there are the truly disturbing stories, such as that of one applicant whose military background wasn't taken too kindly:
"The interview was going swimmingly until I met up with one interviewer who was apparently anti-military. Using the Google "Do No Evil" mantra as a pretense, he asked me how many people I'd killed when I served. When I explained to him that I was MI, he then asked if I could estimate how many people were killed because of the intelligence I'd gathered. The implication was I was either an evil, efficient killer or an incompetent one - a real no-win situation."Good luck, job seekers of the future!
From Silicon Alley Insider
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Greg @ Mar 25th 2008 2:54PM
I really, really wish I'd been there for the application of the "Do no evil" to one of our veterans . . .
tankp @ Mar 25th 2008 3:02PM
That is kind of interesting that Google would not find a military back ground good enough fertile soil to fruther there agenda I too have experienced that from another huge company Georgia Pacific. Mind you military personal are classifies as heros today. Let me share my thought on this. As a Veterain myself they only want to select kids with a college back ground over us. I say address this with immediate force. We can choose to give our lives to this country yet some companies think we are not smart enough for them to hire us. I also know there are other companies that have adapted this practice. So I was told by a retired military personal know H.R person.
I find that you can call these young men and woman today heros. But once they have served there country know they are pushed a side if they choose not to attend some college or university for some one that did. Mean time because those kids that have furthered there education are some how better for making that desicion? If not for those serving will there be a chance for them to go to school have a better future plotted out because they stood home? I find that to be appalling. To say this is hard for any one to sallow that has put a side there life to make little money, with a strong enough dedication discipline to help every American, then to be treated like a second class citizen because of youth and lack of experience.
How American is that? I have seen our own government step over the veterains which live in deplorbale conditions only becasue of there choice. We have truly lost ground in our standards of living. But more importantly our position in this world. These acts which our government and large companies have imposed on our service men and women are one of the many reasons America will decline in many ways.
If this is not enough to erracticate this ugly practice of treating our released military young men and women then in the near future we might not have as many as we need to secure our land. I keep hearing this is the greatest country in the world. Well if you see it through the eyes of those rejected because of our service to this country. I would beg to differ from the consensus every one has adapted.
DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Give these kids a chance at the American dream. They have given more then most so they should be treated with dignity for helping the cause of every man woman and child of this country. I once hired people to fill positon in our work force. I know where I would go considering all they have given for us.
dave @ Mar 25th 2008 3:11PM
GOOGLE IS A FACSIST COMPANY.
GOOGLE IS ANTI AMERICAN(THEY CAN MAKE THEIR MONEY HERE BUT DONT SUPPORT THE COUNTRY)
GOOGLE IS ANTIMILITARY(WHO PROTECTS THEM, THEIR COMPANY AND THEIR COUNTRY OF BUSINESS ORIGIN)
BOYCOTT GOOGLE
sherry4744 @ Mar 25th 2008 3:16PM
You know I'm about to the point where I want to say to hell with America.
our rights are slowly being taken from us.
by the people for the people where the hell did that go It's more like by the government and for the government.
hell our votes don't even count anymore.
I love america but I will say I wouldn't fight for it. We need to stand up to the government hell have a protest in Washington take back America put it back in the hands of the people like it was ment to be....
tankp @ Mar 25th 2008 3:28PM
Sherry you go girl that is exactly what we need to get things we need done. This election vote out every one in office, and keep doing it till they listen to our voices.
NJJ @ Mar 25th 2008 3:32PM
To tankp: You make excellent, well thought out points. Maybe we could take you more seriously as an equal to a college graduate if you could learn GRAMMAR and to SPELL! It is hard to make it in the business world if you are missing basic communication skills available to any high school graduate.
To anyone doing the hiring: Aren't there laws to protect veterans from this kind of bias? Who is supposed to be enforcing them? Oh that's right - Bush feels free to send people to war and then fails to fund the basics like medical care and enforcing discrimination laws when they return.
Roberto Benitez @ Mar 25th 2008 3:37PM
dave, Google is protected by US law. It was started January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page, a Ph.D. student at Stanford Unv., Palo Alto, CA, and incorporated in September 1998 from a friends garage in Menlo Park, CA. The last time I checked California was part of the United States, although some might argue with that and some might wish it wasn't.
Google is a search engine and doesn't write or approve the entries that it finds. If you understand how a search engine works it should be obvious that during a time of an unpopular war that most articles would be both anti-military and anti-Bush.
tankp @ Mar 25th 2008 3:39PM
NJJ
It is a known fact that plenty of kids graduating from colleg today have issues with as you put it grammar. I have never admitted to being a writer. But thank you for your observations anyway.
Debbie @ Mar 25th 2008 3:44PM
IN REFERENCE TO:
You know I'm about to the point where I want to say to hell with America.
our rights are slowly being taken from us.
I love america but I will say I wouldn't fight for it"
RESPONSE:
This post is so intensely unintelligent, it gives pause to reflect on the notion that ignorance should be painful. Nauseatingly ignorant and intellectually void.
Steve Bryant @ Mar 25th 2008 3:48PM
After reading about Google's anti-military position, I just became a Yahoo user. I have met with several members of the Google team in marketing strategy meetings. If anyone in this country benefits from the freedoms earned by our military it's these pampered, ivory tower,self absorbed, children. While I understand the power of their system, I'll come up with a way to live without them. Not that they care, but Google is off my list.
Steve Bryant
Atlanta
Christy @ Mar 25th 2008 3:49PM
I truly thought I was the only person who felt this way. Yes, our American society has their priorities very confused. Most people do not realize the sacrifices that were made so they could act this way. I have lost many relatives in the past three wars, and I don't take my freedom for granted. We are slowly losing our freedoms to greed and power and yes, government. We do need to start standing up and speaking before we become Russia. I still think its amazing that unless I mail in my utility payments, I have to Pay to Pay my bills. The greed and self-centered, no empathy crowd is taking over and soon we will lose more of our civil rights. I will not be using Google after reading this story. My husband serves in the military and I cannot associate with a company who would not hire someone based on that. My husband joined the armed forces, not because he did not want an education, but because he idolized his grandfather, who served in WWII and was at Normandy on that horrible day. He saw the importance of serving his country in its time of need, whether we belong in Iraq, or we don't, he's doing his part for all of us and he is probably one of the truest Americans that I know. I am very proud. Shame on you Google. Sherri, you and I are on the same page. Good for you.
Ed @ Mar 25th 2008 3:57PM
My older Brother is a retired Lt Col USAF with his last station being the Pentagon from 2000 through 2005. My experience with every military person i have met through him is that they are all highly educated and well trained professionals who work well with other people, have exceptional personalities, and GET THE JOB DONE. Anyone who overlooks retired military personel because of some liberal agenda is truly a loser and deserves to hire other people just like themselves.
I also find it funny that liberals are soooooooooo closed minded that they would rather fail than consider someone with a conservative set of values.
Randy @ Mar 25th 2008 4:02PM
To Sherry4744: I wonder if you might change your pathetic attitude had your parents been killed when the towers came down!
Jeff @ Mar 25th 2008 4:02PM
Thank you NJJ -- we all need to remember that "the government" is actually the "people". This begs the question of the "type" of people running the government. NOT the government itself. Accordingly, I'd suggest that the "type" of people allowing these types of "discrimination" are those that are so focused on their own personal wealth and well being that they are willing to sacrifice the very lives of those willing to "volunteer" (ala Dick Cheney's speech the other night) to help them maintain their standing in our society. Why not? They're not out anything. As per D.C.'s speech the other night, the greatest burden is on the president's shoulders in making these decisions...hmmmm - says he who still hasn't attended a funeral of one of our fallen soldiers.
If you think that Dick Cheney isn't quietly making billions of dollars from his days at Halliburton and all of their "private" government contracts and that both he and GW aren't making even more from their investments in oil then I'd suggest you head over to Austria with Demi Moore for some "leech therapy". And if you don't get the reference herein, try "Googling" it....
Ciao,
jh
Peter @ Mar 25th 2008 4:09PM
As an HR person myself, let me say that merely serving in the military does not make you a hero (a grossly over-used label demeaning real heros), nor does it mean you're smart. Education or actual accomplishments requiring intelligence are indicators of itelligence.
Veterans have real post-service benefits. Quit whining.
matchboxchic88 @ Mar 25th 2008 4:11PM
For a brief moment, I thought the headline read "I'm obviously partially retarded: confessions of blow job interviews" . . . I was extremely confused.
That said, why is everyone on these blogs a jerk? I feel like we're on the brink of a civil war because we can't manage to be civil to one another. Perhaps it's the anonymity of the web. But if we all truly feel what we express in the blogs, how long before it spills over from the internets into the real world?
I should stick to the jokes, right?
Constance Thomas @ Mar 25th 2008 4:15PM
To NJJ: I agree with you that it's hard to take anything seriously when the punctuation and spelling are incorrect. What I really don't understand is why no one uses the dictionary provided by right clicking on any word you're not sure of. Tankp:I also agree with your comments. I just want to comment that Americans are losing their freedoms because we are too lazy to fight for them! As for Google, I,too, will not go to their site anymore. My father was in the navy, and my daughter served in the army. I am proud to be American, although I am not happy with our current government. Shame on Google and all the other companies that treat our military like 2nd class citizens! Don't they realize that without our armed forces they wouldn't have the freedom to build their companies??
Andi Price @ Mar 25th 2008 4:17PM
tankp - although I agree with your sentiment and share your opinion (I think), after reading your post, it is clear that you lack basic composition skills, i.e., spelling, punctuation, sentence and paragraph structure, etc., and that may cost you more job opportunities than anti-military bias. Most jobs don't require that you be an English major but, if you can't construct a paragraph that coveys what you want to say, most HR people won't give you the time of day. If you know you are weak in this area, have someone edit your application and cover letter so that you sound articulate on paper. I have a number of otherwise educated friends that regularly ask me to edit their written correspondence before it is sent because they are aware that their thoughts become cloudy when they put them in print. One engineer summed it up pretty well... "You keep me from sounding like an idiot on paper."
Paula @ Mar 25th 2008 4:20PM
I swore that headline said something about BJ interviews... =-/
Lisa @ Mar 25th 2008 4:23PM
Is it not possible that the anti-military sentiments of the interviewer came from a single mind, and that the entire Google company is not biased?