How Google woos the best and brightest

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How Google woos the best and brightest

- Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, December 18, 2005

Free cafeteria food, annual ski trips to the Sierra and free laundry are just some of the
fringe benefits of working at Google. Getting hired is the trick.

Every month, aspiring workers deluge the popular Mountain View search engine with up
to 150,000 resumes, equivalent to a stack of paper at least 50 feet high. And the firm
claims to read each and every one.

As one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, Google has become a beacon for job seekers.
In just a few short years, the interest has helped the company amass an arsenal of what is
arguably among the world's top technology minds.

"I would argue that definitely they have the best talent," said Joe Kraus, a co-founder of
the Web portal Excite Inc. and who currently leads a startup, JotSpot, in Palo Alto. "They
invest so much because the more great talent you have, the easier it is to attract even more
great talent."

Google hires nine new workers a day. In less than two years, the number of employees has
more than tripled to 4,989.

The growth spurt is being fueled by a gangbusters-like online advertising market and
Google's boundless ambition, including new initiatives in everything from wireless
Internet access to video downloads. The goal is to keep the production line of new
products humming so that users spend more time on the Web site.

Getting rich is what drives some of the applicants. Many Google workers became instant
millionaires at the time of the company's initial stock offering in 2004. To this day,
prospective employees are drawn by the promise of wealth, although, their chances of
striking gold are a lot less now that the firm's shares are soaring above $400, making stock
options less likely to appreciate by large amounts.

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Competition for the best and brightest is fierce. Rivals Yahoo Inc., in Sunnyvale, and
Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., plus startups, are trying to reel in many of the same
job applicants, igniting occasional bidding wars.

Yahoo, in particular, has recently landed some workers who interviewed at Google, such
as Andrei Broder, a former research executive at AltaVista and IBM. He says being at
Yahoo's research lab is an opportunity to have more impact because it's younger and
smaller than those of its competition.

Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, has called hiring one of his firm's biggest challenges. If
unable to find enough top-notch workers, he says the company's rapid growth could be
hamstrung.

Google's also hiring superstars. This year, they include Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's
founding fathers, as chief Internet evangelist. Kai-Fu Lee, a former Microsoft executive
and expert in technology that turns speech into text, now heads operations in China. And
Louis Monier, founder of the early search engine AltaVista, has an undisclosed technical
role.

Perk appeal

To lure workers, Google offers perks, including free cafeteria meals, free use of laundry
machines, a child care center, a free annual one-night ski trip (resort destinations vary
depending on office location), dog-friendly offices and an on-site doctor. Engineers can
devote 20 percent of their time to projects of their choice. What's not mentioned is that
much of the largesse is designed to keep workers at their desks longer.

In addition to posting job openings in newspapers and online, Google recruits at

universities, offers computer science students free pizza, hosts a software programming
competition and invites technology clubs to hold their meetings at its headquarters.

Last year, the company won attention for publishing a booklet of 21 problems, called the
Google Labs Aptitude Test. Readers of several technology magazines were asked to mail
in their answers and promised that Google would get in touch with them if they scored
well.

One question asked: "In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever
derived?" The Gaussian integral, a complex mathematical equation used in studying the
kinetic molecular theory of gases among other things, has been suggested as a smart
answer by some on the Internet. Another question involved filling a blank rectangle "with
something that improves upon emptiness," leaving applicants scratching for a subjective

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winner.

Judy Gilbert, Google's staffing programs director, says that the questions weren't really
used for hiring. In any case, smart alecks soon posted the answers online so that they could
be easily found by cheaters.

"It was a great PR move, and we got a lot of interest from it," Gilbert said. "As far as using
those kinds of things to decide who becomes part of our team, we typically use more
traditional processes."

Hundreds of recruiters keep the resumes pouring into Google. Many are contractors,
making them easier to dismiss if the company scales back its hiring needs.

Jobs available as of last week include someone to negotiate video licensing deals with
Hollywood studios, someone to lead user studies for guiding product design, and an
attorney to manage the firm's real estate. More posts are likely to open in announcements
this week that the company will create 600 new jobs in Ireland and up to 100 in Pittsburgh.

A recruiting machine

To land all-stars, Google's recruiting machine goes into overdrive. Take the case of Lee,
the former Microsoft executive. Details of his hiring emerged in a lawsuit that Microsoft
filed against Google.

After hearing about Lee's interest in Google, one executive told colleagues that they should
pursue him "like wolves," according to an e-mail made public in the case. Another
executive eagerly voiced his interest in an e-mail to Lee, saying "please call me as soon as
possible, 24 hours a day."

Secrecy is sometimes critical. If tipped off, companies from which Google is trying to
poach could start a bidding war or retaliate against a potential defector.

For Lee, Google's executives were reminded in a message to keep quiet, even to spouses
and significant others. His interviews started at a remote, little-used building on the Google
office complex so that only a few people would ever know he was there before they shifted
to an off-campus location.

The risk can be worth it for a top executive of Lee's caliber. He ultimately accepted a
compensation package of more than $10 million, igniting the legal battle between Google
and Microsoft.

To fill positions lower on the pecking order, Google has created an extensive college

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hiring program, among other efforts. Recruiters visited 60 schools this year to show off the
firm's technology, hand out T-shirts and interview prospective job candidates.

Rich Wong, associate director of MBA recruiting for UC Berkeley's Haas School of
Business, said that his students responded warmly to Google's courting. More than 100 of
them were bused by the company to its headquarters for management presentations,
networking and tours. Never before had a firm gotten so many of the school's MBA
students to visit, Wong said.

"This is the first year that Google has really recruited at Haas," Wong said. "This is a great
breakthrough because there is a great student interest."

Some go to extra lengths to land a job such as a German graduate student who started a
blog, titled "Hire me, Google." Another, Michael Kazin, a Rutgers University senior in
computer science, volunteered to be his New Jersey school's pizza ambassador.

As part of its recruiting, Google offers free pizza to computer science study groups and
clubs at universities across the country. Kazin's role is to make sure the Rutger's groups get
reimbursed from Google.

"I love Google," said Kazin, who has had a phone interview with Google for a job and is
waiting to hear back. "I thought this would give me one leg up in the recruiting process."

A grueling process

Interviews at Google usually begin on the telephone. If successful, applicants are invited
for face-to-face meetings with up to 10 people, a process described as excruciating by
people who have gone through them because of the length of time it takes and the mental
gymnastics necessary.

Recent job candidates described questions as being on topic, whether about software code
or business. In many cases, they were asked to brainstorm and role play to show how they
think. For instance, how would they market a product? Those who conduct the interviews
frequently challenge applicants. Questions about algorithms, Java software and computer
networking are common for applicants seeking technical positions.

It's a slight change from Google's early days, when Brin, the co-founder, would quiz
applicants and then give them five minutes to prepare a presentation about anything
complicated that he didn't already know, according to Doug Edwards, a former Google
marketing director who was subjected to such a test six years ago.

Google has created its own software system for tracking job candidates that allows

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employees to share comments on each applicant. Because so many people must sign off on
new hires -- Larry Page, one of the firm's famed co-founders, approves each one -- the
process can be lengthy, even excessively so, several applicants said.

Some were shocked to learn the importance Google gives to college grade point averages
in deciding whom to hire. The emphasis draws complaints from some older candidates,
who believe the measure is irrelevant for them because they have been out of school for so
long.

Gilbert, the staffing programs director, responded: "We know that grade point averages are
highly imperfect measures. But you try to get a complete set of data."

In general, Gilbert says Google seeks applicants who show they are willing to take risks,
are highly motivated by a range of topics and want to be part of something bigger than
themselves. The profile is in line with the firm's carefully crafted iconoclastic image.

Historically, Google has paid workers less than the industry standard and showered them
with stock options. That paid off for approximately 1,000 Google employees in 2004,
when the company's high-profile initial stock offering made them instant millionaires.
Although the firm's present pay structure is a closely guarded secret, one can assume
hundreds, if not thousands, more have become worth seven figures, at least on paper,
considering that Google's stock is now hovering above the $400 mark, a nearly five-fold
increase from its premiere. Following its initial public offering last year, the company has
had to offer more money up front because options aren't as valuable, according to
compensation experts. Many competing firms claim Google has driven up salaries for
software programmers by nearly 50 percent in recent years. On the flip side, low-end
workers such as customer service representatives start at around $45,000, according to
someone familiar with the firm's recruiting practices and requested anonymity. And that's
certainly not exorbitant by industry standards, the expert said, adding that Google trades on
its name to offer lower salaries for lesser jobs at times.

Stephen Arnold, the author of the book "The Google Legacy: How Google's Internet
Search is Transforming Application Software," says that the company has proved its mettle
in hiring quality technology workers. What's yet to be proved is whether the company can
be as successful hiring workers on the business side.

"Google, because of its visibility, has been able to attract the best of the nerd types,"
Arnold said. "Now, they have to do the same thing in all these other silos -- marketing,
legal, finance -- and I'm not sure they would know whether they're the best even if they
were standing right in front of them."

Dror Shimshowitz, who went from wearing a cap and gown at Haas' graduation in May to

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a Google product marketing manager, says he hadn't really considered applying until
relatively late in his studies. After getting no response to a resume he sent to the company's
general recruiting Web site, he talked to an insider he knew, who then recommended him
for an interview.

"The interviews really pushed me -- they pushed my thinking," Shimshowitz said, recalling
questions such as, "How do you get millions of people to use a product?"

"I got a great taste of what the culture is like here," he said.

Eventually, Shimshowitz chose Google over several other job offers, including one from a
"major Internet company" and a few from startups. It was a trade-off, he said, because
Google normally hires workers as generalists, unlike other companies that tell new hires
more precisely what their role will be.

"For the first time in my career, I'm not planning my next move," Shimshowitz said.

If you get in ...

A test published by Google last year in several magazines was used as a recruiting tool.
Questions included:

1) Solve this cryptic equation, realizing of course that value for M and E could be
interchanged. No leading zeros are allowed: WWWDOT - GOOGLE = DOTCOM

Answers: 777589 - 188106 = 589483 or 777589 - 188103 = 589486

2) How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each
face?

Answer: 58,130,055

3) Which of the following expresses Google's over-arching philosophy?

a) I'm feeling lucky

b) Don't be evil

c) Oh, I already fixed that

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d) You should never be more than 50 feet from food

e) All of the above

Answer: b

... you get this

Workers at Google get a range of benefits that surpass those at many other companies.
Here's a sample:

-- Free cafeteria meals

-- On-site dry cleaning

-- Coin-free laundry room

-- Free annual ski trip

-- Dog-friendly offices

-- On-site doctor and dentist

-- Free commuter shuttle service to several Bay Area locations

Source: Google Inc.

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©2006 San Francisco Chronicle

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