Why i ignore google recruiters

This is a real story, it is not only about Google. I often get emails from Amazon, Facebook recruiters, as well as small Silicon Valley startups. They somehow find me - most likely through this blog, through my books or through an account on GitHub . They always start with the phrase: “Your profile impressed us a lot”, and they finish: “Let's set up an interview.” I always answer the same way, and they always disappear after that, often returning in a few months under a different name. I will try to explain my thoughts here. Perhaps you will do the same and we can make a difference.


"The Deer Hunter" (1978), director Michael Cimino

Explanation: I understand that I am dealing with companies worth billions of dollars, the best in their industry, and that I am dust in the wind compared to them. I understand that their recruiters do not care about my answers - they just click the "Delete" button and move on. I also understand that they will never see this post and that this article most likely will not change anything. However, I have to write it.

The following is what I send back to recruiters:
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Thank you for your message! I was very interested in your offer. I have nothing against the interview. However, there is one condition: this interview should be conducted by the person under whose guidance I have to work. This means - my future immediate supervisor.

The recruiters who received such an answer never answered me.

Why am I sending such text?

Very simple - I got a good lesson two years ago when Amazon offered me an interview for a job. I received a letter from them, where it was said that the information in my profile made a strong impression on them, and they could not wait for the moment they started working together. They need me, only me and nobody else. I was naive, and this letter inspired me.

The interview was scheduled at the Seattle headquarters. They paid me a plane ticket (from San Francisco) and a night in a five-star hotel! I was shocked. They were really interested. I, of course, too.

What happened during the interview was most likely very close to what Max Howell experienced on Google : several programmers who did not know anything about my profile suggested that I draw different algorithms on the board for almost four hours. Did I manage? I do not think. Was an offer made to me? Not.

What have I learned?

That it was a waste of time. For both sides.

Their bureaucratic machine is designed to process hundreds of candidates per month. To catch and attract such candidates, there is a whole army of monkey recruiters sending out enthusiastic letters to people like me. They must somehow pre-screen candidates, but they are too lazy to make this process effective and creative. They simply pass candidates through random programmers who are supposed to ask the most complex questions.

I'm not saying that the people who pass through these tests are not good programmers. I also do not say that I myself am a good programmer - let's face it, I did not pass the test. I believe that this filtering system is pretty good. I say only that such a system is contrary to the letter received from the recruiter.

If at the beginning of the letter it would be said: “We are looking for an expert on algorithms”, then we simply would not have moved further and would have spent our time. It is clear that I am not an expert on algorithms. It makes no sense to ask me questions on traversal of binary trees - I do not know the answers to them, but there will never be any interest in learning. I try to be a good specialist in something else, for example, in object-oriented design .

There was an obvious discrepancy between my profile and the expectations of the questioners. I do not blame them, and I do not blame the recruiter girl. All of them - just slaves, employees. I blame myself for not understanding all this right from the very beginning.

I had to tell the recruiter that I would not want to have an interview with some programmers, because I would almost certainly be doomed to failure. There was no need to try. I would like to talk with a person to whom I really need : with my future leader. This person would see my profile information. There would be no pointless questions about the algorithms from him for the simple reason that he would know my future duties and problems that I would be able to solve if the company accepted me to work.

Unfortunately, as I continue to watch my recruiting letters back to recruiters for two years, they cannot change anything. They are required to provide formal and standard selection for anyone, starting with the same warm and flattering initial promises.

I am very sorry, gentlemen recruiters, but I will not go through standard interviews anymore.