Google speeds up hiring
The selection process and the hiring of candidates in the American Google has ceased to correspond to the company's growth rate. The personnel department of the company tried to find out what qualities of full-time employees make them successful, and simplify the recruitment process. But candidates still consider him painfully long.
If at the end of 2003, the company had 1,628 employees, then a year later it was 3,021, and a year later it was already 5,680. Now the number of full-time employees has reached 9,378 and continues to grow. If at the beginning of 2006, Google recruited 13 people every day, the last three months this number increased to 16. For the first few years, the founders of the company took the decision to employ most of the applicants. Sergey Brin and Larry Page met personally with almost all successful candidates. One of the former executives of the company recalls that Bryn liked to come for interviews in unusual clothes, such as roller skates or in a carnival costume. But such informal hiring methods are a thing of the past.
In February 2005, in an interview with financial analysts, Sergey Brin admitted that too high demands on candidates restrain the growth of the company. Since March of this year, Google has been hiring a new HR director - 33-year-old Laszlo Bock, whose track record includes senior positions at General Electric and consulting company McKinsey. First of all, he tried to find out exactly what factors could affect the success of the employee in the company, and organized a large-scale survey. “Standard hiring methods work great when a company hires 500-1000 people a year,” says Bock. “But we hire a lot more people.” Therefore, we had to look back and think: how can we make the process of communication with candidates more effective? ”
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The questionnaire, proposed to the company's staff, contains about 300 questions: at what age did they first use the computer, how many foreign languages ​​did they know, how many patents did they have, and were their works ever published. The answers were processed to find out what qualities and skills lead to success in the work, and then look for relevant candidates. The first results are obvious. Already in June 2006, each successful candidate passed an average of 5.1 personal interviews, Bock claims. At the beginning of the year, this figure was 6.2. (According to an experienced recruiter, the average performance of Silicon Valley companies is from 6 to 8 interviews.)
But even a scientific approach to employment can not give a 100% guarantee. “It is very difficult to interpret the results of such tests. But you can get carried away with false ideas and make it more difficult to hire, ”says Peter Capel, professor of management at the Wharton School of Business.
To simplify the process, Google is experimenting with innovations such as additional short questionnaires for applicants and various interview formats. The company is also trying to reduce the number of interviews and make proposals to candidates after the second interview. For short questionnaires, Google developed simple questions about the candidate’s past, personality traits, and job preferences. For example: “Have you ever tried to make money on things that are not related to technology: walking dogs, caring for the sick, doing tutoring? How positive do you think you are? At work, do you prefer to do the work yourself or supervise others? ”
But even now, applicants call the process of selecting candidates for Google painful and long. “The candidate is completely ignorant,” says one of the contenders for leadership. After each of the two interviews, he did not hear from the company for more than a month and, as a result, accepted an alternative proposal. The same decision was finally taken by Daniel Bernstein. His first contact with recruiters took place in May 2006 - he took part in two telephone interviews. Then he was invited to the company's office, where he talked with five full-time employees, had lunch and received as a gift a branded T-shirt with the Google logo, a notebook and a pencil. Then he completed his homework: create a marketing plan for one of the company's future products. In August, Bernstein received an invitation from Google for another round of interviews. But by this time, Bernstein realized that he wanted to work in a start-up company, and accepted the offer of the Californian company Meebo.
Bok refuses to comment on individual cases. “Google is trying, on the one hand, to get to know the candidate and acquaint him with the company, and on the other, not to delay the process,” he says. Over the past few months, waiting times have dropped significantly, and “ideally, the most successful candidates will recognize our decision on the day of the interview,” says Bock.
But some candidates expect bad news. In July 2006, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told analysts that the company is ready to “raise its demands on applicants.” Bok found it difficult to answer the question of what particular requirements will be tightened. But for his department, he is looking for employees who can make 4, 5, 6 steps up the career ladder. So do the other departments. The terms of reference and responsibilities of each employee of a fast-growing company are expanding every day, says Bock.
WSJ, 10.23.2006, Polina Mikhaleva
A source
If at the end of 2003, the company had 1,628 employees, then a year later it was 3,021, and a year later it was already 5,680. Now the number of full-time employees has reached 9,378 and continues to grow. If at the beginning of 2006, Google recruited 13 people every day, the last three months this number increased to 16. For the first few years, the founders of the company took the decision to employ most of the applicants. Sergey Brin and Larry Page met personally with almost all successful candidates. One of the former executives of the company recalls that Bryn liked to come for interviews in unusual clothes, such as roller skates or in a carnival costume. But such informal hiring methods are a thing of the past.
In February 2005, in an interview with financial analysts, Sergey Brin admitted that too high demands on candidates restrain the growth of the company. Since March of this year, Google has been hiring a new HR director - 33-year-old Laszlo Bock, whose track record includes senior positions at General Electric and consulting company McKinsey. First of all, he tried to find out exactly what factors could affect the success of the employee in the company, and organized a large-scale survey. “Standard hiring methods work great when a company hires 500-1000 people a year,” says Bock. “But we hire a lot more people.” Therefore, we had to look back and think: how can we make the process of communication with candidates more effective? ”
')
The questionnaire, proposed to the company's staff, contains about 300 questions: at what age did they first use the computer, how many foreign languages ​​did they know, how many patents did they have, and were their works ever published. The answers were processed to find out what qualities and skills lead to success in the work, and then look for relevant candidates. The first results are obvious. Already in June 2006, each successful candidate passed an average of 5.1 personal interviews, Bock claims. At the beginning of the year, this figure was 6.2. (According to an experienced recruiter, the average performance of Silicon Valley companies is from 6 to 8 interviews.)
But even a scientific approach to employment can not give a 100% guarantee. “It is very difficult to interpret the results of such tests. But you can get carried away with false ideas and make it more difficult to hire, ”says Peter Capel, professor of management at the Wharton School of Business.
To simplify the process, Google is experimenting with innovations such as additional short questionnaires for applicants and various interview formats. The company is also trying to reduce the number of interviews and make proposals to candidates after the second interview. For short questionnaires, Google developed simple questions about the candidate’s past, personality traits, and job preferences. For example: “Have you ever tried to make money on things that are not related to technology: walking dogs, caring for the sick, doing tutoring? How positive do you think you are? At work, do you prefer to do the work yourself or supervise others? ”
But even now, applicants call the process of selecting candidates for Google painful and long. “The candidate is completely ignorant,” says one of the contenders for leadership. After each of the two interviews, he did not hear from the company for more than a month and, as a result, accepted an alternative proposal. The same decision was finally taken by Daniel Bernstein. His first contact with recruiters took place in May 2006 - he took part in two telephone interviews. Then he was invited to the company's office, where he talked with five full-time employees, had lunch and received as a gift a branded T-shirt with the Google logo, a notebook and a pencil. Then he completed his homework: create a marketing plan for one of the company's future products. In August, Bernstein received an invitation from Google for another round of interviews. But by this time, Bernstein realized that he wanted to work in a start-up company, and accepted the offer of the Californian company Meebo.
Bok refuses to comment on individual cases. “Google is trying, on the one hand, to get to know the candidate and acquaint him with the company, and on the other, not to delay the process,” he says. Over the past few months, waiting times have dropped significantly, and “ideally, the most successful candidates will recognize our decision on the day of the interview,” says Bock.
But some candidates expect bad news. In July 2006, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told analysts that the company is ready to “raise its demands on applicants.” Bok found it difficult to answer the question of what particular requirements will be tightened. But for his department, he is looking for employees who can make 4, 5, 6 steps up the career ladder. So do the other departments. The terms of reference and responsibilities of each employee of a fast-growing company are expanding every day, says Bock.
WSJ, 10.23.2006, Polina Mikhaleva
A source
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/439/
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