Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog: Deming, lean thinking, innovation, customer focus, continual improvement, six sigma.
January 4, 2007
Google’s Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm

Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm. First, from a “what should I do,” view, I believe, Kevin Meyer’s advice is more appropriate: The False God of the Almighty Algorithm. But Google can do some things well that are unwise for others to try.

Desperate to hire more engineers and sales representatives to staff its rapidly growing search and advertising business, Google — in typical eccentric fashion — has created an automated way to search for talent among the more than 100,000 job applications it receives each month. It is starting to ask job applicants to fill out an elaborate online survey that explores their attitudes, behavior, personality and biographical details going back to high school.

They are comparing this to answers provided by Google employees (who were asked to fill out 300 question surveys). I can’t see this as an effective strategy for most companies. And even for Google, I don’t see it as a great idea, but trying ideas that might seem crazy can be an effective innovation strategy. Google experimenting in this way, seems fine to me - though I think it will fail. Better: Google’s brain teasers - but that effort probably will not scale to meet Google’s needs.

Interested in management improvement jobs. Try out Curious Cat Management Improvement Jobs. Those looking to hire can post announcements for jobs in lean manufacturing, six sigma, quality engineering, customer focus, process improvement… for free.

“Interviews are a terrible predictor of performance,”

I would agree with that, see: Hiring the Right Workers.

The company boasts that only 4 percent of its work force leaves each year, less than other Silicon Valley companies

Impressive.

3 Responses to “Google’s Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm”

  1. ericch Says:

    Let Google’s stock price hit a sustained low, and see if the staff retainment remains the same. That will tell you how many people are there holding out for the promise of a massive payout oneday, and how many are there because they actually enjoy the environment.

  2. CuriousCat: Should You Care Where a Job Applicant Went to College? Says:

    “There’s a lot of randomness in how colleges select people, and what they learn there depends much more on them than the college. Between these two sources of variation, the college someone went to doesn’t mean a lot.”

  3. bhattathiri Says:

    Excellant blog.
    It creates harmony in working together - equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves situations of scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or human fields, through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve the goal. Lack of management causes disorder, confusion, wastage, delay, destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and materials in the best possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most important and essential factor for a successful management

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