How A Google Search Can Get You A Job At Google

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Google is not waiting for techies to apply for jobs but rather is approaching potential candidates. New Google hire Max Rosett, who often used Google Search as a programming resource, reportedly never applied for a job but was contacted by the company.

How Rosett landed a job at Google

On Tuesday, Rosett narrated the whole incident in a blog post on The Hustle. According to Rosett, one day his search for “python lambda function list comprehension” was answered with a surprising and secretive Google recruitment test. Rosett’s search got a pop-up box reading, “You’re speaking our language. Up for a challenge?” Searching more technical terms got the techie access to Foo.bar, which is a UNIX-like interface used to test programming skills.

Rosett faced six challenges in Foo.bar, each needing specific skills. After finishing the challenges, which came with time limits, Google asked for Rosett’s contact information. After a while, he got a call from HR detailing the usual employment rounds, and now he has a job at the internet firm.

“Foo.bar is a brilliant recruiting tactic,” he wrote. “Google used it to identify me before I had even applied anywhere else, and they made me feel important while doing so.”

Foo.bar is an invitation-only test, so it’s not accessible. Though the page is available online, it won’t let people in, as it says “To log in, you have to have logged in before.” This is not the first instance when Google has used such a trick to make a hire. Last year, a similar experience was posted on Hacker News.

Nothing like Google

Google has not confirmed that it used the process to hire Rosett. On being asked by Re/code if Rosett’s post is correct, Google send this code in response:

“u0050u0075u007au007au006cu0065u0073u0020 u0061u0072u0065u0020u0066u0075u006eu002e u0020u0053u0065u0061 u0072u0063u0068u0020u006fu006eu002e

The translation of this hex code, which has also been confirmed by Google, is “Puzzles are fun. Search on.”

Google’s way of hiring is surely unique, but there are good chances the company will not use such methods again in the near future. A report from The Wall Street Journal last month said Google is slowing down its hiring due to slowing revenue growth. The earlier strategy of hiring new employees each year for a team has been replaced with a policy that requires every team to justify new hires, the report said.

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