Thursday, July 23, 2009

My Google Interview: Epilogue

I could put this badge next to a stock ticker to show the exact moment the economy went into free-fall, dragging Google's stock price and hiring budget down with it. Do I have great timing, or what? I guess you can't be in the right place at the right time every time.

A few weeks after the rejection - and my free t-shirt - I got an email from Google. It was a customer satisfaction survey! They wanted to know what I thought of the interview process, how it could be improved, etc. Did I apply for a job, or buy a home stereo? Personally I thought the whole process was great, and so were the people involved. Of the phone interview I said, "It was an efficient exchange of relevant information, exactly what I look for in a technical interview." The interviewers got high marks from me.

I never had to fill out a customer satisfaction survey after a job interview before. Sometimes I really like Google.

I was talking to Kevin, who co-organizes SV-GTUG, the developer group for all things Google in Silicon Valley. He was rejected three times. Would I apply again? Probably not. I'm glad Google exists, but I'm going in a different direction now, and I am happy to be just another silicon valley software engineer. I think it's a pretty cool thing to be.

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