Getting a gig at Google

Looking for a new gig? Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) would have to be near the top of your list of ideal employers. The company is famous for its rapid growth, astonishing valuation, smart employees, and creative work environment. If there is any company that has a bright future, it's Google. And the stock options couldn't hurt either.

An article in today's New York Times takes a look at how Google hires new employees. Google has always looked for extremely bright people, and has used conventional measures such as GPA to screen employees. But the company receives over 100,000 job applications a month, and needed a new way to screen potential hires. Applicants now must take an online survey that probes their attitudes, education, experience and personality. The survey is then reviewed by a series of algorithms -- developed, of course, by mathematicians at Google -- that generates a score between 0 and 100. The higher the score, the more likely the applicant is to fit in at Google.

What makes this method so interesting is that it looks for more than just plain old smarts. When Google engineers were building the survey questions and grading algorithms, they collected an enormous amount of data from existing employees. They were surprised to find that superior academic performance did not always correlate with good job performance. So the survey looks for a more eclectic cluster of characteristics in potential hires. For example, the survey asks whether applicants have ever made money on their own, walking dogs or tutoring; whether they've started their own club or a non-profit; and whether they've ever set a world-record in any event.

Amazingly, Google is having trouble finding good new employees. Google's "vice president for people operations" is quoted in the Times article as saying, "As we get bigger, we find it harder and harder to find enough people." The company's growth rate may have something to do with it, since it has doubled in size every year for the past three years. That means that they are still looking for a lot of new people. So if you're smart and once set a world-record in bungee jumping or hot dog eating, you now know where to go to get a great new job in 2007.