Since you live in the US, and benefits for parents are almost non existent and letting people go if things don't work out is cheap, I wouldn't think anyone at Google would fail at attracting talent because of a pregnancy.
I don't think they'll even ask, and I would feel offended and would never answer such question regardless of my state.
To be fair this is what happens when you hire entirely from the technical Ivy League. No one wants to do the last 10% that's really the last 80% of the work because it doesn't carry the same visibility.
For what it's worth, Google, or at least some subsegment, does seem to be trying to fix this issue. I had a somewhat offensive conversation with a recruiter recently where they told me they're looking for people (like me) with non-standard backgrounds who don't necessarily have the pedigree that the usual Google SWE hire has. I hope they also extend this thinking to moms with young children. I know a good many technical women who fell off the career ladder after having children and were never seem to be able to get a chance to get back on, ultimately taking jobs far beneath their abilities or just shifting industries altogether.
The guy is 52, no wonder they rejected him. Not saying they discriminate, but would they rather hire a guy with kids and family or single 20-something geek...? I think the inclination for the latter has always been there for Google (and others?) and it's not really a secret.
Why not? They have plenty of different areas they are in that would allow for most people to find a niche I think.
If it wasn't for the stuff I'm doing right now, which I find extremely fun, I would apply.
My only concern would be the issue of being in a huge company where it might be hard to make an significant impact. But all the people I know who are at Google currently seem to work on very cool stuff.
Good point. Google is something of an omnivore. If you're talented, they can hire you and then try to figure out what to do with you. For a smaller company, your needs are often much narrower.
This is good advice, despite the down-mods. Google is a great place to learn a few things, make contacts, and find your co-founders. You shouldn't stay too long (a year or so), but there's a lot of much worse paths you could take.
Don't spend too much effort on it though...the interview process can really suck up a lot of time (I know because my girlfriend works there), and if you aren't really Google material (don't have a proper degree in your area of interest, for example) your odds of getting hired are low...particularly given your inexperience. I've received a recruitment letter from Google due to some projects of mine on the web, but I suspect I wouldn't actually get hired. Luckily, I already know what I want to do in California, so I don't need to work at Google while I figure it out. ;-)
Depends; these would seem like the kind of decisions that affect the long term a lot more than the short term.
In the long term, this could severely impact the perception of Google for prospective employees, which in turn could hinder their ability to hire talent.
They spent decades building the image of “one of the best” employers for skilled software engineers, and they could potentially throw that away with just a few bad decisions.
It’s precisely because they’re still making boatloads of money that this makes even less sense.
With a process like this (based on this story as well as others), does Google actually consistently employee competent talent? Obviously Google has landed some serious rock-star talent, but of the scores of college graduates they hire for internships or entry-level positions, does anyone know if their hiring process is working for them?
I wonder how much of a talent drain Google has been? I know several folks there, and apparently they have been hiring steadily over the last year or so.
EDIT: I think the demographics have something to do with it. As another commenter pointed out, there are tons of young families here, and I suspect that these folks are more than happy to find a good job and stay there, rather than live the start-up life. Granted, the talent pool is smaller than, say, Silicon Valley, but that's not say the area is mostly devoid of good talent. Much of the talent may simply want to stay put.
OK, so the policy isn't actually absurd at Google, just other places that try to copy them?
The parent didn't mention anything about other companies. You said Google was absurd and you wouldn't work there, Parent said great then don't apply there they have plenty of qualified applicants. Doesn't sound absurd to me.
yes. also factor in the probability of receiving a huge number of qualified applicants: for Google it is as close to 1 as it is for any company. for the startup it's far lower. Google does not need to take these risks.
I think it depends. Some companies won't care one way or another. They're looking at your skills more than where you got them. Some companies will consider it a positive, and some will consider it a negative, depending on how much they resemble how Google does things.
More accurately, Google has the freedom to do that, because there are so many people applying to Google that the amount of talent they forfeit by not taking those guys is negligible.
This is a good point. I am mid career so I was able to find a great job somewhere else in literally days because I (ironically) worked at Google before Nest. Not everyone has that experience or personal network to be able to do that - I was profoundly lucky and I realize that.
Like many others, Google has the referral bonus so several of my friends sent my resume (without asking me though) to their HR contact. So I got calls from two or three HR specialists and one of them was really insisting. That was when I was a PhD student in Australia. I was once in the Google office in Sydney, and that office is probably the most comfortable one that I have ever seen. Great place, great view, no much keyboard tapping and mouse clicking even in the dev area. Later I found out that team developed Google maps.
I can't answer the questions because I have never been a Googler. But I can share why I rejected their invitations for interviews. Google pays good, and is generous on stock options. As my Google friends say, it's like already half retired. I just did not want to do that in my late 20s. Later after graduation I went back to China and started looking for things to build. I really do not think Google would help much in entrepreneurship, except you may get a lot of talented friends. But again, they do not want to leave Google to work with you on your project because Google pays too well.
I don't think they'll even ask, and I would feel offended and would never answer such question regardless of my state.
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