Google goes after all-star workers Perks draw thousands of hopeful applicants By VERNE KOPYTOFF San Francisco Chronicle, 12/25/2005
Free cafeteria food, annual ski trips to the Sierras and free laundry are just some of the fringe benefits of working at Google. Getting hired is the trick.
Every month, aspiring workers deluge the popular Mountain View, Calif., search engine with up to 150,000 resumes -- equivalent to a stack of paper 50 feet high. And the firm claims to read each and every one.
As one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, Google has become a beacon for job seekers. In just a few short years, the interest has helped the company amass an arsenal of what is arguably among the world's top technology minds.
"I would argue that definitely they have the best talent," said Joe Kraus, a co-founder of the Web portal Excite Inc. and who currently leads a startup, JotSpot, in Palo Alto. "They invest so much because the more great talent you have, the easier it is to attract even more great talent."
Google says it hires nine new workers a day. In less than two years, the number of employees has more than tripled to 4,989.
The growth spurt is being fueled by a gangbusters-like online advertising market and Google's boundless ambition, including new initiatives in everything from wireless Internet access to video downloads. The goal is to keep the production line of new products humming so that users spend more time on the Web site.
Getting rich is what drives some of the applicants. Many Google workers became instant millionaires at the time of the company's initial stock offering in 2004. To this day, prospective employees are drawn by the promise of wealth, although their chances of striking gold are a lot lower now that the firm's shares are soaring above $400, making stock options less likely to appreciate by large amounts.
Competition for the best and brightest is fierce. Rivals Yahoo Inc., in Sunnyvale, Calif., and Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., plus startups, are trying to reel in many of the same job applicants, igniting occasional bidding wars.
Yahoo, in particular, has recently landed some workers who interviewed at Google, such as Andrei Broder, a former research executive at AltaVista and IBM. He says being at Yahoo's research lab is an oppor-tunity to have more impact because it's younger and smaller than those of its competition.
Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, has called hiring one of his firm's biggest challenges. If unable to find enough top-notch workers, he says the company's rapid growth could be hamstrung.
Google's also hiring superstars. This year, they include Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers, as chief Internet evangelist. Kai-Fu Lee, a former Microsoft executive and expert in technology that turns speech into text, now heads operations in China. And Louis Monier, founder of the early search engine AltaVista, has an undisclosed technical role.
The perks of Google
To lure workers, Google offers perks, including free cafeteria meals, free use of laundry machines, a child-care center, a free annual one-night ski trip (resort destinations vary depending on office location), dog-friendly offices and an on-site doctor. Engineers can devote 20 percent of their time to projects of their choice. What's not mentioned is that much of the largesse is designed to keep workers at their desks longer.
In addition to posting job openings in newspapers and online, Google recruits at universities, offers computer science students free pizza, hosts a software programming competition, and invites technology clubs to hold their meetings at its headquarters.
Last year, the company won attention for publishing a booklet of 21 problems, called the Google Labs Aptitude Test. Readers of several technology magazines were asked to mail in their answers and promised that Google would get in touch with them if they scored well.
One question asked: "In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?" The Gaussian integral, a complex mathematical equation used in studying the kinetic molecular theory of gases, among other things, has been suggested as a smart answer by some on the Internet. Another question involved filling a blank rectangle "with something that improves upon emptiness," leaving applicants scratching for a subjective winner.
Judy Gilbert, Google's staffing programs director, says that the questions weren't really used for hiring. In any case, smart alecks soon posted the answers online so that they easily could be found by cheaters.
Hundreds of recruiters keep the resumes pouring into Google. Many are contractors, making them easier to dismiss if the company scales back its hiring needs.
Jobs available as of last week include someone to negotiate video licensing deals with Hollywood studios, someone to lead user studies for guiding product design, and an attorney to manage the firm's real estate. More posts are likely to open in announcements this week that the company will create 600 new jobs in Ireland and up to 100 in Pittsburgh.
The hiring process
To land all-stars, Google's recruiting machine goes into overdrive. Secrecy is sometimes critical. If tipped off, companies from which Google is trying to poach could start a bidding war or retaliate against a potential defector.
The risk can be worth it for a top executive of Lee's caliber. He ultimately accepted a compensation package of more than $10 million, igniting the legal battle between Google and Microsoft.
To fill positions lower on the pecking order, Google has created an extensive college hiring program, among other efforts. Recruiters visited 60 schools this year to show off the firm's technology, hand out T-shirts and interview prospective job candidates.
Interviews at Google usually begin on the telephone. If successful, applicants are invited for face-to-face meetings with up to 10 people, a process described as excruciating by people who have gone through them because of the length of time it takes and the mental gymnastics necessary.
Recent job candidates described questions as being on topic, whether about software code or business. In many cases, they were asked to brainstorm and role play to show how they think. For instance, how would they market a product? Those who conduct the interviews frequently challenge applicants. Questions about algorithms, Java software and computer networking are common for applicants seeking technical positions.
Google has created its own software system for tracking job candidates that allows employees to share comments on each applicant. Because so many people must sign off on new hires -- Larry Page, one of the firm's famed co-founders, approves each one -- the process can be lengthy, even excessively so, several applicants said.
Some were shocked to learn the importance Google gives to college grade point averages in deciding whom to hire. The emphasis draws complaints from some older candidates, who believe the measure is irrelevant for them because they have been out of school for so long.
Motivated, risk-takers sought
In general, Gilbert says Google seeks applicants who show they are willing to take risks, are highly motivated by a range of topics and want to be part of something bigger than themselves. The profile is in line with the firm's carefully crafted iconoclastic image.
Historically, Google has paid workers less than the industry standard and showered them with stock options. That paid off for approximately 1,000 Google employees in 2004, when the company's high-profile initial stock offering made them instant millionaires. Although the firm's present pay structure is a closely guarded secret, one can assume hundreds, if not thousands, more have become worth seven figures, at least on paper, considering that Google's stock is now hovering above the $400 mark, a nearly five-fold increase from its premiere.
After its initial public offering last year, the company has had to offer more money up front because options aren't as valuable, according to compensation experts.
Year in Review: Google Sets the Pace By Ed Oswald and Nate Mook, BetaNews December 29, 2005, 12:00 AM
For the folks at Google, 2005 will be remembered as the year which it transformed itself from a tech darling into an Internet powerhouse. Its moves were watched closely by the media and customers began to develop distrust in the search company. But will Google become the next Microsoft?
The year started out rocky for Google as researchers discovered a flaw in its popular Gmail service that could expose user data to attackers, including passwords. The search giant quickly responded, however, and the problem was fixed within days.
Later in January Google cozied up with upstart browser Firefox, hiring its lead engineer Ben Goodger. And it would surface several days later that fellow developer Darin Fisher had also joined the company. The news spurred rumors that Google might be working on a Web browser, or Gbrowser, but such a project has yet to materialize.
With February came the beta launch of Google's Local Search product, which had previously been relegated to the company's Labs. The new service would spark a "local" race with competitors, as AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo rushed similar services to market.
Google followed with the launch of Google Maps several days later, which arguably kick-started the AJAX movement that would eventually lead Microsoft to unveil Windows Live.
The month of February also brought the first inklings of problems with Google's book searching plans after the National Library of France took issue with the project. Library president Jean-Noel Jeanneney criticized the effort, claiming that Google would reflect an American-centric worldview.
March arrived with the first of two high-profile hirings of former Microsoft employees. Marc Lucovsky joined the company on March 3. Google Desktop Search went final shortly thereafter, but the AFP news wire sued the company over the use of its images on Google News.
Showing its competitors that being young and nimble has its advantages, Gmail storage was upped to 2GB on April 1, leading many to wonder if they were the fool. But Gmail storage continued to creep up beyond 2GB and rivals MSN and Yahoo would be forced to respond.
Making a great product even better, Google took advantage of its Keyhole purchase and satellite imagery was added to Google Maps several days later. MSN and Yahoo would eventually follow suit with satellite mapping services of their own.
Not all of Google's products would win such praise, however. In May, the company released Google Accelerator to speed up the loading of Web pages by loading them through its Web servers. But the program drew the ire of developers who said it could do more harm than good due to the way it follows links and caches pages. Google removed the download to work out the kinks.
Before long, Google announced that it would be officially expanding into China with a research and development center, a story that would later dominate the news coverage surrounding the company.
May ended with more controversy, as a group of academic publishers accused Google Print, the company's book indexing project, of "systematic copyright infringement on a massive scale." Google would soon take even more fire for the endeavor.
Summer began quietly at the GooglePlex, although in June Google CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed rumors that the company was working on an electronic payment system. However, he denied that the service -- later named Google Purchases -- was intended to compete with eBay-owned PayPal.
One of the biggest stories of the year began in the month of July, as Google attempted to hire former Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee. Microsoft immediately objected to the hiring, and filed suit in court to stop it. The move would set off a game of legal cat and mouse between the two rivals that would last until the end of the year.
August saw Google put its library project on hold, citing complaints from the publishing community. The company gave publishers until November to decide if they wanted to participate. Still, before the end of the year Google would expand the service by 10,000 titles.
Before Labor Day, the search giant changed clothes and debuted Google Talk, its own instant messaging client. The service received high marks from both users and pundits, and was hailed for its simplicity. Gmail was opened to the public the very next day -- at least to anyone with a mobile phone.
In September, Internet pioneer Vint Cerf joined Google to serve as its Chief Internet Evangelist. But Google Print again met troubles as the Author's Guild filed suit against the company, accusing it of massive copyright infringement.
At the end of the month, the company shook hands with NASA, leading some to wonder if Google was expanding too fast. The two agreed to collaborate on research projects, as well as build a new one million square foot office complex at the NASA Ames Research Center.
In what was likely the most hyped press conference beforehand and the most derided after, Google and Sun joined forces in early October, inking a deal to distribute each other's software. Analysts said that Sun is fighting a battle to stay relevant as the tech world passes it by. Another partnership proved much more promising: sources claimed Google was planning to make an investment in AOL with cable provider Comcast.
Lead Gaim developer Sean Egan also joined Google before the month was out, and said he would work on making other IM clients compatible with Google's voice calling feature and other Google Talk-related projects.
November may have brought chilly weather across the United States, but Google's share price would remain hot. The company's stock eclipsed $400 during the month, and would later surge past $430.
Expanding its search to more types of content, Google upped the ante with eBay and Craigslist by launching Google Base, a database that hosts all types of items, and renamed Google Print to Google Book Search. The company then donated $3 million to create digital copies of rare documents.
Taking the unusual step of becoming a follower rather than innovator, Google added widgets to its homepage in December. The move followed Microsoft's own "Gadget" technology being added to its Live.com homepage, the front door to Windows Live.
Music search was also added to Google's search pages during the month, making it easier for users to find information on artists, album titles and song lyrics. Google Music additionally provides links to download songs if they are available from the major digital music services like iTunes.
For Christmas, Google left a big present under America Online's tree. On December 16 it was announced that the search company would pay Time Warner's AOL subsidiary $1 billion in exchange for a 5 percent stake. The deal covered advertising and promotion of AOL content, leading to concern and speculation.
Closing out the year on a positive note, Google ended its five-month legal battle with Microsoft over Kai-Fu Lee's hiring. Although details of the deal were not disclosed, both companies said they were happy with the terms.
The ball may be dropping soon in Times Square, but 2006 could see Google's valuation soar even higher before investors get scared. Google has firmly established itself as a major player in the online space -- not just as a search engine, but also as a content provider and application developer. The only question is whether Google will keep the growth it has enjoyed so far, or lose ground to its rivals who have finally begun to mobilize on the Web.
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