Google’s Recruitment and Selection Process

Google's Non-Traditional Approach to Hiring

Introduction

Google Inc., the world’s largest and most popular search engine company, also one of the most sought after companies in the world. Due to the popularity of the company caused by its highly attractive compensation and benefits packages for its employees, millions of job applications are constantly received by Google on an annual basis. While other companies envy Google for attracting and acquiring such highly-talented and highly-skilled individuals from all over the world, the company finds it as a serious cause of dilemma. When Google Inc. topped the ranks for the most popular companies in the world, it could no longer contain the number of applications it receives from thousands of job hunters from all over the globe. And since the company aims to hire only the best employees that fit the organizational culture and standards of Google, the company started thinking of ways to better improve its recruitment and selection process for its would-be employees. Google Inc shared its non-traditional, highly creative and unconventional approach of selecting and hiring employees.

Initially, the Google management sought the aid of its highly-competent and well-skilled technical staff in order to find ways to quickly go through and review the millions of applications it stored in its recruitment database. The Google Inc management also decided to focus on the distinct behavioral characteristics and personality that separates Google employees from any other employees in other known companies. It shifted its focus from academic qualifications and technical experiences to the applicant’s personality, creativity, leadership capacities, innovative and non-conventional ways of thinking and the applicant’s overall exposure to the world. The academic qualifications and the intensive job experience just came in as second priorities of the company in choosing the best candidates for any open positions.Since then, the Google Inc company not only became known for its outstanding and “luxurious” job compensation and benefits packages it offers its employees, but also in making use of some of the most powerful recruitment assessment tools capable of picking the best employees in the world that fit the standards set by Google.

One of the most notable statements of Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google Inc. is that “Google invests in people.” The main reason why people from different cultures, have been dreaming of being recruited and hired by Google is that the company offers possibly the most outstanding job compensation packages any normal employee could ever enjoy. In order to attract the best employees, Google draws them by the promise of wealth and luxury, providing their employees with almost everything an employee could possibly need, from absurdly high compensations to extravagant and luxurious benefits like gourmet food, carwash, gym, snacks, exercise classes, dry cleaning services, car services, haircuts, oil changes, massages, checkups and many more, all for free. Nevertheless, the recruitment process was also far beyond ordinary. Several people who have had experience in the Google recruitment process narrates that the experience was totally nerve-wracking. One applicant who underwent interviews for Google has had five to seven interviews in one day for two to three straight days.

That applicant claims that the interviews were really tough with some of the brightest people in the world, conducting the interviews filled with brain teasers, algorithmic problems, and IQ tests. Google is no doubt the world’s best recruitment leader. Google’s human resource management uses a mixture of internal and external recruitment sources to maintain the adequacy of its human resources. The company uses promotions, transfers, and trainees/interns as the main internal recruitment sources for HR needs. On the other hand, the external recruitment sources at Google include educational institutions and respondents to job advertisements. Most of these ads are available through the Careers section of Google’s website. Through these recruitment sources, the company facilitates a continuous influx of qualified workers, while matching these employees’ capabilities with human resource needs.

Question 1

One of the most notable statements of Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google Inc. is that “Google invests in people.” Critically evaluate the statement as to its application for future recruitment and selection process of Google Inc as to your opinion.

Question 2

Based on the above case, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Google Inc’s current strategy adopted for their recruitment and selection process and based on that suggest ways for improvement for future recruitment.