People wonder how to get a job with the internet giant, the company that’s considered one of the best employers in the world. Is it really impossible to get a job with Google? Is it only for the gifted? Do you really need exceptional school results, talent, and intellect to have any chance of signing a job contract with Google? We will try to look at it in this article, suggesting some alternative ways of getting on the payroll of Google.
Three million job applications a year
Google is just another company. Well, somehow. Google receives more than three million job applications each year. One million is one million. Three is even worse. Even if they advertised ten thousand vacancies each year (which they do not do), just one of every 100 candidates will get a job with them.
Conclusion: To get a job at Google in a traditional way (applying online, interviewing withe the company), you really need to be someone with exceptional skills and high intelligence, and stellar resume. And even then your chances are rather slim–slimmer than getting to Harvard actually.
In spite of their reputation, however, and legends that surround the corporation, Google is just another company. Some unorthodox approaches to job search that work at other places can work also at Google. Lets have a look at them right now.
May also interest you: Why do you want to work at Google? 7 sample answers.
Benefit from your personal connections
If you know someone who works at Google, give them a call. Tell them about your passion for Google and explain them why Google should hire you. Explain them the value you can bring to Google.
Then you should instruct them on how to present this value to one of the HR employees, or to their superiors, basically to people who can make a decision about hiring someone. Or you can directly ask them to arrange you a call with this person.
But remember that the most your friends can do for you is arranging an interview with someone in the company… And most of the time it will be an informational interview. So do not waste your time trying to get something more out of your connection, and do not put an excessive pressure on them. It is not worth ruining a friendship for one job application.
If you do not have a connection, make one
It is easy to find out who works at Google. These people are active on Social media, and they are proud of their jobs. Locate a good target and try to connect with them.
Give feedback on their work, talk to them, recognize them for their achievements. If they speak at a conference, buy a ticket and attend the event. Even if you do not get a a chance to talk to them at the event, you can still benefit from going there. It is much easier to start a conversation (even online conversation) with someone, if you have something to refer to–even if it is just a simple greeting on a conference.
Each banality can serve as a starting point for a discussion that will eventually lead you to the interview in the company… People recruit friends. Make a friend at Google (ideally someone who works in their HR department, or in the management), and you can find yourself working for them pretty soon. Check our article on career networking tips for more ideas.
Show creativity in your job search.
You have probably heard this story about Google search experiment. An engineer paid for Adwords advertising campaign, and targeted the names of some creative directors in New York area in his ads, as his primary keywords. Watch the video to see how he fared–not badly, indeed!
The same practice won’t probably work anymore. However, the experiment shows us that once you use your imagination, once you try something new, and once you remember that even the highest managers and executives are only people with their feelings and egos (typically big egos), great things can happen for ordinary people.
Enter through the back door – work for one of their subcontractors
Google cooperates with many companies. Some of them conduct research for the tech giant, other analyze the search trends, and other employ people who manually evaluate the search results of the most popular search engine.
If you find a position that is somehow linked to Google search, or to final user experience with one of the many products Google offers to general public (think gmail, maps, hangouts, google business, etc), you can be nearly sure that this vacancy is advertised by a company that has a connection with Google (Google may own the company, control it with a major stake, or at least have a close co-operation with them).
I know, I know–working for one of Google sub-contractors is not the same like working for Google. But these jobs are much easier to get, and they can potentially open you some doors that lead to better opportunities, with the tech giant.
Find a bug and get in the company
People at Google are perfectionists. They want to do everything right, they want their services to stand out, to play the prime, and to be completely secure. Nevertheless, they services are neither completely secure, nor perfect (nothing is perfect except of a woman we love, and even that is often a temporary perfection).
Each service has some flaws. Smart technicians, hackers, and marketers often use these flaws to make a lot of money (most common and most famous flaws are related to Google search algorithm, and people who discover the flaws use them to manipulate the results on the first page of Google search, something which we also used to do back in 2012-2013 here on Interview Penguin).
Have you found such a flaw? Do you believe you can find one? If you do, and find one, people from Google will be ready to listen to you. Show them your excellent technical skills. Show them your understanding for their business, and for services they run in a company. Find a bug, inform them, get a nice bounty, and eventually get an interview with the company….
Final thoughts
Getting a job with Google seems like a mission impossible. But more than 130,000 work for the tech giant at the moment–and these people got their jobs somehow. If they succeeded, why could you not?
If you are talented, gifted, and if you’ve collected some awards and accolades, you can try to apply through the traditional application process with the company.
And if you are not gifted, you can try one of the unorthodox ways we have described in the article–creating a connection, using your creativity, getting in through the back door, or even discovering a bug and using it as a springboard in your efforts to get a job at Google. Good luck!
May also interest you:
- Interview success package – Multiple premium answers to over 100 interview questions. Learn something your competitors won’t know, streamline your interview preparation, and improve your chances of getting a job with Google.
- Work portfolio for an interview – Learn how to prepare a selection of your best works, and how to use it to show the interviewers the value you can bring to their team.
- Google interview questions – An interesting insight on the questions you may face while interviewing with Google.
