[nostrademons]

It largely depends on how impressive you are when you come in, and how in-demand your skillset is across the company. After the hiring decision is made, managers then "bid" on Nooglers they want for their teams, and higher-priority teams (like Android, Ads or Search) will beat out lower-priority teams (like Blogger or Finance). If multiple managers bid on you but you don't like the team you're assigned to, you have the option to work for one of other ones, eg. I was assigned to Search when I joined in 2009, but my recruiter made it clear that if I really didn't want to do it, there were teams in GMail and Docs that would be happy to have me. If only one manager has bid on you, then you're stuck there.

[throwawaydbfif]

The bidding process seems like something that could be brimming with discrimination.

For example, if you didn't go to a top tier school you could be hired on only to find out that a single team wants you. It's in bumfuck nowhere 2000 miles away and its primary purpose is to program the road sign outside google HQ.

It could lead to very different googles for different people, and makes me wonder if applying to work there would really be worthwhile for someone like me.

[yuhong]

This remind me that I don't like employment anti-discrimination laws, especially for jobs highly unlike manual labor. One of the reasons is PIPs which best show the kinds of problems I am talking about IMO, and I think there is a lot of laws that varies by state there (with California being most strict I think).

[marssaxman]

Ah, I see. Location probably has a significant effect, then - I joined the Seattle office, which had only a couple hundred people at the time.