[marvin]

I wouldn't bother applying. Why the hell would you want to work a company that runs you through the gauntlet like this, only to give you the chance that maybe you'll get hired? I mean, this is obviously a really skilled guy who has lots of prospects.

Why are Google so popular anyway? I genuinely don't get it and would love to know from someone who has specific knowledge. Do they pay better than everyone else? Work on more interesting problems? Better perks, work environment, more status? I can understand it from the perspective of someone who joined years ago, when you got stock options and didn't have to do a full circus performance in order to get in, but not any longer.

The experience would have to be twice as good as the alternatives before I willingly submitted to this kind of process. A long process of interviews like the ones I have heard about hints at more pain and no autonomy once you actually join.

For an _internship_? If you're turning down other offers for the _chance_ to work at Google, you're selling yourself short and not getting full market value.

[munificent]

> Why are Google so popular anyway?

I've been a Googler for a little less than a year and so far I absolutely love it. Compensation is good, the perks are fantastic, the caliber of people I work with is stellar, the work is challenging and interesting, and the culture and processes are the best I've seen.

> A long process of interviews like the ones I have heard about hints at more pain and no autonomy once you actually join.

I believe it's the opposite. You have to run the gauntlet to get in because once you do, you won't be closely monitored and you'll be given a lot of autonomy. The hiring process is stringent to try to reduce the number of internal gates you need once you get in.

[jrockway]

Why the hell would you want to work a company that runs you through the gauntlet like this, only to give you the chance that maybe you'll get hired? I mean, this is obviously a really skilled guy who has lots of prospects.

Because at this point in your career, you have no degree, no experience, and no income? He's a sophomore in college, not someone with 30 years of industry experience.

In my experience, though, I would make someone with 30 years of industry experience answer the same questions. Because I've asked people like that those questions and they have absolutely no fucking idea. The number of people that can start with a blank file and start writing a computer program is probably somewhere around 5% of programmers.

[binxbolling]

> The number of people that can start with a blank file and start writing a computer program is probably somewhere around 5% of programmers.

What?! There's no way this is true... is there?

[damncabbage]

I'd wager it's more "5% of people currently interviewing for jobs" than 5% of all programmers.

(Joel puts it well in this article: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/01/27.html )

[redthrowaway]

As of second year, I've now written dozens of mostly trivial school assignments from scratch, and I can't see it being different anywhere else. There is, however, a difference between being able to pump out a command line calendar for processing .ics files or program an alarm clock in assembly, and being able to make something that people would actually want to use from scratch. Having never done the latter, I'm sure I would struggle initially.

I think part of the problem is that CS programs simply aren't structured for large projects. It would be far more realistic to say on day one, "get in groups of three and hand in a functioning program by the end of the term", but that structure just doesn't work for school. Or, if it would, then nobody has the brass to try it.

[SkyMarshal]

Wouldn't surprise me. Most of the code written these days is modifications or additions to pre-existing codebases. Projects are usually started from scratch by just one or a few coders, then as it grows a great deal more are hired to specialize in building out certain parts of it - front end, backend, db, etc. The ratio of from-scratch engineers to codebase developers is probably pretty small.

[FaceKicker]

I agree that Google has a terrible recruitment process for internships. The first year I applied, I made it past both "technical interviews" and had a "host interview" scheduled, only to have it cancelled. My recruiter said he was pretty sure I'd get another, but I never did.

The second year (last year), my experience was similar, except this time I bugged my recruiter pretty much every other week until I had a host interview (got TWO of them cancelled on me but finally the third one actually happened) and I got the job.

Despite the terrible process, it is an absolutely amazing place to work. Everything you've heard is true: the food is amazing, the work atmosphere is amazing, the people are geniuses. Also, the compensation is absolutely absurd for undergraduate interns (last year it was $69,600/yr prorated to $1338/wk, and this year they bumped it up to $80,000/yr prorated to $1538/wk, with a $3500 lump sum relocation stipend on top of that. I know it's even higher for grad interns but I don't know the exact numbers).

Despite the admittedly awful process (easily the worst I've been through), it was absolutely worth it to me and I'd recommend anyone stick with it and hope you get lucky like I did. It really does come down to luck whether or not you get a host interview once you've passed your two technical interviews.

[kin]

I'm not a Googler, but I know many and yes, Google pays well, they work on very very interesting problems. Ex-Googler does have a ring to it when you apply for jobs. There are awesome benefits like amazing facilities and lunch everyday, on-site massages, fitness centers, etc. The environment is that everyone around you is incredibly intelligent so just being there is intellectually stimulating and feels like you're a student. Though working at Google is definitely not what it used to be, it certainly has its perks.

[galactus]

I keep hearing programmers at google work on very interesting problems, but I honestly wonder if all of them do. I mean, how many programmers does google employ by now? can they all really be working in creative, challenging problems?