[tinyhouse]

I completely disagree with this comment. Not to mention the comments to his Quora answer, suggesting he should try a TPM position... people are so out of touch.

The main problem is that he went through the standard interview process. To prevent bias you need to maintain a consistent interview process and bar. All interviewers in big tech have annual trainings about this. If someone underperforms it's considered bad judgment to be inclined based on who the person is or their past experience. This is to prevent cases like "he didn't do well but we should hire him anyway because he graduated from Stanford".

When you have someone who is an exception you shouldn't hire them via the standard interview process. Maybe Google didn't think he's an exception. But the reality is, the vast majority of Google engineers wouldn't be able to build something as successful from scratch like he did. It requires more skills than just being a good engineer. They could've found him a role that fits his skills. When FB hired Yann Lecun I'm sure they didn't ask him how SVMs work. (not saying they are on the same level, clearly not, just an extreme example)

Another possible option is that he came across too arrogant in more than one interview and the hiring committee was worried he wouldn't be a good fit culturally.

[ghaff]

That sounds about right. I'm guessing the last time I was hired it wouldn't have happened through a "standard interview process" because my background is somewhat eclectic and I frankly probably wouldn't tick enough of the boxes for obvious positions I might have been inclined to apply for. But people knew me, a job description was written for me, and here I am quite a few years later.

[throwaway29831]

This seems off - based on most interactions Googlers and especially ex-Googlers, arrogance must be a practical requirement to work there.

[akhilcacharya]

From the many folks I know there the arrogance is learned once you join (and exceptionally easy to do so), but it's not a pre-requisite.