[equity]

I sympathize with the rather cold response from Google. However that was not a response from Google HR -- it was a response from a contract recruiter, and Google has hundreds of them. Because Google sees so many resumes that they can be picky. You may very well indeed be a top notch candidate so don't take it personally.

That said, as a Googler, I understand why they will hire non-SWE with phds in chemisty, neuroscience, or particle physics or what have you -- it's because Google has unique problems to think about that are not just pure software engineering. For instance, how do you scientifically evaluate the current search quality and ensure that it continues to improve? Google is very research-oriented and data-driven, and this spills over into the SWE work so it's not always 100% about building good software.

[nodegree_throw]

I 100% agree with you wrt to their reasoning. It does seem sound given the problems they are trying to solve requiring diverse skills etc. Interesting that they contract it out. Thanks :)