Google's Unusual New Recruiting Tool

Google's Unusual New Recruiting ToolSearch and Get Hired

As the economy gets stronger and the demand for talent heats up, more and more companies are leveraging software to make their recruiting process smarter. We discussed this in detail in our articles on how to beat the bots, part 1 and part 2.

The latest innovation on hiring technology comes not from a recruiting software company, but from Google (or more accurately the company now called “Alphabet”). They have found a way to prompt users with open Google positions when they type in certain search terms.

Max Rossett writes in the newsletter, The Hustle, about how searching for specific programming terms on Google, which in his case were “python lambda function list comprehension”, resulted in the search results page splitting and folding back to reveal a box that prompted him to complete a programming challenge. He ended up completing 6 such challenges and was then asked to provide his contact information, after which he was formally invited to apply to Google (he ended up getting the job and starting there a few months later).

Spooky?!

Last year, a user on Hacker News had posted similar story. The page is called foobar (after a common programming placeholder name). A Google spokeperson confirmed the use of this to Re/Code via a cryptic email which was also a puzzle.

We can’t wait for other tech companies to integrate similar recruiting easter eggs into their products. Until then, don’t hold your breath trying out random google searches. Check out our job channels instead.

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Trendy Thomas is a team of Tapwage journalists who stay abreast of the latest news and gossip from the world of business and recruiting, so you always have the latest scoop.

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