Google Adjusts Hiring Process As Need for New Talent Grows provides a glimpse of the extended hiring process of a suddenly large company. When I write suddenly, I mean this:
During the quarter, the company brought in an average of 16 new employees daily, up from 13 the quarter before. Its breakneck hiring has boosted staff from 1,628 at the end of 2003 to 3,021 a year later and 5,680 at the end of 2005.
The article illustrates the hiring challenges that occur when a company experiences explosive growth. The large company effects can be seen in that they have brought in a new, young VP of HR with new initiatives:
One initiative Google has already undertaken is reducing the number of interviews. Mr. Bock says each candidate offered a job by Google went through 5.1 in-person interviews on average in June, down from 6.2 at the beginning of the year. (A veteran tech recruiter says five to eight interviews is probably about average for Silicon Valley.)
6.2 in-person interviews? That is astounding to me. I was unimpressed that it took the Google hiring managers, on average, that many interviews. As you can see, Google still beats the average for that region. Yet, their speed still appears to be quite “corporate” for some candidates:
Recent candidates say the process can still drag on. “The process from a candidate’s perspective is glacial,” says one who was interviewed for a senior nonengineering position this year. After each of two in-person interviews, the candidate went more than a month without hearing from Google and finally accepted a job offer from another company.
Seth Godin’s new book is titled Small Is the New Big:
Small is the new big because small gives you the flexibility to change your business model when your competition changes theirs.
It appears Google is trying to return to its more flexible roots while competing as a large corporation. There is a good lesson here for hiring so I will reference two items from our 10 Commandments of Successful Sales Selection:
5. Do not start the process unless you can hire the right candidate today.
10. Do not assume you are the candidates’ only option.
Stay nimble in your hiring process and attempt to remove as many delays as possible. Today, candidates have opportunities from other companies that may move more quickly through their hiring process than you.
Maybe even Google.