{"id":30284,"date":"2014-10-22T19:21:15","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T02:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/?p=30284"},"modified":"2017-10-17T13:20:24","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T20:20:24","slug":"give-candidates-a-reason-to-join-we-all-want-meaning-says-googles-people-chief-laszlo-bock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/give-candidates-a-reason-to-join-we-all-want-meaning-says-googles-people-chief-laszlo-bock\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Give Candidates a Reason to Join. We All Want Meaning.&#8221; says Google&#8217;s People Chief, Laszlo Bock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How does Google go about hiring? <!--more-->There\u2019s no end of hearsay, urban legends and second-hand stories about the giant tech company\u2019s idiosyncratic approaches to finding the best people. For first-hand insights, though, there\u2019s nothing like a fresh update from Laszlo Bock, Google\u2019s senior vice president for people operations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-bottom\">\n<div class=\"lfloat desc-l\">\n<div class=\"content-description ng-isolate-scope ng-binding\">\n<p>At <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/oscar-raymundo\/how-linkedin-plans-to-change-the-role-of-the-hr-recruiter.html\">LinkedIn\u2019s Talent Connect<\/a> conference in San Francisco today, Bock began with a bit of myth-busting about the ways that his Mountain View, Calif., company goes about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\">finding the right people<\/a>. A key point: If you\u2019ve heard that Google likes to pose brain-teaser questions to candidates \u2014 like why manhole covers are round, or how to get out of a blender if you\u2019ve been shrunk to be just an inch high \u2014 your information is out of date.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate brainteasers,\u201d Bock declared. \u201cThere\u2019s no evidence that they suggest how people will perform on the job. Some of our interviewers still ask them. I\u2019m trying to get them to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With that canard out of the way, Bock pulled back the curtain on how Google actually does approach hiring. Among his points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/top-3-traits-of-an-organized-interview-process\/\">Structured interviews<\/a> work best. Google wants all its interviewers to work from the same basic list of questions when they meet a candidate for a particular job. There\u2019s still room for customized\u00a0 follow-up questions, depending on what answers emerge. But when interviewers make it up as they go along, Bock says, that can create problems of bias and inconsistencies. \u201cUse science,\u201d Bock says. \u201cMake sure your managers interview this way. If they don\u2019t, throw out their feedback.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Google\u2019s best recruiter is Allan Eustace, a senior vice president of engineering and research. He joined the company in 1999 as employee No. 42; since then he has hired hundreds of people. His edge, Bock says, is his ability to get candidates fired up the ways they could create meaning in their lives by taking a job at Google.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/is-google-about-to-enter-the-job-market\/\">Google<\/a> looks for four key traits in candidates: general cognitive ability, leadership, Googleyness and role-related knowledge. They\u2019re listed in that order for a reason. Bock says that Google likes to hire curious, quick-learning generalists who can master whatever challenges are thrown at them.\u00a0 That\u2019s why general smarts are at the top of his list; specific skills at the bottom.<\/li>\n<li>Leadership isn\u2019t necessarily measured by what titles people have held. Google is looking for people who can see a problem, step in, help solve it \u2014 and then relinquish power if necessary so that some one else can handle the next challenges. Bock calls this \u201cemergent leadership.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Everyone at Google defines cultural fit (a.k.a. \u201cGoogleyness) differently. \u201cIt isn\u2019t about whether you\u2019re a bro-grammer, or are just like us, or fit a narrow mold,\u201d Bock says. Instead, he says, Google is looking for people who are comfortable with ambiguity, have intellectual humility and can bring something new to the mix.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Summing up, Bock exhorted the recruiters in his audience to \u201cnever ever, ever compromise on quality,\u201d explaining: \u201cIt\u2019s toxic. If people see poor performers all around them, they decide they don\u2019t need to work that hard. Your very best people will leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Bock said, \u201cgive candidates a reason to join. We all want meaning. We all want to be happy and to enjoy freedom from want. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/people-work-for-people-first-and-companies-second\/\">Work for most people<\/a> is a pretty mediocre experience. It doesn\u2019t have to be.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/give-candidates-a-reason-to-join-we-all-want-meaning-says-googles-people-chief-laszlo-bock\/george-anders\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-30285\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30285\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/george-anders.jpeg\" alt=\"george anders\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/george-anders.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/george-anders-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/george-anders-50x50.jpeg 50w, https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/george-anders-305x305.jpeg 305w, https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/george-anders-200x200.jpeg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 65px) 100vw, 65px\" \/><\/a><em>This article was written by George Anders from Forbes and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Photo Credit <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thisislars\">ThisisLars<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/\">SmartRecruiters<\/a> is your workspace to find and hire great people.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How does Google go about hiring?","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":30287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":""},"categories":[8,838],"tags":[],"series":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Lazo-Brock-.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Podcast-icon.jpg","download_link":false,"player_link":false,"audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/hiring-success-podcast\/id1472174987","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXJpbmdzdWNjZXNzcG9kY2FzdC5jYXN0b3MuY29tL2hpcmluZy1zdWNjZXNzLXBvZGNhc3Q","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"soundcloud":{"key":"soundcloud","url":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/smartrecruiters\/sets\/hiring-success-podcast-1","label":"SoundCloud","class":"soundcloud","icon":"soundcloud.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3bM8YzLjM2G9qJXLBBySaB","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ySiNOx2bID\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/give-candidates-a-reason-to-join-we-all-want-meaning-says-googles-people-chief-laszlo-bock\/\">&#8220;Give Candidates a Reason to Join. 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