Google: Recruiting Done Right
Yesterday I received an email from Stanley Go, a recruiter at Google.
I found your homepage online and see that you are an experienced software developer. From your site, I see that you created many pages from Homeland Security to banking sites. I am very impressed by your background and knowledge. Your skill set resonates so perfectly with the Google.com team that I felt compelled to ping you to see if you may be interested in opportunities with us. We are constantly seeking extraordinary developers and UNIX (Linux) experts to join our exciting team and growing organization.
Stanley obviously takes the time to learn about the people he’s contacting. He’s clearly read some of my past blog entries, even apologizing for the time one of my friends was blocked from Google AdWords.
In all my time in the tech industry, this is one of the only times I’ve ever received a personal letter from a recruiter.
So few companies make even a cursory attempt to personalize the recruitment process. Usually, what you get are bulk messages from recruiters, containing anonymous job listings from unidentified companies. If you’re hiring, this is not an effective way to market your job or your organization. As Seth Godin says, don’t treat your company as a commodity. And don’t treat your potential employees as commodities, either.
I’d encourage you to contact Stanley if you’re looking for a job at Google. So as not to pollute his email with spam by publishing it, contact me and I’ll send you his address.
