For every job, though, the No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.
It’s of course possible that this Bock guy knows what he’s doing on the hiring front. But in these interviews he has no incentive to give Google’s competitors coherent helpful information on how to hire people—and every incentive to send out obfuscated messages which might flatter the preconceptions of NYT readers.
I’ve pointed out in the past that in the Google context, range restriction is a problem (when everyone applying to Google is ultra-smart, smartness ceases to be a useful predictor), so Bock could be saying something true & interesting in picking out some other traits which vaguely sound like IQ but aren’t (maybe ‘processing speed’?), but then he or the writer are being very misleading (intentionally or unintentionally). I don’t know which of these possibilities might be true.
Everyone who applies to Google is not ultra-smart. Far from it.
As a first-line interviewer, most people get rejected for being blatantly, horrifically incapable.
The perception that they are, unfortunately, causes many people who’d have a chance at acceptance to not even try. Anyone reading this, if you’ve thought about applying to Google and decided you don’t have a chance, please think again! The opportunity costs are really low, and potentially negative; worst case you’ll get a bit of interviewing experience.
Something to keep in mind is that a large organization (like Google) may have pretty decentralized hiring practices. Even if Engineering interviewers believe that “brainteaser” questions are a bad idea, that doesn’t mean Sales or Finance agrees. And a site called “Business Insider” may care more about Sales or Finance than Engineering ….
I have limited trust in a source which says things like that.
Edited to add: More on Bock’s learning ability:
Yeah, nope.
I was about to post that quote too. Surely IQ has nothing to do with “ability to process on the fly” or “pull together disparate bits of information.”
It’s of course possible that this Bock guy knows what he’s doing on the hiring front. But in these interviews he has no incentive to give Google’s competitors coherent helpful information on how to hire people—and every incentive to send out obfuscated messages which might flatter the preconceptions of NYT readers.
I’ve pointed out in the past that in the Google context, range restriction is a problem (when everyone applying to Google is ultra-smart, smartness ceases to be a useful predictor), so Bock could be saying something true & interesting in picking out some other traits which vaguely sound like IQ but aren’t (maybe ‘processing speed’?), but then he or the writer are being very misleading (intentionally or unintentionally). I don’t know which of these possibilities might be true.
Everyone who applies to Google is not ultra-smart. Far from it.
As a first-line interviewer, most people get rejected for being blatantly, horrifically incapable.
The perception that they are, unfortunately, causes many people who’d have a chance at acceptance to not even try. Anyone reading this, if you’ve thought about applying to Google and decided you don’t have a chance, please think again! The opportunity costs are really low, and potentially negative; worst case you’ll get a bit of interviewing experience.
No, everyone who applies to Google is not ulta-smart but most who are hired are probably pretty smart.
Given that everyone who are hired are smart, gwerns point is valid.
Sorry if I was unclear. I am not claiming I understand why that article was written. But the quote is very funny.
Something to keep in mind is that a large organization (like Google) may have pretty decentralized hiring practices. Even if Engineering interviewers believe that “brainteaser” questions are a bad idea, that doesn’t mean Sales or Finance agrees. And a site called “Business Insider” may care more about Sales or Finance than Engineering ….