Google is expected to double its size yet again this year. With that kind of growth, and a rebound in the high-tech economy, Google is having a harder time hiring. So it's come up with an intriguing new approach.
From 2005 to 2006, Google grew from 6,000 to 11,000 employees. It won't confirm projected growth for this year, but estimates are it will double again.
Laszlo Bock, vice president of "People Operations" -- Google's name for what's known elsewhere as Human Resources -- says the company gets 100,000 job applications a month.
And yet, he admits it's having a hard time filling openings.
Laszlo Bock, V.P. Google People Operations: "What we're finding more and more now is the very best people aren't looking for jobs. They're at companies doing great work, being very well rewarded and having a great time and they're not looking."
So Google has changed its hiring strategies. It's trying to be more candidate-friendly, by shortening the interview process and getting offers out more quickly.
And it's expanded its notion of who might be a successful Google employee with a new questionnaire tailored to each job.
Laszlo Bock, V.P. Google People Operations: "Broadly what's compelling and different about this is it's a way to make sure we miss fewer people, that we screen people in rather than screen people out."
The new questionnaire covers everything from if you've ever set a world record in something to whether you've made a profit from a catering business, a wide net beyond GPA and SAT scores.
Google then interprets the data like answers from a math problem, cross-referencing them with answers from existing, successful Google employees and measuring the similarities.
Terry Connolly, Golden Gate University: "Interestingly enough I think that's more of Google's challenge than anything else."
Golden Gate University Business School Dean Terry Connolly thinks that many talented people don't want to work at Google so much as to found the next Google.
Terry Connolly, Golden Gate University: "The kind of people they want are the kinds of people that want to be the next leaders of Google, but they want it to be x or y or z."
He thinks another challenge is effectively keeping up with the overwhelming number of applications.
There's no telling how long this new approach will last. Google says for now, it's just an experiment.
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