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I was rejected by an SVP at Google. Recruiter was surprised but said it happens. Said I did a good job and could pick a different role (wasn’t for SWE), got the

I was rejected by an SVP at Google. Recruiter was surprised but said it happens. Said I did a good job and could pick a different role (wasn’t for SWE), got the offer the second time around but had to start all over and got passed to a new recruiter.

illumin8 6y ago
How does that happen? The way interviewing should work is that every person that interviewed you should vote, and if its unanimous that you should be hired, then some SVP a few levels up decided to veto it, I'd be livid if I was a hiring manager.
- freepor 6y ago
  Execs veto decisions lower down all the time, for good and bad reasons. If you don’t like it, get yourself promoted.
  - illumin8 6y ago
    They are free to do so, but when they do it for arbitrary reasons, it instills a lack of trust in leadership. Leaders that lead through fear are much less effective than leaders that are able to motivate their followers in positive ways.
- refurb 6y ago
  Yeah, that screams micromanagement. If you so lack in trust that the people on your team can make good hiring decisions, even to the point of rejecting somebody you haven’t actually met...well... that’s just nuts.
- mattzito 6y ago
  So, your described situation almost never happens. There are candidates who get 100% hire votes, and they get hired. Most candidates have some variability- it is rare that everyone is 100% onboard. The svp review is to make sure that the hiring process has worked and nothing major has been missed.
- joshuamorton 6y ago
  For many (although not all) people being hired at Google, the SVP approval process happens before you're matched with a manager. The SVP approves you to work in their PA, and then you're matched with a manager within the PA.
- formercoder 6y ago
  My theory was that it was a comp/background mismatch. I was interviewing for a role that someone with more of a sysadmin background could do but I had a SWE background and was trying to command that comp level.
neilv 6y ago
I wish I could want to work at Google, but, between the hazing rituals on the front end, the long lead times, and these mysterious vetoing robed elders on the back end, they make it so unattractive. I wonder whether their approach has been alienating entire large categories of people, and what diversity of ideas and influences they're missing as a result.
- bvandewalle 6y ago
  I'm in the same situation. That whole process makes me feel like a mindless cog about to enter a well oiled machine without the possibility to question some of those nonsensical steps.
- limograf 6y ago
  Yeah, I think most normal people would just never apply and that's perfectly reasonable. I don't think working at Google is FOR normal people. I am a normal person and I'm pretty sure Google is not suffering from the lack of me! :D You know, I work in tech but I have never attempted to have a Career in Tech. I definitely don't own a whiteboard and I'm sure I'd never get past the resume stage. (I've only actively applied for a couple of jobs in my life and all in the past year, purely because I thought I should REALLY get some experience with applying for jobs. I actually just had an interview and bombed it so much, omg, at one point I claimed not to know JavaScript! :D I don't think it's for me.) But out of the rareified circles of HN, I've not found any of the career stuff talked up on here to be necessary anyway. There's more code that needs writing than coders to write it and so long as that's true there'll be work going. I work a few days a week for a company and the rest for myself. I have fun and write code and invent things and people generally give me enough money to pay my bills so I'm happy with that. It's a pretty sweet deal! Before I was a coder I was an unpaid family caregiver (hence no school or credentials or career) so compared to that I can't really imagine a programming job that could really genuinely be BAD. They are all simply gradations of sweet. My brother (who did massively go to school) works at Google and loves it. I drop in and hang out with him there sometimes and it does seem great for a certain kind of person. And they have so many resources and work on loads of fun games and obviously it would be great to be rich as well. I think it's really clear why it's so attractive. If you think you have a shot then go for it! But if you know you don't have a shot, why break your heart over it, is my view. It's not a bad thing to be clear eyed about your prospects in life.
shostack 6y ago
How common is this? What was it like going through a second time? Any stigma or negative associations you detected?

illumin8 6y ago

How does that happen? The way interviewing should work is that every person that interviewed you should vote, and if its unanimous that you should be hired, then some SVP a few levels up decided to veto it, I'd be livid if I was a hiring manager.

freepor 6y ago
Execs veto decisions lower down all the time, for good and bad reasons. If you don’t like it, get yourself promoted.
- illumin8 6y ago
  They are free to do so, but when they do it for arbitrary reasons, it instills a lack of trust in leadership. Leaders that lead through fear are much less effective than leaders that are able to motivate their followers in positive ways.
refurb 6y ago
Yeah, that screams micromanagement. If you so lack in trust that the people on your team can make good hiring decisions, even to the point of rejecting somebody you haven’t actually met...well... that’s just nuts.
mattzito 6y ago
So, your described situation almost never happens. There are candidates who get 100% hire votes, and they get hired. Most candidates have some variability- it is rare that everyone is 100% onboard. The svp review is to make sure that the hiring process has worked and nothing major has been missed.
joshuamorton 6y ago
For many (although not all) people being hired at Google, the SVP approval process happens before you're matched with a manager. The SVP approves you to work in their PA, and then you're matched with a manager within the PA.
formercoder 6y ago
My theory was that it was a comp/background mismatch. I was interviewing for a role that someone with more of a sysadmin background could do but I had a SWE background and was trying to command that comp level.

neilv 6y ago

I wish I could want to work at Google, but, between the hazing rituals on the front end, the long lead times, and these mysterious vetoing robed elders on the back end, they make it so unattractive. I wonder whether their approach has been alienating entire large categories of people, and what diversity of ideas and influences they're missing as a result.

bvandewalle 6y ago
I'm in the same situation. That whole process makes me feel like a mindless cog about to enter a well oiled machine without the possibility to question some of those nonsensical steps.
limograf 6y ago
Yeah, I think most normal people would just never apply and that's perfectly reasonable. I don't think working at Google is FOR normal people. I am a normal person and I'm pretty sure Google is not suffering from the lack of me! :D You know, I work in tech but I have never attempted to have a Career in Tech. I definitely don't own a whiteboard and I'm sure I'd never get past the resume stage. (I've only actively applied for a couple of jobs in my life and all in the past year, purely because I thought I should REALLY get some experience with applying for jobs. I actually just had an interview and bombed it so much, omg, at one point I claimed not to know JavaScript! :D I don't think it's for me.) But out of the rareified circles of HN, I've not found any of the career stuff talked up on here to be necessary anyway. There's more code that needs writing than coders to write it and so long as that's true there'll be work going. I work a few days a week for a company and the rest for myself. I have fun and write code and invent things and people generally give me enough money to pay my bills so I'm happy with that. It's a pretty sweet deal! Before I was a coder I was an unpaid family caregiver (hence no school or credentials or career) so compared to that I can't really imagine a programming job that could really genuinely be BAD. They are all simply gradations of sweet. My brother (who did massively go to school) works at Google and loves it. I drop in and hang out with him there sometimes and it does seem great for a certain kind of person. And they have so many resources and work on loads of fun games and obviously it would be great to be rich as well. I think it's really clear why it's so attractive. If you think you have a shot then go for it! But if you know you don't have a shot, why break your heart over it, is my view. It's not a bad thing to be clear eyed about your prospects in life.

shostack 6y ago

How common is this? What was it like going through a second time? Any stigma or negative associations you detected?