Hong’s Cave

In the middle of the October 2004 issue of Communications of the ACM, there was a peculiar-looking insert titled “GLAT: Google Labs Aptitude Test”. It had a very official looking format and was a fairly well-made mock-up test.

It was fun and all that, but it somehow reminded me of what Microsoft used to do in the beginning to recruit a certain type of young freshly out-of-college kids to build up their “culture”. In this respect, this “GLAT” is more like a personality test than anything else.

I think Google is doing the right thing for the long term (although “Google Labs” is more like a semi-research arm of the company). This kind of recruiting method is specially effective, I think, to a technology-oriented company like Google and Microsoft (well, it used to be, at least, for Microsoft).

It was an interesting diversion for me to go through the questionnaires (I couldn’t solve most of them frankly), but it also got me thinking how a certain type of recruiting method is not right for most, but for a few.

Some random dialogs from my daydreams…

Microsoft: You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the Web.
Google: I’ll never join you!
…
Microsoft: I am your father.
Google: No! That’s not true! That’s impossible!
Microsoft: Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Google: Nooooo! Nooooo!

Well, only in my daydreams… :p