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Another Google Recruiting Technique
An anonymous reader writes "The new edition of Linux Journal has a special insert: The GLAT (Google Labs Aptitude Test) is a Google recruiting quiz presented as a spoof of standardised aptitude tests. It is filled with math and Google-related trivia."
Nice modesty there Michael!
already?
: cruftbox.com/blog/archives/001031.html+GLAT&hl=eng oogle cache
http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:ARvQ1IJEyucJ
you can't have everything, where would you put it?
The original link is dead, the Coral cache is unresponsive, and Google apparently has no cache of it. However, I was able to find this page, which has a little more abot the test.
it sounds like because of bulk they arent reading the normal applications
Mirror, the site is already down. http://66.90.101.31/~whateve/mirror/
They've been putting puzzles on the inside front cover of the Mensa Bulletin for at least the past few months (I just joined). This month, the GLAT was stapled to the inside instead of the inside cover puzzles I'd been seeing.
It actually has some neat questions. Lots of fun!
I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
This was just an excuse to say you're in Mensa.
My wife's in Mensa, and one of the best things about that are the Google ads that generally take up the inside front page or two. It's a nice brain tease, and while I'm pretty sure I had a few of them figured out, I never sent them in because I like how Google hires PhDs, and I'd worry about being in over my head. I was disappointed when I didn't see any ad in the first page of this past month's Mensa mag, but overjoyed when I found the GLAT. Then I was a little intimidated. Still, I might sit and work it out one of these days, when I come up with the time for it. (As opposed to, say, killing time posting on Slashdot.)
I am Leviathant and I approve this message.
Solve this cryptic equation, realizing of course that values for M and E could be interchanged. No leading zeroes are allowed.
WWWDOT - GOOGLE = DOTCOM
Write a haiku describing possible methods for predicting search traffic seasonality.
What's the next line?
1
1 1
2 1
1 2 1 1
1 1 1 2 2 1
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. There is a dusty laptop here with a weak wireless connection. There are dull, lifeless gnomes strolling about. What dost thou do?
A) Wander aimlessly, bumping into obstacles until you are eaten by a grue.
B) Use the laptop as a digging device to tunnel to the next level.
C) Play MPoRPG until the battery dies along with your hopes.
D) Use the computer to map the nodes of the maze and discover an exit path.
E) Email your resume to Google, tell the lead gnome you quit and find yourself in a whole different world
What's broken with Unix? How would you fix it?
On your first day at Google, you discover that your cubicle mate wrote the textbook you used as a primary resource in your first year of graduate school. Do you:
A) Fawn obsequiously and ask if you can have an autograph.
B) Sit perfectly still and use only soft keystrokes to avoid disturbing her concentration
C) Leave her daily offerings of granola and English toffee from the food bins.
D) Quote your favorite formula from the textbook and explain how it's now your mantra.
E) Show her how example 17b could have been solved with 34 fewer lines of code.
Which of the following expresses Google's over-arching philosophy?
A) "I'm feeling lucky"
B) "Don't be evil"
C) "Oh, I already fixed that"
D) "You should never be more than 50 feet from food"
E) All of the above
How many different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of three colors on each face?
What colors would you choose?
This space is intentionally blank. Please fill it with something that improves upon emptiness.
On an infinite, two-dimensional, rectangular lattice of 1-ohm resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a knight's move away?
It's 2pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the Bay Area. You're minutes from the Pacific Ocean, redwood forest hiking trails and world class cultural attractions. What do you do?
In your opinion, what is the most beautiful math equation ever derived?
Which of the following is NOT an actual interest group formed by Google employees?
A) Women's basketball
B) Buffy fans
C) Cricketeers
D) Nobel winners
E) Wine club
What will be the next great improvement in search technology?
What is the optimal size of a project team, above which additional members do not contribute productivity equivalent to the percentage increase in the staff size? A) 1 B) 3 C) 5 D) 11 E) 24
Given a triangle ABC, how would you use only a compass and straight edge to find a point P such that triangles ABP, ACP, and BCP have equal perimeters? (Assume that ABC is constructed so that a solution does exist.)
Consider a function which, for a given whole number n, returns the number of ones required when writing out all numbers between 0 and n. For example, f(13) = 6. Notice that f(1) = 1. What is the next largest n such that f(n) = n?
What's the coolest hack you've ever written?
'Tis known in refined company, that choosing K things out of N can be done in ways as many as choosing N minus K from N: I pick K, you the remaining. Find though a cooler bijection, where you show a knack uncanny, of making your choises contain all K of mine. Oh, for pedantry: let K be no more than half N.
What number comes next in the sequence: 10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66, ?
A) 96
B) 10 to the 100th power
C) Either of the above
D) None of the above
In 29 words or fewer, describe what you would strive to accomplish if you worked at Google Labs.
The September issue of Physics Today also had a GLAT insert. I guess Google's trying for all sorts of backgrounds...
"Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself." -Richard Feynman
"It is filled with math and Google-related trivia." So, really, you are being tested on how well you can use Google to find the answers. Brilliant!
That line is now gone. michael has now rectified history. That line does not exist; it had never existed...
The site might have been slashdotted, but I got the Google Labs Aptitude Test multiple choice section right here.
Q: What is the supreme search engine on the planet?
a.) google.com
b.) aol keyword google
Q: What is 8^7 x 32^2 / $ -2352.8a + x + y + $
a.) google = moneyopoly
b.) google = infinite $$
Q: Did you go to standford?
a.) yes
b.) pick this and fail
It's really, really hard to take a billboard to the bathroom!
What do I win?
Google only hires PHD's; The difference between PHD and PHB is only two bits.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
Honestly, I was happy when I got a job after college where I could do real work (design/architect & implement) and quit jumping through stupid hoops to prove how smart I was. I've answered my fair share of brain teasers, pattern recognition, cute/stupid questions. This is crap that pisses me off. I'm sure google wants smart people, but they're going to overlook all the people who just get shit done when it needs to be done (and do it well) because they're going for the people who are creative. I'll take someone slightly less smarter with a good work ethic who realizes that work is more than just answering stupid riddles.
And yes, I may be slightly jealous that I don't work at Google, but honestly this type of thing really turns me off. I guess I'm not what they're looking for then.
Yeah, especially if your boyfriend won't get off slashdot in the first place!
...
Me: Honey, come to bed.
Him: Just one more SCO article to read through, I promise!
Me:
"Equal bytes for women!"
Being "smart" (i.e. being able to solve puzzles and grok math equations) is only a single, quite narrow aspect of "intelligence".
Intelligence measures two abilities: learning and reasoning. Being smart is the application of intelligence.
We all know the guy who's ultra-bright at science or math, but bloody useless in the "real world" or (gasp) interpersonal relationships.
People's motivations differ. That person who is ultra-bright may not see applying that logic as something to persue. The benefit of diversity is this: there will always be someone who can take that logic and apply it to something to make it useful to other people who don't care how it works.
What most people see as the goal of life is getting laid and having children (most of the time subconsciously) thus propogating the species. The basic law of nature (and man) is to survive by any means necessary. Most people make their attempt at immortality via offspring, some through presence (actors), others through published works/name recognition. There are also a number of people who create a fictitious being and place where they will live out eternity in bliss (religion).
Since it is illegal to test people's intelligence in the U.S. for a job, google is going to where the smart people are. I see nothing wrong with that. Reading a person on paper (that they wrote) is not a very accurate means for judging a person's intellect or skills. Testing their abilities just to get to the application is a smart thing to do.
None of this is about elitism. Some people do feel superior to others and are truly elitists, but it is generally the other people who feel inferior and have to tear the "elite" down by any means available.
None of this is an attack on you, so don't take it that way.
This is the Internet. You can say "fuck" here. - AC
I was quite stunned to see the form in my magazine.
The job screening exam clearly breaches Australia's anti-discriminiation laws (simplifying somewhat, Google is asking some questions unrelated to my potential performance as an employee, therefore the questions must be for some discriminatory purpose). I'd be surprised if the same were not true of the US.
What this screening exam did for me was to confirm Google's corporate stupidity.
Google is now first on the list of places I'd never want to work -- what concern is it of their's what I do with my spare time.
I've no idea what Linux Journal thought they were doing by accepting the insert.
Scans of Test
o ver.jpg a ge1.jpg a ge2.jpg a ge3.jpg
http://img47.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img47&image=glat-c
http://img47.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img47&image=glat-p
http://img47.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img47&image=glat-p
http://img47.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img47&image=glat-p
When modding "Informative", please make sure it both has a source and IS actually informative.
You guys killed my site, but I've put them up on another domain I have.
Please mirror the images. Thanks.
GLAT Images
nuclear iraq bioweapon encryption cocaine korea terrorist
I recently interviewed at Google and got an offer, but didn't go. I think they sort of dropped the ball.
At the risk of sounding arrogant (and, there's no way I'd post this if I weren't doing so anonymously), I was a very qualified candidate. I solved all their puzzles and made an incredibly positive impression on everyone there I visited. Simiarly, Google made a very positive impression on me. It's been my dream to work for them for many years and I finally had the opportunity!
Then, things sort of turned a little bit worse. I was also being courted by a Very Large Software Company. VLSC also made me an offer. It was better, but the money wasn't the issue. Every few days, someone from VLSC would call me to tell me how important it was that I go to work for them. How excited they were about me and extolling the virtues of VLSC.
First my future boss called. His boss called. HIS boss called. And *that* guy's boss called! At this point it was someone very high up in the company. All of them had the same message: we really want you to come here. They started sending little gifts to my house.
Meanwhile, I heard nothing from Google. Their recruiter called me occasionally but never replied to my emails or indicated having read them on phone calls. I asked if it would be possible to speak to anyone else in Google who I might speak with about the type of work I'd be doing or the people I'd be working with. No one ever contacted me. Now, they were getting ready for their IPO so I suppose they had better things to think about, but the overwhelming impression I got was "Your loss if you don't work here. Whatever, come if you want." Meanwhile, VLSC made it clear it would be *their* loss if I didn't work there and that they'd do everything they could to make it the best place ever to work.
It was incredibly painful to have to give up my dream of working for Google. But ultimately, VLSC convinced me that they were more excited about the work I could do and that I'd have a better opportunity there to do it.
I really wanted to want Google. They made it very hard.
I hope someone from Google reads this and maybe can pass this on to HR folks. It's not something I feel comfortable attaching my name to.
In a nutshell, he hinted that they use Linux, that they have loads of cheap systems which 1) they expect will break down and 2) are cheap to fix, that a large part of the systems indexes content and that another large part of the systems serves content. And Google is hiring.
He constantly repeated that because they went public he was not allowed to be specific. And he wasn't. There was a watchful Google woman that apparently took note of everything that went on and assisted at the proclamations of secrecy. And Google is hiring.
Then he touched the Google policy and hinted that Google has a sort of principle of "not being evil". In my words, this means Google has considered being evil and decided not to be (maybe for the time being). Did I mention that Google is hiring?
Oh yes and they were hiring. Yes hiring, hiring and hiring. There were even forms (as if the audience didn't know where to look for them on Google). And of course he couldn't say anything about the rates, due to... But Google is hiring.
At the end of the presentation I thought:
- Google kicks ass in low cost high performance computing.
- Gmail will give them experience in how to handle confidentially in low cost high performance computing.
- They (and not RedHat) have everything in order to become the next MS.
(Monopoly on a technology and loads of quickly earned bucks.)
- I guess that their going public results in less fun at the company.
- Why do they need/want more money? They are doing OK as it is!
- I decided to let Google have loads of fun with their money and not to take anything of that away from them by applying.
- Oh yeah, they probably want the best for the lowest price. Both in HW and HR.
And not to forget: Google is hiring.I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
I'm a bit skeptical. Well, maybe they only took the first X amount of these things in, because it won't take long for all the answer to get posted. Seems more like marketing to me. Kind of "we have the smartest people, aren't we cool."
Of course, there is lots of kinds of intelligences. I read the Emotional Intellgence book, and it was a bit of an eye-opener. Yep, there's all kinds of smart.
I hate to admit it, but there may be a reason that some of those blasted sales and marketing guys and gals make serious money. We like to think that it's lucky, or BS, or kissing ass (and it could be), but sometimes, it's because "people smarts" can get you far.
Sure, this makes sense for a research lab starting up, but here's something to ponder. MS, IBM and HP all have labs too. And how effective they are is how well they can transfer ideas into development. HP had lots of idea, but consistently could not execute on them. IBM and MS do much better.
You can have too many cooks, after all. For every thinker, there is a doer that is just as valuable, if not more so.
Oh, and Google, now that you are public and MS wants a piece of your action, here's a hint. Arrogance and "we're better than..." can hurt you really, really bad. Just ask Netscape, err, AOL, err, well, you know. Don't get too cocky.
I think of Richard Fenymann at times like this. Nobel Prize winner, who admired an illiterate MC in a local bar for his social skills and how he worked. True smarts is always being ready to learn, regardless of how or what is taught.
Yea, maybe I'm jealous because I can't do those types of puzzles very well. But I still have enough brains to know that there is room for all types, and diversity wins over sheer brain power in the long haul.
Of course, I'm not that brainy. Hell, I'm still posting here, for the love of... 8-)