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You're Only As Hirable As Your Google+ Circles

Posted by timothy on from the it's-coming-from-inside-the-house dept.

theodp writes "A pending Google patent for Identifying Prospective Employee Candidates via Employee Connections lays out plans for data mining employees' social graphs to find top job candidates. According to the patent application, the system would consider factors including the performance of the employees at the company whose circles you are in — under the assumption that the friends of top performers are more likely to be top performers themselves. It's the invention of three Googlers, including an HR VP who was quoted recently in an article that questioned the wisdom of certain Google hiring practices said to encourage 'echo chamber' hiring."

8 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. The IT IN Crowd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ah, so you won't get a job unless you're in the IT IN crowd.

    All of my friends outside of work are mostly non-IT people. Then again, I don't consider myself a top performer - I've known some incredibly talented people and I am definitely NOT one of them. Some of THEIR friends, on the other hand, were strippers, drug users and drunks.

    So guys, there's a good chance that Google+ will get that hot chick in your department - she won't code worth a damn, though.

    1. Re:The IT IN Crowd by MacDork · · Score: 3, Interesting

      From what I read, knowing someone who works at Google is a primary requirement for landing a job at Google. Seems dumb to me, but then Google will admit to doing dumb things with regards to hiring. They've admitted their entire interview process doesn't really work. But this is a place where top talent like Hugo Barra is forced out of the company, because Google's CEO started banging his girlfriend. Between this, and selling out to the NSA, I don't think I would want to work for Caligula anyway :-/ This patent application is equal parts disgusting and unsurprising to me.

  2. But I'm awesome at what I do... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...and I don't have connections with top performers, because I've never had a chance to work with them!

    All this overhyping and overvaluing is an important stage in the development of any technology, but I can't wait for social media to be just another thing that we do, and not something that has to be commoditised at every opportunity. I hope that in 10 years, data-mining social media is going to be looked down on the way spam and chain-emails are now. I'm not so unrealistic to imagine it will go away, but I hope it will become socially unacceptable behaviour.

    1. Re:But I'm awesome at what I do... by PRMan · · Score: 5, Interesting

      All the best programmers I know AREN'T ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT ALL. So I don't see this working very well, unless it's for sales droids.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    2. Re:But I'm awesome at what I do... by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Agreed. I'm not a top programmer, but I'm pretty good.

      I avoid Facebook and Google+ for a few reasons:
      - It's a shallow way to interact.
      - It's distracting.
      - I find Facebook privacy policies unacceptable, given the info that could access.
      - Being friended by one too many ex-girlfriends.

      Or to put it another way, my life probably nearly half over already. There's too much other stuff I want to get done in my remaining years.

  3. Re:So it's not what you know... by Seumas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not really. Google Plus isn't like Facebook. Anyone can put you in your circle, even if you don't have a clue who they are and don't have them in one of your circles. Also, just because I have someone in a circle or I'm in theirs doesn't mean I am an associate or that I know them or have worked with them or in any way identify with them whatsoever.

    Anyway, this only seems relevant to web designers, photographers, and "internet personalities" which is already a pretty incestuous mutual-masturbation club as it is. Everyone else seems to approach G+ with a strong "eh... I don't get it" attitude.

  4. Let's just patent breathing and be done by Bucc5062 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How is this even a patent? Okay, besides the obvious "well they filed it". IT is describing the general practice of investigation for hiring that HR departments do across the country. So now what, when some checks out a person in google+ they have to pay for the license to do so?

    The system was broken...now it is defiled.

    --
    Life is a great ride, the vehicle doesn't matter
  5. Re:WTF? by russotto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've worked with many software developers in the Northeast. Fun fact: skill correlated strongly with alma mater. All of the MIT-educated developers were better than all of the non-MIT-educated developers. After that, most of the ones from (Ivy League schools + Carnegie Melon) were better than most of the remaining developers.

    Yeah, someone with a B.S. from the University of Minnesota and later a Ph.D. from the University of Washington couldn't possibly be a better developer than an MIT grad.