Welcome to March's career newsletter! 

Luck Ain't Gonna Be Enough

 

How often have you heard a friend gush at someone else's extraordinary luck? 

 

"Wow! He must be really lucky to get that job!"

 

Admittedly, the competition for high-paying jobs in big name companies is fierce, there could be 100+ applicants fighting for one vacancy.  So from an outside perspective, it may seem that whoever receives the job offer must be extremely lucky.

 

Yes, some applicants might be lucky enough to have someone vouching for them; a friend or a family member already working for the company. Or maybe, they happened to be in the right place at the right time.

 

What are the odds, right?

 

How Big of a Role Does Luck Play in Your Career?

 

It depends...

• Are you happy to leave things for the universe to decide?
• Or are you willing to make your own luck?
• Because you're still reading this, I'm assuming you decided to go for "making your own luck."

The Odds of Being Lucky

 

A successful career isn't the product of a good luck charm, a magic potion or even Feng Shui. We're not talking about the kind of luck required to win the lottery here. No amount of universe-bestowed luck will get you a job.

 

I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. 

- Thomas Jefferson

 

What I'm referring to is the kind of luck that puts you at the right place, at the right time, in front of the right people. Yes, I'm talking about vigilance and an opportunistic mindset. To me, this is what brings "luck" to successful people.

 

Finding a great job, involves a bit of chance, but successful and "lucky" job seekers view their life differently. They actively look for opportunities amidst everyday life, problems and company crisis, and then they position themselves to seize the chance.

 

How Can I Have More Luck in My Career?

 

Lucky for you, many successful employees shared what made them "lucky," so you can do exactly what they did:

1. Meet more people - Increase the chances of you knowing someone who knows of a job opening in their company. Don't limit your exposure to "professional networking events," because you never know where you might meet a person willing to refer you to their company. 
2. Go out of your comfort zone - How can you expect to get an amazing job if you're still hanging on to the same old routine for 10 years? Change up your routine; take up a mini-course online or do a side project. This benefits you in two ways: the new skill will be a great addition to your resume and you'll meet new people (see #1).
3. Ask and Give - Ask friends and family if they know someone in need of your services. And don't be stingy; introduce friends to people in your network if you think the connection might be mutually beneficial. I'm sure your friends will be more than happy to return the favor someday.

You can't hope to control how much "luck" the universe deems to bestow on you. But you can always control how you respond to what life throws at you. Turn problems into opportunities and always look for ways to make the situation work in your favor.

 

Kind regards,   

  

 

 

 

____________________________________________________________

Our list is growing! If you would like to advertise in future issues, please send an e-mail to robin@riklanresources.com.

 

Please feel free to send suggestions for improvement and additional areas that you would like to see covered in future issues to michelle@riklanresources.com.   

 

How to Get a Job at Google

by Michelle A. Riklan, ACRW, CPRW, CEIC

Google, famous for its sleek, modern office and out of this world employee benefits, receives about 2 to 3 million applications each year. Yes, each year! And that doesn't include applications received through referrals and career fairs.

Obviously, the competition is tough. The interviews and the selection process is even tougher, Google is popular for its rigorous interview process so prepare yourself for some brain draining, mind boggling questions.

Whether you have an upcoming interview, preparing to send an application or just curious about Google's hiring process, this article will be your guide into the recruitment process of one of the world's best companies to work for.

First Stop, Interviewers

Applicants won't be interviewed by their potential boss or colleagues. Sunil Chandra, Google's VP for staffing and Operations says, "You're (interviewers) much more objective if you understand the space but do not necessarily have a stake in that person actually joining."

And instead of having just one team assigned do the interviews, Chandra says, "hiring is pretty much part of everyone's job."

First, a select group of employees interview the applicants. Then, all their observations are passed to a second independent committee assigned to check the qualifications and interview feedback for each applicant.

Why the need for another committee? Aside from thorough evaluation, they're responsible for ensuring the whole process is fair and that it adheres to Google's standards of hiring for the long-term.

Interview Methods: Brain Teasers, Coding Tests and GPAs

Allow me to save you some time here: Don't bother reading up brain teasers and articles about unusual questions tech companies ask. Google might have used such questions at one time, but they're not doing it anymore.

"We found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time," says Laszlo Bock, SVP of People Operations at Google, in an interview with the NY Times.

GPAs and test scores don't hold that much significance either. "We found that they don't predict anything," says Bock. 

Instead, Google's recruiting process is data-driven and much of the questions are behavioral, designed to help the interviewer find out how an applicant is likely to behave in a real situation, unlike typical interview questions where responses could be rehearsed to the letter.

Google is Interested in How Intelligent You Are... But Not in the Way You Think

As I mentioned earlier, you won't get a job based on your GPA alone. Google's interviewers gauge your intelligence through questions that test you in the following:

• Field of expertise - product creation, coding, analysis, marketing, programming, etc.
• Creativity - ability to come up with creative solutions to problems you have little knowledge of
• Aptitude - your ability to apply skills and knowledge from one branch of expertise to another

How Many Interviews before Decision Time?

Google used to conduct so many interviews before deciding on which candidate to hire, but through countless revisions of their hiring process and analytics, they discovered that 4 is the magic number.

After the 4th interview, the degree of confidence in an applicant doesn't increase much.

Sometimes, applicants may face a 5th interviewer, but this person is just a shadow interviewer learning the process of doing interviews for future job applicants. The 5th interviewer's feedback doesn't count.

It takes an average of 45 days before they extend a job offer to an applicant.

Of course, knowing about Google's interview process won't assure you of getting a job there. But this article will be more than enough to set your expectations, and even if you can't get a job, at least you won't go there totally clueless and unprepared of the challenges that await you.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

March: 

American Society of Association Executive Great Ideas Conference

Lehigh University

April

Career Thought Leaders

May

American Society of Training and Development ICE

June

American Society of Training and Development Webinar