Forget FedEx, I want to marry MIT and Google

Posted on October 7, 2004 at 2:13 AM in 'Ruminations' with tags 'google, nerds, noam_chomsky'

I learned today that well-known linguist, human rights speaker, and every political band's favorite source of samples, Noam Chomsky, an Institute Professor of linguistics at MIT. Just one more reason I'd love to have spent time there.

As for Google, my score on the SAT, the only saving grace of my academic career, would be irrelevant to them. What they're interested in is an employment candidate's performance on the GLAT — the Google Labs Aptitude Test. In case their URLs change, I've got the four pages here:

I love working at Xapiens, but I can't help but swoon at a company that clearly has so much nerdy fun in what they do, and look for the same in their prospective employees. Though I feel terribly inadequate, perhaps someday I'll work up the nerve to send them my resume or something. In the meantime, I'll continue to gaze on them from afar with heart-shaped eyes.

| Revision: 1 | (3 comments) | Comments are closed for this entry.

Comments

Posted by Jenn 6 hours, 57 minutes later

Wow, Google's application is totally awesome! You should definitely apply when you feel the urge to move on (and think you have a chance).

Posted by clemson-ass garet 11 hours, 22 minutes later

Yikes. My nerdiness has nothing on these guys. Is it like the SAT, where it's different every time, and you go in and take it having studied everything you possibly could? Or is that a standard application that you send to them?

Posted by Dan 1 hour, 53 minutes later

That's actually all there is. You print it out and fill it out and mail it to them. I don't think they're so concerned with you getting the "right" answers. Note that most of the questions aren't really technical per se (see question 4) — in fact, some of them don't even have a correct answer (see question 9). I think what Google is looking for is people who are not just nerdy (as it would take to want to work there in the first place), but also have a sense of humor and exhibit creativity. In other words, not just your average computer nerd, of which there's millions out there, but one that is also exceptional in other areas. Sort of like the girl in high school who was ridiculously hot but also knew Turbo PASCAL. Except that I didn't know a girl like that, and you probably didn't either. Which is why I feel inadequate when I consider applying to Google :)