A good friend of mine found this Google recruitment letter on the streets of Manhattan today. I enjoy the fact they are recruiting a "wide range of characteristics" - very funny. Visiting the url on the flyer - www.google.com/usability it appears that Google may have an adversity if the candidate works for a web or software development shop - with a very specific yes/no question: "Do you work for a web or software development company?". Maybe they are looking for the "Yes", but I sincerely doubt it. The predisposition on Personal details surrounding languages - both native and spoken is interesting as well.
Personally, I think it is a good development. I believe Google is a shop built by engineers/developers for engineers/developers. It is well documented that "business people" are effectively second class citizens inside Google - a fact I also have verified informally with Googlers. (The business people are purportedly not afforded the same 20% free time for projects as the special engineering people.)
Google needs to "cross the chasm" back to the rest of America and design technology not just for the Internet elite. I have had a few intensive sessions just teaching Gmail to my neighbor after he couldn't understand why there wasnt an obvious 1-800 phone number to reach "help" at Google.
Being the big silent morass that Google is, we may never know the outcome of these tests - but the flyers on light poles brings back fond memories of campaigning for student body president at my alma mater. Gotta love the referral code - "NYFD1". Do they get a CPA on that?
Photo taken at Broadway and Vesey in lower Manhattan. 3/25/08
