Google's Algorithmic Hiring Process

Only at Google. The company known for hiring the best and the brightest and only accepting those candidates with the highest grade point averages and SAT scores has now found an algorithm to help predict which candidates will make the best Google employees. Job applicants will now complete a detailed online survey including questions like: “Have you ever made a profit from a catering business or dog walking? Do you prefer to work alone or in groups? Have you ever set a world record in anything?” (The New York Times).

I am a bit skeptical. I do not think that an algorithm is an ideal way to select the right person for the right job. I like to think that we are much too complex as human beings to be reduced to a single number determining whether or not we would be a outstanding employee.

On the other hand, Google search algorithms are the best, so who knows, maybe Google is on the right track. Next in the Google product family: “Algorithmic Dating”, the online survey guaranteed to find your ideal mate brought to you by Google Algorithms.