NO COMPANY that Career has spoken to for this column says that it wants to employ dullards. They all want bright, capable people who know one side of a spreadsheet from the other. Google, however, has a reputation for taking this demand for the toppest of dogs that little bit further than anyone else; for example, many of the jobs on their website don’t simply want a degree, but one “from a leading university”. And you can bet that they’re not talking about a 2:2, either.

“We want people who will reach high peaks,” says Jeff Levick, Google’s vertical markets director, Europe. The typical Google person is “someone who is highly intelligent, highly creative, and has this strong desire to change not just themselves but the way the world does things. People who see four sides of the square and only four sides might not be the right people for Google”.

If you pass the square test, make it through the gruelling recruitment process, and get to walk through the giant search engine’s front doors, you’ll be rewarded with the right to take your dog with you. Or, presumably, to enjoy the fun of working in an office livened up by other people’s pooches. There are also all the usual gym and insurance-type perks, plus a stream of free drinks and snacks (some healthy, some less so) and free lunches four times a week.

And there’s an attitude that hiring smart people means giving people the tools they need to do the job, then letting them get on with it, Levick says. “People get the job done at the pace that suits them, so they can work from 4am to 4pm if they want to. I haven’t seen that happen here, but in California they work very interesting hours.” Levick points out that the company still complies with EU working time regulations: interesting hours yes, crazy number of hours, no.

It’s still hard work though, says Pete Brown, a 25-year-old maximiser (Google-speak for sales support). “For lots of people the main downside is the amount of work we have. Obviously it’s good to be busy and good to be challenged but the company has grown so quickly that the amount we are expected to do is huge. Occasionally it does feel like you’re being pulled in lots of different directions at once.” That said, Brown couldn’t love his job more. He praises the open, relaxed offices (yes, there are lava lamps), great perks and the get-involved culture that encourages people to take on interesting projects outside their own niche. His main concern is that no future job will live up to its standards: “I worry that it might have spoilt me for working for other big companies.”

The Oxford English graduate passed nine interviews, including one that was conducted across the Atlantic by telephone in the middle of the night, after being introduced by a friend who already worked there. Personal recommendations are important, Brown says, because they help teamwork. It’s not enough just to be bright; you also need to fit the Google culture. Career’s tip: the hobbies section of your CV should mention hang-gliding or conducting symphony orchestras, not slobbing around in front of Lost. And, crucially, you’ll need to be able to back up your claims: you could well be interviewed by last year’s world champion.

DATA FILE

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