Google to recruit through coding competitions

MUMBAI: Google India has changed the way it recruits from engineering colleges, trashing paperbased tests in favour of Google Jams or coding competitions. Candidates will now have to crack coding puzzles online to clear the first few rounds of the placement tests at the coveted firm.

Code jams are a popular method of hiring globally. Google too has conducted them in India, but only as part of its global recruitment process. "It has proved effective in candidate selection before the interview stage," says a company official who does not wish to be named.

The online testing platform, he added, gives Google scope to evaluate a large number of students from select universities. Students are excited at the innovation. "My algorithms will do the talking," says Pranav Ramarao (21), a computer science student at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. He won a Google Code jam contest in Hyderabad last year and was taken to the company office for a day. "You can immediately assess how good your code is unlike a penand-paper test where you don't know if the code is correct. They test your algorithms and data structure," he explains.

At least 50 students will be attempting the code jam from the institute's Hyderabad centre this month. Google India has given top engineering colleges (non-IITs) four placement slots. "We do not have to sit in an examination centre and take the test. We can be part of the Google jam even from our hostels," says a student from NIT Warangal.

At least 90 out of 120 computer science students at the institute will take the Google code jam this year, says a placement team member. Google India refused to reveal its hiring target or the number recruited last year.

"Our students are placed globally so we do not recruit them keeping location in mind," adds the official quoted earlier. Google India has been rated the best place to work for five consecutive years in 'India's Best Companies to Work For' study conducted by The Economic Times and Great Place to Work Institute.