Rod Hilton reviewed The Google resume by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
Review of 'The Google resume' on 'GoodReads'
3 stars
Not bad. Decent advice in here and good material, it gave me some insight into some "behind closed doors" aspects of Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon's hiring process. It was worth reading for someone interested in a job at one of these big companies.
I think overall the book skews more toward college students and recent graduates than folks like me who have been working in tech for a while. There were plenty of parts that I just skimmed because I felt like they didn't apply to me.
I felt like the advice in general skewed young as well, and I kind of felt like the author did too. There was one section of a Q&A where the question was something like "my parents tell me I should take down all the facebook pictures of me underage drinking, are they right?" and Author Gayle McDowell's response was not to bother, …
Not bad. Decent advice in here and good material, it gave me some insight into some "behind closed doors" aspects of Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon's hiring process. It was worth reading for someone interested in a job at one of these big companies.
I think overall the book skews more toward college students and recent graduates than folks like me who have been working in tech for a while. There were plenty of parts that I just skimmed because I felt like they didn't apply to me.
I felt like the advice in general skewed young as well, and I kind of felt like the author did too. There was one section of a Q&A where the question was something like "my parents tell me I should take down all the facebook pictures of me underage drinking, are they right?" and Author Gayle McDowell's response was not to bother, if anything underage drinking makes the submitter look more sociable which Google might want to balance out all their nerds. Uh, no dude. Delete the pictures. Holy smokes what terrible advice.
Overall, book was full of good insider info but for someone at my point in my career there was a lot that didn't apply. I'd definitely recommend it to younger folks or college students who want to get into one of these big companies, and it's worth a quick skim for graybeards like myself.
