Why Work At Google?
Wow, remember Russell Beattie, the blogger who canceled his Google interview? Well, the discussion at his blog has gotten fierce. Ironically, this is probably the best thing that ever happened to his blog, traffic-wise, but I can't imagine this will do anything but hurt his chances with employers. Human Resources is going to look at this and probably pass.

Why didn't Russell want to work at Google? It's complicated, but it boils down to a feeling that Google employees think their stuff don't stink. I think Russell might be a bit off in his assessment. While I don't believe Google's new paper millionaires aren't excited, the word is that Google is weathering the IPO much better than most 90s bubble companies did, and the excitement isn't hurting business. Google's corporate culture is unique, and I think there's room for all sorts of people.

Would I want to work at Google? Yeah, I think it's fair to say I would. I'm not sure why Google would want to hire a reporter with an obsession about technology, but I'd take their money. The main reason I would go for it? Freedom. I do best in an environment where I feel free to try new things and throw out ideas, and I'd love to try to make all the connections between Google services that I wish we could have. I'd spend my whole day thinking of ways to integrate Local and Keyhole, Orkut and Answers, Desktop and Picasa, Froogle and the Translation Tools, and everything else. I think I could have a lot of fun in that sandbox. Of course, my passion is writing, and as a reporter, making connections between disparate facts to show a picture. Whether I could translate that into bringing disparate services together is a question I doubt I'll get to answer, but I sure hope someone does it.

- posted by Nathan Weinberg @ 11/01/2004 11:32:00 AM