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Comment by NeutronBoy

11 years ago

> Nothing says Google must accept sub-par technical people, but Google fails to realize you don't have to be the top 0.0001% in absolute algorithms intelligence to do great work.

But if you're Google, why wouldn't you aim for the top 0.0001%? It's not as though you have a shortage of candidates.

Because there's no such thing as "the top 0.0001%". Software development is a collection of talents with multiple basis vectors, not a single linear talent you can stack rank.

And even if there were such a thing, you're not going to find the top n% by asking questions from an undergraduate textbook.

And you're certainly not going to find them by pissing off people with proven practical achievements. Acting like that is evidence of anti-intelligence, not a sign of being smarter than everyone else.

Do the math: 0.0001% of 7 billion is: 7,000. How many employees does Google have? Not to mention the fact that of those 7 billion, probably at least 6.9 billion have no appreciable training in software development, which would leave you with 100 candidates.