In the current economy, it is important for companies to hire the right employees who can help the companies to achieve their objectives. In doing this, companies usually develop various protocols for employment application and background check. This paper aims to perform a critique on Google’s employment application processes and background checks. The paper will look at the company’s job application practices and its check policies and will also identify some of the shortcomings of these processes.
Headquartered in Mountain View, San Francisco, Google is an information based company which provides information services to the people globally through its popular search engine. The company offers a variety of information services ranging from advertising platforms, provide mapping and direction services (for example through Google maps) among many others. Google has an estimate of 53,600 employees globally.
Google’s employment application process is very thorough. It provides sufficient information to conduct a background investigation. The application process includes the provision of both professional and personal information that ranges from education certificates and transcripts and achievements, professional achievements and rewards, information about one’s citizenship and law abidance, previous work experience among others (Google Inc, 2016). This is information on which a complete background check can be conducted on one in order to create a full profile.
At Google, there is a hiring committee which is mainly tasked with assessing the job applicants and determining which roles they are best suited for. For the interview process to begin, the hiring committee agrees unanimously on the right candidates. Later, the candidates are presented to the interviewers (Google Inc, 2016). Google also has a compensation committee. This committee basically looks for example, at what the candidates are demanding in terms of pay and other benefits. The committee also assesses how much the company is willing to commit to a certain post in terms of compensation.
The Google employment application process does not contain any noticeable waivers in the employment application. Usually, the applicant has no option but to agree to the terms and conditions of the hiring and selection process (Google Inc, 2016). The company, for example, states that it will share information about one to its human resource team for review. In the employment application process, an applicant is also made aware that his or her job application isn’t a guarantee of securing a job with the company. The applicant is generally is expected to agree to those terms.
Google doesn’t use the same application process for all positions. The company sources for talents at the executive level by offering competitive packages in to remain relevant in the market. The centralized model of application is mainly for recruiting fresh talent or talent that will be developed and escalated to the different business devolved units of the company.
There are several revisions that can be made in Google’s employment application. One of these is ensuring that in house talent has an opportunity to apply for executive jobs in the company. In-house talent consists of people who are familiar with the Company’s products, who understand the pricing and the placements of the products and who also understand customer requirements. The employees of Google should be given an opportunity to rise to become the key decision makers in the company. The job application process should provide the applicants with a long-term process for professional growth within the company.
Another aspect that can be revised is the feedback process by the interviewer on an application. Applicants can sometimes collude with interviewers or even their previous employers to come up with untrue information. This might end up with the company actually hiring people who are not fully qualified and who cannot, therefore, assist the company to achieve its vision and objective.
Also, the company considers the youth more in its employment application. It has been criticized for age discrimination. Such a policy is a disadvantage to the company since it discourages highly experienced individuals that are a bit older. According to Furlong& Cartmel, 2006, the youth make up the highest proportion of graduates and job applicants, but they cannot always be relied on since they lack relevant experience. Therefore, I would revise the application proves to consider even older people and not discriminate them. The company should ensure that people of different age groups are allowed to work in the organization. The aged might not have the vigor to perform the tasks but the experience gained through the years worked before will provide Google with Solomonic wisdom that will enable it to soar high.
The company’s compensation committee also doesn’t have a clear strategy in regards to the compensation of the job applicants. They compensate employees based on how much they are willing to commit and on how much the employment applicants are requesting. The company does not consider other aspects such as market competition and what competitors will offer even in the long run. These are aspects of the company’s application process that should be revised.
Google doesn’t have a drug testing policy for its employees. The company believes that its vigorous process of recruitment will bar anyone who is currently abusing drugs from becoming an employee or applying for a job. The company, therefore, does not have an official drug policy written as part of the recruitment or job application process. It is alternatively enforced indirectly by observing applicant’s previous and current records in jobs application. According to Henderson, (2012), such policies discourage some job applicants who may have had previous drug problems in the past.
Google is not under the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, though the company’s cars in class A, B C, and E are highly inspected with an inspection unit globally. Some of the key issues during the inspection include; fleet management, car tracking and status of the cars assigned to employees. A track record of the applicant’s driving history and practices is reviewed. This includes a check on the driver’s license, accidents that one may have caused and if one has been arrested for over speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol.
Credit information check during the employment application process is a standard practice at Google. This is optimized via liaising with different credit regulatory authorities of different states (Google Inc, 2016).
The backgrounds checks that are conducted include interviewing the previous and current neighbors of the job applicant (Google Inc, 2016). These interviews do not focus on the applicant’s personal details but rather on the applicant’s prospective job.
The references listed on the resume are normally contacted and interviewed by Google as part of its background check procedures. This process is also used to obtain more information about the applicant.
The background check procedure of Google is fully adequate. It involves a lot of background investigation of the information provided by an applicant. For example, Google has a tendency of contacting the human resource department of an applicant’s previous employer where it, for example, verifies one’s references as well as certificates of achievement. Google also has a global liaison with foreign entities and other relevant stakeholders; a liaison which it uses to verifying one’s true status as indicated on the resume and even other details such as the correct grades for certificates obtained. These activities ensure that the company has the right applicants for the intended job. Also, through its Google search engine, Google is actually capable of profiling the job applicant by secretly following or tracing the sites that he or she has visited before. There is often a high likelihood of the job applicant having used Google services before the employment application, and these will be used to conduct a background investigation.
As mentioned, Google conducts checks on an applicant’s previous employer with the help of the human resource team from one’s previous job. The relationship with customers and the reasons that one made leave their previous employer are assessed. If still working for another employer, Google will ask for information from the employer in a properly structured manner so as to avoid the employee from being victimized for seeking greener pastures. The company also checks an individual’s relationship with the state from which one is applying for the job from. This includes a criminal profile. The company also checks the validity of the education and professional certificates presented. This is done with the help of statutory bodies where one claims to have obtained the certificates from. The employment application process also includes sometimes providing written samples especially if one is applying for a marketing or a public relations role.
All the above are clear strengths that help the company to be able to get the best candidates for various jobs. Calling candidates as well as their references and neighbors to confirm the details that have been captured on their resumes enables the company to assess the candidate’s overall personal profile including their technical skills and their motivation on the job.
However, in its background check processes, there are several identifiable weaknesses. The process background check is too slow. Too many people involved or different levels of decision making. There is a great bureaucracy that can frustrate applicants or candidates. Google might end up losing a considerable number of applicants to other organizations, applicants that can make a difference in the company’s operations. The world is moving at a fast pace and applicants will not wait for a company to take ages in the recruitment process. According to Schweyer, 2010, companies should reduce the time and the cost of employment application and background check since they aren’t the only employers that candidates are submitting applications to. Also, applicants’ behaviors change over time, and the checks can reveal past things about an employee; things that the employees no longer ascribes to and this might deny them an employment opportunity even if they have the correct skills to perform a job.
Generally, Google has a great employment application process, though I would recommend that a number of changes in its background check policies. One of these as mentioned is to make the process quicker. Unnecessariness bureaucracies should be eliminated. Also, in the company’s background check procedures, it often uses other stakeholders in getting the full profile of a job applicant. These cannot always be trusted, and the company should perhaps look for better or more fitting alternatives.
References
Furlong, A., & Cartmel, F. (2006). Young people and social change. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Google Inc. (2016). How We Hire Careers. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from https://www.google.com/about/careers/how-we-hire/
Google. (2016). Privacy Policy Careers. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.google.com/about/careers/privacy/
Henderson, D. Ronald (2012). How to Cope with unemployment, find a Job In Any Economy, And save money. Arthur House.
Schweyer, A. (2010). Talent management systems: Best practices in technology solutions for recruitment, retention and workforce planning. John Wiley & Sons.
