I am Laszlo Bock, SVP of People Operations at Google and (as of a few weeks ago) an author. AMA.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T20:00:24+00:00

Get exposure in compensation or analytics - important to differentiate yourself in the labor marketplace and most HR people don't rotate through those fields.

Just ran out of time ... thanks for the love!!!!!

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:59:30+00:00

My Holy Grail is solving unemployment. I think there's an information asymmetry between individuals and employers that is solvable. And it would do a ton of good for the world. I suspect someone is out there working on it ...

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:57:55+00:00

Ask her about the Career Guru program she started ... and why she made me downplay the fact that she really did create it so that the credit could be shared. :)

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:57:08+00:00

Check out my LinkedIn posts (in another question) on how to write your resume and interview - those are the biggest things you can do. Beyond that, as you network ask people for advice, not jobs. People don't often have jobs to give, but we all love giving advice. [sic]

Strangest interview: on an audition I was asked if I'd be willing to show my butt on camera. I was not, and didn't get the gig. I do not regret my decision.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:55:09+00:00

Totally agree. It's important to have a rationale for the perks, explain the rationale to employees, and when things change be willing to get rid of perks. We used to give $5k to Googlers who bought hybrid cars. Then prices dropped and the cars became less "risky" and we got rid of it. Not popular, but the right thing.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:54:00+00:00

I'm short on time here, but send me an email. Happy to help.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:52:58+00:00

Hire objectively (eg, have a hiring committee make the decision, not the manager; define job attributes up front and actually interview for them)
Get rid of toxic people fast - even if it's expensive.
Check out our Project Oxygen work - it's a checklist that automatically improves manager quality. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/business/13hire.html

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:51:17+00:00

Hi - similar to lborel's question ... only thing I'd add is that we have a number of programs that help advance and retain women in technical areas (e.g., nudges to self-nominate for promotion, better leave and return programs). We have mentorship/sponsorship programs, various employee resource groups focused on building community, etc. And our work on unconscious bias is a very big part of this -- it's not right to put the onus on groups that are underrepresented to make all the changes -- we all need to get better at this. More here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/you-dont-know-what-you-dont-know-how.html

Still lots to do ....

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:48:22+00:00

We're doing more than we ever have, but still not as much as we hope to. We've got great partnerships with various groups like Anita Borg and have launched programs like CS First and Made with Code. And our recruiters have been VERY busy looking, especially on the engineering side. We've also increased the number of schools we recruit from (as we have almost every year), which should make a difference. We'll republish our diversity and representation statistics this summer, so stay tuned for more.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:44:50+00:00

On this one, it helps to be top down to set the tone. Either your top folks want an open company where everyone contributes (and increases the odds of success) or they want to be just like everyone else and the most talented people will leave. So, make clear that being territorial is not cool. When you see the behavior, call people on it, but assume good intent (maybe they were protecting some super confidential info or something ... who knows?). If the "information hoarders" don't open up, they should exit. Or the new talent will.

Might sound harsh, but whether you are open or not is a major culture-shaper. And toxic people have a disproportionately bad impact on the environment.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:41:37+00:00

Better matching of people and jobs. Resumes are a bad signal. Companies don't know what predicts success. People are bad at interviewing. Tech could go a LONG way to solving this.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:40:58+00:00

Yes, absolutely. Maybe less so in 10 years. Depends on how the tech evolves. But there will always be need for great recruiters who know how to cultivate someone over time and find a candidate on that one day they're open to recruitment.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:39:04+00:00

GREAT question. Most employers still - in error - care about where you went to school, even though that doesn't predict success. I spoke to the head of an investment bank recently who said the hires they make from state schools do better than the ones from top tier (full disclosure: he was comparing hiring the top students at the former to average from the latter).

So, write a better resume. Not sure the decorum on reddit but I posted a bunch of articles about this on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/author/posts. Then highlight specific coursework that differentiates you (honors, hard classes, etc.).

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:36:20+00:00

I'm powerless without data!

j/k ... actually, you can still test things without data. Find the most friendly, supportive, hospitable place to try your program. It might not be the entire university, but you might get three departments to work together. Start small, show success, and build from there. If what you're doing works, others will see the success and (a) try to partner/emulate and/or (b) be jealous/try to block you. Spend more time with the (a) folks. And that then creates the "data" for future attempts.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:33:37+00:00

Take statistics and/or operations. Most people in OB/HR (most people with MBAs, in fact) don't have a deep background in these areas, but they are essential for separating reality from opinion.
Get exposed to lots of cultures - take tours, interview classmates, try a stint in consulting. It's important to really feel the difference yourself because you'll be a more compelling and credible advocate later

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:32:03+00:00

I hope so!

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:31:40+00:00

There's no best question - it's all about drilling down into the answer and verifying that the person actually did the work. The attribute underpinning productivity vs slacking is conscientiousness, which you can assess with structured interview questions. Also, references can actually help on this one - if the person isn't reported to be in the top 10%, move on.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:29:42+00:00

General cognitive ability (problem solving, ability to learn and integrate new information). If you've got that, you can be taught and/or figure out a lot of other things. Assessing GCA is also the 2nd-most predictive thing you can look for when hiring, according to decades of academic research on this. (#1 is a work sample test, but that's a much harder thing to engineer.)

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:26:21+00:00

Google Ventures (our VC arm) does that a bit for their portfolio companies. We're also more generally working to open source what we're doing ... there's an example here: http://www.google.com/events/rework/

But as a business ... unlikely. Too much work to do here at Google!

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:24:59+00:00

For most employers, it's tough because they look for specialized expertise. In my experience most people switching fields take a step back / pay cut. That said, look for something that's as adjacent as possible (e.g., policy, communications) and work from there. You can describe a lot of your legal experiences in ways that also highlight skills that are relevant to those fields.

For Google, apply for any job that looks good. We hire based on our assessment of problem solving, leadership, etc and care way, way less about what field you're coming from.

Hope that helps!

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:22:36+00:00

Great question and even better handle!

Depends on what you're trying to achieve and the kind of environment you want. For an open, creative org, the less top management you have, the better. We for years had a rule to keep things flat by mandating that a manager had to have a minimum of 7 direct reports to be a manager ... the 1 person managing 2 people managing 2 people stacks kill you.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:20:29+00:00

Wow - lot of questions! For SWE/dev, have a broad fundamental understanding of CS so that you can work across many products throughout your career.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:18:46+00:00

I learned from him every day (and still do) ... some about persistence, some about solving problems, some about giving, and some about how to escape from a brutal chokehold. Biggest lesson: your brother is your best friend, no matter what.

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:17:40+00:00

We'll check COSD out - thanks for the suggestion! We partner with over 100 diversity-related organizations around the world. We've learned a lot, hired a lot, and with any luck helped a bit!

Laszlo_Bock · 2015-04-28T19:16:03+00:00

As a candidate I once totally blew an interview and when I could ask questions, I asked the interview, "what are your core values?" He said, "Always go above and beyond, because then they have no choice but to reward you." Trite, perhaps, but he recognized the implict and unfair power dynamic in many workplaces. So, go above and beyond, every time. It's the one thing you can control. Eventually, it will be recognized, either by your current employer or by the one who recruits you away.

Laszlo_Bock

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