Google Is Using A Super-Cryptic Method To Recruit New Developers
Google seems to be using a super-cryptic challenge to recruit new developers.
The company has created a mysterious page - Google.com/Foobar - that you can only access if you get invited.
How do you get invited? Apparently, by showing an interest and expertise in programming languages like Python through your Google search history, according to commenters on Hacker News.
Commenters have reported that searching for terms like "python lambda syntax" and "mutex lock" brings up an invite to compete some challenge questions.
Here's what commenter Kyle brown saw after searching mutex lock:
If you say you want to play, Kylebrown says you can request different challenges:
The consensus on the Hacker News message board is that Google has keyword matching for search queries for users who have their search history turned on that will trigger invitation. Developers who elect to go through the challenges, described as "fun puzzles" by one commenter, may get contacted by Google.
Business Insider reached out to Google about this recruiting technique and recieved the following response:
" import string z=string.ascii_lowercase m=''.join([z[6],z[11],z[7],z[5]]) print(m) " The message? "GLHF," which stands for "Good Luck, Have Fun!"