How to Answer: As a Google Recruiter, you will engage key business partners in order to understand the needs of a given hiring team. How do you react when you and a key business partner disagree on the quality of a candidate, and it sets your search back?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Google job interview.
4. As a Google Recruiter, you will engage key business partners in order to understand the needs of a given hiring team. How do you react when you and a key business partner disagree on the quality of a candidate, and it sets your search back?
The Goal
The interviewers want to know that you handle disappointment professionally rather than becoming visibly upset or demotivated. Show the interviewers that you can maintain Google's core values even in the face of disappointment.
Written by Rachelle Enns on April 21st, 2022
Pro Tip
Google has a list of 8 principles that have helped them create a culture of teamwork and innovation:
- Think 10x
- Launch, then keep listening
- Share everything you can
- Hire the right people
- Use the 70/20/10 model
- Look for ideas everywhere
- Use data, not opinions
- Focus on users, not the competition
Take your time to learn more about each of these principles and consider how you can apply this language in your interview response.
Written by Rachelle Enns on April 21st, 2022
How to Answer
Each time you shortlist and present a candidate to stakeholders and decision-makers, there is a risk that they will say 'no' to your candidate. There will be times when you think you've hit the jackpot and found the best candidate possible for the role. You will excitedly present the candidate to your leadership team, and unfortunately, the hiring managers don't feel the magic.
Discuss in detail how you react when disappointments arise. Then, focus the bulk of your response on the action steps you take to pick yourself back up and move forward.
Written by Rachelle Enns on April 21st, 2022
Answer Example
"I believe it's in the company's best interest that all stakeholders agree on a candidate before a job offer is made. In my current role as Recruiter for Company XYZ, if a leader disagrees with the quality of my shortlisted candidate, I remove any emotion from the equation. I respond to them with factual data from my talent marketplace analytics and other forms of benchmarking. This approach aligns with Google's principle of 'Use data, not opinions.' There are many times that the hiring managers need to access more robust data on a candidate or the talent acquisition landscape. When leaders can look at the full picture, they are much more likely to make sound decisions. Sometimes a disagreement on the quality of a candidate means that I go back to my search and find a couple of new candidates for consideration. Other times this situation means that we collectively compromise by interviewing the candidate one more time in an attempt to uncover the core reason the leader feels hesitant to make a job offer. As a Google Recruiter, if I encounter a situation like this, I will communicate boldly by pushing back when necessary. I will share all of the information I can and use data over opinion when making my case."
Written by Rachelle Enns on April 21st, 2022