Waiting . . . .

It was around in february when I applied for Google through one of my friends friend. He gave me and that my profile is good enough and hopefully I would get a telecon from the Google guys. I waited for a few days then. But when I didnt receive any communication from their, I lost the hope and stopped waiting and I though this chapter is closed here itself. But suddenly one day in April after (approx 2 months) I received a call from the Google HR and she said that they would like to take me in their process. It was a sudden surprise for me, but took it as a blessing in disguise. Disguise...why so!!because I was loking for a change and wasn't able to figure out where else to apply after I got an offer from MS.
She said me that if shortlisted, I would get an email and would receive a telecon from Mt. View. Though I didn't get any such mail but yea one night I did get a call from Mt. View at around 11 in the night. It was a total surprise for me and I didnt get any time for getting nervous or tensed, forget about the prep for this huge interview. But thank God it was very simple and I faired well. (Though later I learnt that the first one was simple for everybody).
Well I cleared this round and now it was the time to go to Hyderabad and visit the much talked about Google Office. I wont say it Campus because it wasn't. It was just one floor in a building. But the moment you enter inside you can sense that all the hype about it wasnt false. The Google T-shirts worn by almost evrybody were fascinating. For the first time I did an electronic signature and signed a Non Disclosure agreement befor entering the campus with a slip pasted on my pocket.
Had a lunch straight away and the cafeteria was cool with all kinds of eatables. Baskets full of fruits, fridge full of juices, milk, soft drink cans. The cubicles were a little small and congested though.
Had 4 rounds of my interviews and quite unexpectedly I was doing well in them.
After that the sweet HR- Anuradha had a chat with me after a wonderful lunch which had a huge variety of food: 5-6 kinds of salad, 3 types or rice,curd, some south Indian dishes(didnt like this part:(), fruits and yea Subway sandwiches. Anuradha told me that they would still take a lot of time in getting the final results and I started counting the days from that day onwards(oops!! I forgot to tell that this was May 11, 2007). So, in the meanwhile I could be just hopeful with a Google T-shirt(which was a small gift from their side) packed in my cupboard which I decided to wear on the day I get some final answer from their side.
After returning back, the painful period of waiting started. On monday I came to know that Krishna(the M-Tech guy from IIT B whom i met in my room in the guest house arranged by Google)had got a personal info form. That was an indication from their side" Dude, you have finished the technical rounds and we are considering you further but still dont start partying as you stand more chanes to be rejected than selected"...sounds weired na but it happens. It took me even one more week to receive this indication and in the middle of that waiting period I again started having a very strong feeling that my dream is again going away from me though I was still having a bright hope in deep of my hearts and at last I received this form on May 21. As I didnt want to delay my processing further I filled up the form and mailed it back on the same day, whereas Krishna took 3 days for the same :P.
The waiting period after this was the most painful. I knew that I had got an indication that I have cleared the technical rounds but as stated earlier their was equal probability of being rejected even now. To add upon my anxiety, Krishna got an offer after two days along with this other fellow batchee. My anxiety has got worse now. I mailed to Hr, no response from her side. Even tried calling her up, but no response. Everyday, their has been hardly any moment when I am not thinking of all this and then analyzing both sides of coin: what if I dont get thro :( and what if I really get through:). Going thro the biggest suspense period of my life. I have waited for the results in the past also, but that time I could judge how I have done, what I deserve and thus I could approximate what would i get. But here, I know how I have done but I dont know anything else. I have done my part of performing and whats left on my part is wait...wait...wait...!!!.

Ethics !!

So, I am all set to write my first blog. Being a software engineer I cannot think anything better than writing about the biggest software company headed by the richest man of the world( yes, you would have guessed it by now, so no use of writing its name here and spoiling my blog)

Let me share an experience of mine which I had recently with this software giant. I underwent their interview process recently. Don;t worry I won't discuss the interview questions over here. For those who dont know about their process let me describe that briefly. Whenever they see any vacancies/requirements in their particular group/project they hire people specifically for the same. Please do note this line. This is particularly for experienced people and not the campus recruitment. So after 1 year of my work ex i learnt about an urgent opening in one of their groups through my friend who worked over there. So, I asked him to forward my CV for the same.
I finally got a call from them. They had a telephonic round which went very well but I didnt hear from them for around 15-20 days. I thought its a big company and are very specific about the person they hire. SO let them take their own time. FInally I received a call and was asked to come down to Delhi for the interview after 2 days itself. Well, this was done all very sudden but still I accepted that and went for the further rounds at their Delhi center. I faired well in these rounds as well and the group manager their was happy with my performance and told me that "they would make me an offer and would like to see me soon their dev center". I was really very happy and it was like dream coming true. I had the interview on saturday and the HR told me that he would get in touch with me on Tuesday positively. Well a week passed and I didnt get any information from their side. So I called up the HR which didnt had any knowledge about my status, surprising naaa. Anyways he told me that somebody would get in touch with me within 1 or 2 days.
And then they crossed all line of ethics and blah-2 which they hype a lot of. I received a mail from them after a week or so which said that they see me as a potential hire but currentlt they dont have any position open so they would consider me after 6-8 months if they have any openings. When I said how can they do so as a senior manager from their company has committed to me and I relied on the valuable words of this organisation. But the HR was least bothered about that and to just push me back told me that she would talk to that manager and let me know. But again there was no communication from their side and when finally i tried to reach her, she said a plain no without any further reasons and all.
I am not annoyed that I didn't get a chance to work in that company but rather I am happy that i was saved from working in such an unethical company. I know I am nobody to comment on their recruitemnt process but in my case it had the followng flows:

1. Lack of communication from their side. It was always delayed and they responded only when I tried to reach them
2. They conducted my interviews even when they didnt had any openings. I think they must understand the value of others time also.
3. Not keeping their words and commitment.
4. And after doing all this there was not a single hint of aplogy from their side( afterall they are the biggest software company and they have all the rights to be proud of).

Thank God, I am not working over there and have no plans to ever go in such a company.

Disclaimer: all the views are personal and should not be generalised.