Antony’s Personal Opinion

This morning, another Google recruiter from Mountain View (their headquarter) contacted me via email. He asked me whether I am interested working for Google. I explained to him that I would need H1B visa to work in the United States. He replied back, even though the limit of H1B visa has been reached, they can still start interviewing process for 2007 recruitment. OK… I made an appointment for the first interview tomorrow afternoon.

You may know that Google’s interview process is one of the toughest ones in the world. If you don’t know, try to search for “Google interview” and you will know what I am talking about. Honestly, I am pessimistic to pass the interview process. Google have been hiring the best engineers and scientists on this planet. Furthermore, most of their engineers are young fresh brilliant guys who are still under 30!

Well… let’s see tomorrow….

After contacted by Google, I was asking to myself: which Google products that I am actually using? Here is the list of them:

• Google Search. I believe everybody is using this service. According to SearchEngineWatch.com, Google has 43.7% market share in the US, followed by Yahoo! and MSN.
  What I mean by Google Search here includes Web Search, Image Search and Code Search. About half a year ago, I posted a blog about Some Interesting Things You Can with Google.
   
• GMail. If you know me in person, you may notice that GMail has been my primary email address for quite some time.
   
• Google News. This is the “newspaper” that I always read every morning. The nice thing about Google News is that I can personalize which news I want to read.
   
• Google AdSense. I use AdSense to monetize my web site and my blogs. Although it generates money for me, I still cannot make a living from it yet. Fortunately, after doing some optimization, my income from AdSense has increased significantly.
   
• Google Analytics. I use this tool to analyze the traffic to my web sites and my blogs.
   
• Google Toolbar. Nothing special, It is just a plug-in to my web browsers, Internet Explorer and FireFox.
   
• Google Earth. It is definitely the coolest online map that I have ever seen. Interestingly, my small home town in Indonesia can now be viewed via Google Earth. Thanks to Google team!
   
• Google Maps for Mobile. I have been using the mobile version of Google Maps in my smart phones. It has been featured in my blog, S60Tips.com, as featured freeware and 10 must-have freeware applications for S60 phones.
   
• Google Personalized Home Page. The first home page that I always visit everyday each time I turn on my computer.
   
• Google Picasa. This is my primary photo organizer application.
   
• Google Web Accelerator. Just downloaded this tool a couple of days ago, still don’t know whether it really improves my browsing experience or not.
   
• Google YouTube. Although YouTube has just been acquired by Google last week, I want to mention it here too. I am not an active YouTube blogger, but I have posted some personal videos there.
   
• Google Translate. This is a very useful tool to translate text from one language to another. I had experience chatting in Chinese with a friend although I don’t speak Chinese at all (I just use Google to translate everything for me… :)).
   
• Google Pack. A small application from Google that allows me to download important Windows applications, such as Adobe Acrobat, FireFox, Picasa, etc.

There are some other Google products that I use rarely because I prefer similar products from their competitors. Here is the list of them:

• Google Talk. An instant messaging that I rarely use. The reason is simply because most of my friends are using either Microsoft’s Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger.
   
• Google Blogger. Blogger used to be my weblogs before I decided to move to WordPress. My last post is still available at Blogger even until today.
   
• Google Reader. I tried this service once, but I don’t like it. I am currently using BlogLines to read my feed subscription.
   
• Google Finance. Perhaps it is just a matter of taste, but I like Yahoo! Finance more than Google Finance.
   
• Google Blog Search. Although Google is the king of search, for some reasons, I prefer to use Technorati for blog searching.
   
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets. I don’t know why I am still addicted to Microsoft Office. I know it is not good; perhaps I have to start using non-Microsoft Office applications from now on. Last time, I was very lucky to get huge discount of Microsoft Office from my company.
   
• Google Calendar. Same as Google Docs & Spreadsheets, I am still addicted to Microsoft Outlook….
   
• Google Desktop. It is supposed to be a cool desktop search application. Unfortunately, when I installed it last time, my computer is getting slower. That’s why I decided to uninstall it completely.

A couple of weeks ago, one of Google recruiters contacted me to asking whether I am interested working for Google. The answer should be “definitely”, shouldn’t it? Everyone is interested working for Google. They have been hiring the best engineers and scientists on this planet.

However, I felt a little bit strange. Why? The H1B visa limit for this year has been reached a couple of months ago. If Google would hire me, they would have to wait until October 2007 before I can start working. It is more than 1 year from now!!! For me, it is fine because I couldn’t quit my current job anyway (my contract will end in mid-2007).

What is H1B visa? It is a document that allows skilled workers to work in the US for up to 6 years. There is a limit of 65,000 visas each year. For this year, the caps have been reached already. The employers have to wait until next year to file new H1B applications. This has caused problems for some companies because they can no longer hire talented people from other countries.

Back to my case, what did I say to the Google recruiter? I replied to her asking for H1B visa. I clearly indicated that I need H1B visa sponsorship. She replied back and said that she thought I am a Canadian citizen. There is another program, called TN visa, for Canadian and Mexican, which is much faster and easier than H1B. So… no job offer for me because I am not a Canadian.

Should the US government change their policy? In the Web 2.0 booming, many US companies need more talented workers (from other countries too). Time is one of the critical issues because everything is running very fast in the Web 2.0.

On the other hand, I know that the US government is trying to get rid of new immigrants. Many people, especially from developing countries, have been trying to make their American Dreams come true. They try many ways (sometimes illegal) to come to the US. Well… a lot of stories about that.

About two months ago, Budi Rahardjo, a security expert and famous blogger from Indonesia, posted an article, Why I should work for Google or Google should hire me Many people want to work for Google. They are the fastest growing technology company in the world. They just went public with IPO at $85 per share on August 19, 2004 and today their stock has soared to almost $400 per share.

We have seen that the best engineers and scientists in this planet have moved to Google, instead of Microsoft. We all know that their working environment is perfect for idealist and brilliant people. They have a corporate motto, “Don’t Be Evil“. They are not chasing money. They try to solve problems in the right way. Later, they will try to monetize their solution. Look at Google’s home page. So simple, no advertising at all. Look also at Google’s tools. All of them are free for users.

Back to the title of this blog, why can’t I work for Google? A few months ago, one of Google headhunters contacted me. She asked whether I was interested working for Google. They are expanding to the mobile world, so they need some experts with mobile competencies. Unfortunately I had a contract with my current employer for two years (until 2007). I said to her that I couldn’t resign from my current employer.

Anyway, even if I would have had a chance for an interview, I don’t think I would be able to work for Google. Here are some reasons:

• I am not young any more (31 years old this September). Most of Google employees are young and fresh engineers/scientists with age of less than 30 years old. In fact, I am only 2 years younger than Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
• We have to have full of ideas to work for Google. I might be very strong in mathematics and engineering. In fact, I was selected as Indonesian representative to the International Mathematics Olympic 13 years ago. Unfortunately, I am not a creative person with lots of ideas. I heard that Google employees are expected to allocate 20% of their time to explore any ideas that interest them.
• They are located at the heart of Silicon Valley. I have a personal preference not to live in North America. Although I am currently living in Canada, I have a plan to go back to Asia someday.

Well… I love Google. I am using most of their products and services. If you read this blog, you will notice that I put Google’s AdSense too.

Update (04-Mar-06): I forgot to mention, one of the best Microsoft employees that has moved to Google is Kai Fu Lee. A lot of converties behind this movement. There are a lot of news about this issue, for example CNet’s report “Microsoft sues over Google hire“.