As a graduate student, it was initially very difficult to hear that a GPA or test scores are worthless. However, I think back to my test scores and GPA, I was never at the top of my class in school. I was a “C” student in high school and a “B” student in college and I'm not too sure if my scores were part of the equation when I was hired permanently as a teacher. I did not pass my teacher entrance exams, RICA and CSET, on the first shot. It took me a few times because I was not ready and I just did not have the knowledge at the time. The test scores showed me that I wasn’t ready but the failure taught me to persevere and to never give up because I felt I was meant to be a teacher. This is exactly what I tried to communicate during my teaching interview five years ago, that I had other attributes that made me an asset to their school.
“Don’t get him wrong, Bock begins, “Good grades certainly don’t hurt.” Many jobs at Google require math, computing and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can apply, it would be an advantage.” (Friedman, 2014) Even though Google does not look at grades or degrees as the primary reason to hire, it can be an asset. Grades are an asset only if they’re accompanied with the personal traits they value such as the ability to learn on the fly. The ability to problem solve by tinkering, collaborating, working with a team and leadership skills. They don’t want a person that masters one aspect of a job or skill and always has the answer to a problem of that certain job. They want people that may encounter old problems but thinks of a new way to solve it.
Leadership is definitely a skill students need to practice in the classroom. I tend to use the term “leadership skills” every time one of my students practices an attribute of leadership. I say, “awesome leadership skills!” when a student takes some type of initiative in their group setting just to bring the awareness to a second grader. This normally leads to a teaching moment for the rest of the class as I explain why this certain student showed great leadership skills. The article also discussed the difference between traditional and emergent leadership. Google doesn’t care if you were the president of a chess club or sales. They care about how you are able to work with a team. Do you know how to lead, when it’s time for you to lead and when to step back and let someone else lead. In my second grade classroom, I have my students sitting in groups of 4 to help them collaborate a bit easier and to hold each other accountable. I try to change their seats once a month just so they can work with different students and different personalities because it’s a skill they will need for the rest of their lives.
I truly wish every job hired the same way as Google and maybe many do but in my experience, there were many occasions where I was beat out by someone with a degree. Before, I had a degree I would apply for certain jobs that I knew I could do but I just didn’t have the degree so I went back to school. I applaud Google for giving people the opportunity to join without the degree. However, the attributes they are looking for such as the ability to code, learning ability, leadership, humility and ownership also comes with years and years of practice. These traits do no just come, there has to be some type of education-whether it’s self-taught through a variety of experiences, online, reading or work experience. This article opened up my curiosity in regards to project based learning schools. I’m curious to see how many project based learning school graduates are hired by Google right out of high school.
References
Friedman, T (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. The New York Times. Retrieved From: http://www.nytimes.com