Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Since it's founding in 1998, Google has grown by leaps and bounds. From offering search in a single language it now offers dozens of products and services-including various forms of advertising and web applications for all kinds of tasks. It now has over 65,000 employees and offices around the world. Rated as one of the 'best places to work' consistently and well known for its perks like free shuttle buses with WiFi, free food, 20% personal project time, onsite massage, fitness, daycare- Google is one of the most desirable companies to work for in the Bay Area.
Google is one of the largest employers for contractor jobs in Silicon Valley, so getting a Google contractor job in San Francisco Bay Area is not as hard as getting a full-time job at Google.
Tip 1: If you have an in-demand skill, just upload your resume on one of the major job boards like Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder with your location set to Mountain View, CA or Zip Code 94040 and you should get calls from staffing agencies for their locations in Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara. They also have increasng presence in Seattle, Austin, Chicago and Atlanta, so if you belong to these cities you might be in luck..
Tip 2: To increase your chances even more, create your profile on OnContracting as we are the only free and open network that recruiters at staffing agencies can access.
Tip 3: The reason you want to list your location as Mountain View, CA or Zip 94043 is that contract jobs don't have a budget for relocating you, and the staffing agencies are looking for someone that is doesn't have long commute as they believe you are unlikely to last long. If you are willing to relocate on your own, you can tell them you are not local, but willing to move to Mountain View. This might still be problematic as they may need an in-person interview before offering you the job.
Locations- Google hires contractors for almost every location it exists in, including its Mountain View, CA campus (Amphitheatre Parkway), Google Seattle (Kirkland), Google New York, etc. so set your location to the location you want a job at.
Tip 4: Avoid SubContracting Agencies: Subcontracting agencies are Tier 2 agencies that find and submit candidates to the Direct (Tier 1) vendors of Google for a referral fee. These are mostly offshore recruiting call-centers and their only advantage is they know who the direct vendor and the recruiter is. Giving your personal details to an unknown offshore agency increases your risk for identity fraud as many of these offshore agencies have poor security. When you get an email or call from a recruiter telling you they have a contractor job at Google, ask if the recruiter works for the direct vendor, and not as a subcontracting agency or implementation partner to the Tier .
Tip 5: Networking with the preferred vendors: More than anything, your best bet of getting a contractor job at Google is to connect with a recruiter that places contractors there. Here are tips for how you can find the preferred agencies so you know which recruiter to network with.
Go to the Client (Google) page and browse the vendors list in the category you are interested
Click on a vendor's name, a popup tells you more about the company
Click on 'View more' button which takes you to that vendor's page whihc has tabs for jobs, reviews, recruiters, etc.
Check the Contract Jobs tab for their current open jobs
Check the Recruiters tab to see if there are recruiters listed. Connect with them. If not find the recruiters on Linkedin
How many Contractors work at Google
Based on several surveys, ATS/VMS software company reports and news articles, it is estimated that most large companies have an employee to contractor ratio of 1:1 now.
Unfortunately conversion from contract to full-time is rare as most of the positions Google hires contractors are non-strategic and therefore not something they'd want to add full-time employees for.
However, there are reviews that confirm Google converts some high potential contractors to full-time- mostly to manage or oversee the vendor operations. Our estimate of contractor to fulltime conversion would be around 1% or 650 out of the 65,000 contractors might get converted every year. Let us know if you have better information.
Google hires interns from the top enigneering schools in the US and rest of the world.
Google hire part-time workers through staffing agencies listed above.
Google hires remote workers for some roles like localization, search results verification, etc. from the consulting companies listed above.
For onsite contractors, in most cases, it is better to leverage your Google experience in your resume and land a good full-time position at another company before you complete 12 months. That way if your contract ends and you don't get a full-time offer, you have a backup. Large companies don't like to keep contractors around for long for co-employment risk reasons. Expect 12-18 months term at the most on your contract. Also remember, contracts can be terminated at any time and a 12 month contract does not mean they are obligated to keep you for 12 months. Contractors often get comfortable and expect your contract to continue for long and get upset when it is terminated suddenly.
Google hires contractors for almost everything they hire fulltime employees for. Google contractor jobs are from entry-level to the senior most levels and even remote- work from home opportunities. Below are some sample contract job titles.
Software Engineer/Developer/Programmers
Software Engineer contractors at Google typically work on non-core products like internal applications for HR, Finance, IT, and other business operations. Some of the feedback we received from contractors (and you can give us your feedback below too) says the projects included
Contract hourly rates range from $50/hr-$125/hr on W2 (salary)
Software Engineer in Test
As a contract Software Engineer in Test at Google the kind of projects you will work on are
Front End/UI/Javascript Developer
Contract UI developers at Google work on
Contractor salary: $50-100/hr on W2
While mostly known for hiring the smartest engineers, Google also hires non-technical contract workers in roles of sales associates, customer support, designers, finance and accounting, recruiters, data validation and visual data specialists. These are some of the best contract gigs in Silicon Valley and other cities you may not have thought off for Google like Ann Arbor, MI, Washington DC or San Antonio, TX. These are great opportunities for entry level or less experienced people looking to get some big company work experience on their resume and experiencing working at one of the most desirable and admired blue-chip hi-tech company.
Recruiter and HR (Onsite)
One of the more common positions for contract are Google HR positions. These could be technical sourcers whose job is to scour the world for top engineering talent. Other positions inlcude Recruiters that reach out to candidates to see if theya re interested in working at Google. Then there are HR generalists and HR coordinators that arrange interviews, paperwork, schedules, etc. Another common part-time entry level Google job is that of a candidate greeter or candidate host who welcome potential candidates to Google when they come in to interview.
Salary- $15-50/hr on W2
Visual data specialists (Onsite)
One of the most common contract positions that Google hires for. The roles is described as "Operator will take map-user feedback, visually review the map images on a computer screen and determine if the change requested can be completed, complete specific tasks to ensure quality control and update the images using internally developed tools". The two staffing agencies Google uses for this kind of data verification work (in Seattle) are Randstad and Aerotek.
Contract hourly rates for visual data specialists $13-16/hr on W2 salary
Ads Quality Rater (Work from home/Tele-commute)
Google also offers some telecommuting jobs for ad quality raters through companies like ZeroChaos and WorkforceLogic. You can find these contract gigs on Google's own career website. As an Ads Quality Rater, you will be responsible for reporting and tracking the visual quality and content accuracy of Google advertisements. Ads Quality Raters use an online tool to examine advertising-related data of different kinds and provide feedback and analysis to Google.
Contract hourly rates for visual data specialists $15/hr on W2 salary
Search Enginer Evaluator (Work from home)
Google has some great work from home opportunities available from companies like Leapforce. This job involves
"Evaluating search queries and associated results' relevance according to a set standard to improve quality of search engine results. Research extensively regarding search engine inquiries as topics are limitless and require researching high volumes of information in a timely manner. Reviewe other evaluator’s evaluations and make changes accordingly. Examine web pages for spam, malicious, and pornographic content and keep high level of attention to detail at all times"
Contract rates range from $11-$14/hr on W2 salary
Content Analyst/Reviewer (Onsite at Mountain View)
Google has a lot of sites and an appstore that need to verify applications or content being submitted and these need to be done by humans. So Google hires Content Reviewers/Analysts for this work. The work includes "evaluating applications against Google Play's content policies to determine store compliance. Applying policy knowledge to find and investigate problems and address them." Find these jobs through Vaco, Artech and Accenture.
Hourly rates- $16-$25/hr on W2 salary
Google Shopping Express Driver
Google Shopping Express drivers/couriers provide courteous and efficient delivery and pick-up of packages and related customer service functions. It has 2 hubs in San Francisco and the Peninsula in Mountain View. You have to be 23 years old, be able to lift 50lbs, and not have any blemishes on your driving record.
Hourly Rates- $13.50/hr in SF and $12.50/hr in the peninsula. These jobs come with benefits like 1.5x times overtime pay.
Overall Google is still the most desirable place to work for as fulltime or contractors. Read Google contractor reviews for details on the Reviews tab.
Google contractor salaries are typical for an an in-demand tech company. Not the highest but above average. You can see details on the Rates tab. Please note Google has advantages like Shuttle buses, Free Food, etc for contractors that are not standard at other companies.
Google is the best place to work for if you are looking for new and interesting projects- think driverless cars, providing wifi through hot air balloons, google shopping express delivering stuff same day- All world changing important endeavors that someone looking for interesting gigs would find impossible to find anywhere else. Just check out the jobs listed by Adecco for a sample of today's jobs and you will get an idea of the diversity of opportunities.
Worked as a contractor there after working with Google, felt more positive and respected due to the company traditions and ownership for work it provided a lot of confidence to the workers. Google is a fun place to work due to its great environment lots of positive energy and services.
Contract work was ok, if you take pleasure in your job you will work more. Job security was there but only for a period. GOOGLE caters its workers with free lunch, free snacks, and lots of space, comfortable working environment, and good services.
Ideal career environment for any it specialist, there were great people, fantastic great food, massive workloads, enjoyed every second in team environment as a contractor.
Long working hours for a contractor, but along with the hectic schedule Google offers fun atmosphere accompanied by free lunch and social events.
In Google there are more permanent employee as compare to people working on contract, for contractors they need to work really hard and yet the benefits are low for us. The experience is worthwhile and if you get an opportunity get it right way, it’s a great place to work!
Contractor position will recommend it for 6 months as Google has a good reputation, so it looks good on a resume.
I am very happy to work in such an amazing company where they provide you with free food, the ride in the hall way the colorful offices along with the gym classes and the easy going culture of Google all of this sums up to be a superb experience. It’s a hands on yes for Google.
