I was reading Wired last night, and I ran across a Google employment ad (p.37) that I actually like.  No puzzles or silly gimmicks ... just 5 paragraphs of text and a picture of a little girl. 

The full page advertisement tells the story of Niniane Wang, one of the company’s star engineers.  And while the ad doesn’t say this, Niniane is the same former Microsoftie who authored the perennial blog favorite How to Write a Killer Resume (for Software Engineers) and a nice little diddy for recruiters called An engineer's view on what works and what doesn't in headhunting - which includes a few well deserved Microsoft recruiter digs.  Recognizing her name off the bat, I enjoyed the “inside” tie-in.

But aside from the person they chose to profile, I like that Google used the opportunity to be a little different.  The subtly of the Google ad (a usual oxymoron) demonstrated more maturity than I’m used to seeing from the company, and hey, what better way to sell your career opportunities than by highlighting a real person potential applicants could actually work with someday?  And here’s my favorite part: Google wasn’t afraid to include Niniane’s last name.  It always irks me how companies publish employee profiles but just happen to omit full names for fear another company’s recruiter may turn on the charm.  Google obviously doesn’t have that fear with Niniane, and I appreciate their boldness.  Well-done.

gretchen

today's emotion: chipper

Edit 6/6:  Found a link to the ad on Niniane's site.