Get A Job At Google By Thomas Friedman Summary

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Are You Qualified? What do employers look for in an applicant? Is it good grades, test scores, or involvement in extracurricular activities? Maybe, but these are, however, only one aspect of a candidate’s application that companies look at for future employment. In the opinionated editorial, “How to Get a Job at Google,” published in The New York Times, author Thomas L. Friedman, the paper’s foreign affairs Op-Ed columnist, interviews Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president of people operations for Google. In the article, Friedman proposes the idea that high school and college students’ GPA, test scores, and degrees are not the only criteria that employers seek in an applicant. They look for “abilities” that cannot be taught in the classroom. …show more content…

He made the rhetorical decision to interview Bock knowing that his standing would further convince his audience since Google is an extremely successful company in which Bock is responsible for choosing the employees. Friedman is in agreement with Bock that GPA and test scores are “‘worthless as a criteria for hiring…they don’t predict anything.’” This supports Friedman's idea that “Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to do any job.” By using Bock to essentially argue his point, Friedman ultimately gives his view more credibility since Bock has ethos in this subject area. Friedman also wants to point out that adaptability, innovative thinking, and creativity are significant qualities of an applicant that can be of great value to a future …show more content…

The title of the article “How to Get a Job at Google” pulls his audience into reading the article. Many people would like to know how they could get a job at one of the most successful companies out there. However, that is not what the article is about. Friedman’s interview with Bock does tell his audience what qualities Google looks at when hiring people, but Friedman’s main purpose is to persuade his audience that having these qualities are important in any job and are what many employers are looking for. The words that Friedman uses in the article make it informal and more appealing to his audience of high school and college students. He chooses to include quotes with crass statements, such as “‘worthless,’” “‘don’t care,’” and “‘argue like hell.’” He also decides to write his article in a tone that is unrefined, which makes the article a simple read. By using only Bock as a credible source and not incorporating other credible individuals in this subject area, helps Friedman make his article easy to understand and simple to read, therefore, making it pleasing to his audience. The article topic itself is thought provoking and reaches those who are open-minded to a different perspective on the qualifications of a job applicant divergent from the more traditional

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