Can owning a dog predict success at Google?

That question might sound crazy to you, but that was exactly one of the questions one of my colleagues who works at Google was hoping to find out when he conducted his research into how he could improve the hiring process there a few years ago. He was written up in the NYT where they described the background that led to this research and the answer to the question above.

Check out the NYT article: Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm


Unfortunately, the answer to the title of this blog is “no,” owning a dog did not predict any of Google's success measures (they used multiple measures of success). However, they did find they could put together a combination of items based on the applicants past history (not necessarily work history) which DID predict success for different job types. In my world of Organizational Psychology this is called Biodata. Biodata has been proven to be a very valid predictor of many things. The basic premise is that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Makes sense right? In fact, if you've ever been in an interview where they've asked you, "Tell me about a time when...," then you have witnessed a simplified version of biodata first hand.

My major professor in graduate school studied under the Godfather of biodata, Dr. Bill Owens, so not surprisingly she became a very big name in the biodata literature herself. Under her mentorship, I not only used biodata in several research and applied settings, but also became certified to teach others how to develop and score biodata forms. I’m a huge fan of what they did over at Google and now my mind is wondering, “could I develop such an instrument to predict success at my current company which only has 4 employees?” I’ll let you know when I figure out the answer to that one.