1 in 2 million

thought 101

I’ve been interviewing at Apple and Facebook.

I mentioned this to a person that had asked where I had applied to work. In response, he said something like

“You know, they say you have a better chance at winning the lotto than actually getting a job with Facebook or Apple”

That actually got me thinking. What really goes into statistics like that? And who is “they”

If you look at raw numbers, that makes sense. Take google for instance. According to Forbes, they get over 2 million applications per year. That’s a lot and obviously, not everyone makes it.

I think these numbers are a little miss leading. It actually makes me thinking of a statistic that gets thrown around about businesses a lot. You tell your friend “hey dude, I’m starting a business” and they shoot back “you know, only 1 in 10 business success, so good luck”

I’m not sure why people say this when the person they’re talking to most likely knows starting a business is hard, but I’m guessing it has something to do with them trying to justify why they’ve never taken the leap.

That statistic is wrong by the way. It’s wrong because when you look at the circle of education business men/women that start businesses, your chances go way hirer. And remember, these are just numbers.

Every person is different. Jobs are the same way. Apple, Facebook, Google and other large companies get flooded with millions of applications every year by people who are not qualified or thought “might as well give it a shot!”

I’d say, among great engineers, even if the chances aren’t high, they are much higher as you gain more experience.

stay tuned.

Sterling