The Process to become a Google Researcher

April 26, 2002 1:13 PM

The Process to become a Google Researcher Speaking of google...
So, you want to play librarian and get paid? Here's How, you earn 75% of the price set for a question that you answer.
They have an FAQ as well, and Researcher Guidelines for those wishing to launch a researching career outside of a library.
Applying to be a Researcher is a two-step process:
Step 1: Write a paragraph about why you would like to become a Researcher.
Step 2: Answer 5 sample questions.
Sounds easier than getting an M.L.S.
posted by Blake (22 comments total)

I think they've just come up with the business model of the year. I'm so glad to see that the Google Questions format is alive. Wasn't this how Ask Jeeves started?
posted by skylar at 1:30 PM on April 26, 2002

Don't know if they're flooded or not. I sent in my application via the online form 9 days ago and as yet have not got my five questions via email. Anyone else?
posted by luriete at 1:39 PM on April 26, 2002

I sent mine in on Sunday night and got the questions on Wednesday. You actually get a link to 25 questions and choose five from the list to answer.
posted by jonah at 1:46 PM on April 26, 2002

There's an interesting blurb about this in Library Juice. How does this fee-for-service thing, by "researchers" and not librarians cause people to appreciate their librarians more, or perhaps appreciate them less? I've been puzzling over it all morning, it seems a lot like apples and organges to me. I answered my five questions and they were all pretty tough-ish, though I tend to overthink these things in general.
posted by jessamyn at 1:50 PM on April 26, 2002

Kind of, sort of, already discussed here
posted by jmd82 at 1:55 PM on April 26, 2002

I applied also and still haven't received my questions. Think I'll drop them an email. I know I can do the job; I am the queen of finding esoteric information.
posted by Soliloquy at 2:27 PM on April 26, 2002

Ah, yet another thing to add to the list of "Google services that mimic or replicate Yahoo! services".
posted by valerie at 3:03 PM on April 26, 2002

Since when is this a Yahoo service? I don't remember ever seeing something like this on Yahoo...
posted by CrayDrygu at 3:23 PM on April 26, 2002

Yahoo Experts
posted by kfury at 4:11 PM on April 26, 2002

Soliloquy: Don't send them an email asking for the questions. It's part of the test!
posted by ODiV at 4:25 PM on April 26, 2002

Soliloquy II: Research those who have become researchers, and find out what they did to become accepted. It's part of the test!
posted by kfury at 4:57 PM on April 26, 2002

SoliloquyIII: Don't ask why half of us don't have pants on. It's part of the test!
posted by lotsofno at 5:04 PM on April 26, 2002

Like soliloquy and luriette, I submitted over a week ago and have yet to receive any acknowledgement. jonah, did you receive an acknowledgement of your submission or just the questions after 3 days?
posted by Geo at 6:04 PM on April 26, 2002

I got an acknowledgement of my mini-essay application which was an email saying "answer five of the 25 questions at this URL and email us back, then we'll email you back". sending in the answers to the five questions got me an auto-response that said something to the effect of "we're really swamped, sit tight"

FWIW, I was using my Yahoo email address as a reply address and they seem to be having mail problems lately, might wanna check that.
posted by jessamyn at 6:40 PM on April 26, 2002

Step 1: Collect Underpants
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!

PS, re: soliloquy, I thought we were giving soliloquies. I dodn't know we were responding to soliloquy!
posted by kfury at 6:43 PM on April 26, 2002

Via the Google Weblog:

"Update: Matt Haughey writes to let us know about Google's old Questions and Answers service (mefi thread - Aug. 22, 2001) which unfortunately seems to have been taken down with no archives available. (If anyone has an archived copy of these pages, do let me know!) It's definitely possible that this is related."

Already mentioned: Google Answers (BETA) (mefi thread - April 18, 2002)
posted by sheauga at 6:55 PM on April 26, 2002

I sent in my application via the online form 9 days ago and as yet have not got my five questions via email. Anyone else?

The whole process took about 5 days for me to complete. I applied, got the link to the 25 questions, and finally got a contract from Google emailed to me. And then one final email explaining the "extra researcher" tab that would show up when I logged in.
posted by gummi at 7:19 PM on April 26, 2002

Google never seems to invent this stuff -- see the previous thread for lots of pointers to similar services -- but one thing they have consistently done is execute very, very well. Not only do they add services and stay profitable, they manage to do this while retaining the general sense of goodwill that users have about them.

That, in and of itself, makes Answers something to watch closely.
posted by majick at 7:57 PM on April 26, 2002

Steps to becoming a Google researcher:

1. Know how to use Google to do a simple web search to determine that you're about to make a double post to Metafilter.

2. See number one.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:12 PM on April 26, 2002

Got my Google researcher confirmation today, by the way. Yay! Another way to squander my time online.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:15 PM on April 26, 2002

Well, I got this message when I submitted:

"Thank you for your interest in being a researcher for Google Answers.

Due to an overwhelming volume of responses, it may take us a few days to get back to you. Please be assured we have received your recent email.

Thank you for your patience.

The Google Answers Team"

Hmm, 80 gazillion researchers, and how many questions? We'll see how this all pans out.
posted by Salmonberry at 9:45 PM on April 26, 2002

I got the link to the 25 questions a day or two after I submitted the essay.

Haven't answered any yet, though.
posted by syzygy at 10:50 AM on April 28, 2002