Tech companies are known for showering current employees with elaborate perks like free gourmet lunches.
But what about new hires?
It turns out there are a bunch of quirky traditions at many tech companies that help welcome new employees. Let’s take a look.
Mark Zuckerberg takes people he wants to hire on a walk through the woods.
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
When Mark Zuckerberg wants to hire a new Facebook employee, he’ll take that person on a walk through the woods, according to Nick Bilton of the New York Times.
On the hike, Zuckerberg gives the potential employee his vision for the company. Then Zuckerberg tells the potential new hire that money isn’t an object and the person can start immediately if he or she wants to.
New LinkedIn hires get a swag bag with a bunch of cool stuff, including a copy of founder Reid Hoffman’s book.
LinkedIn employees celebrate 200 million members at LinkedIn HQ
Each bag has a LinkedIn water bottle, notebook, and a copy of “The Startup of You,” a book written by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. New hires will find their desk decorated with a “You’re [In]” greeting card on their first day.
Swag bags are also tailored to a new hire’s unique interests, so who knows what other goodies are in there.
Square CEO Jack Dorsey takes new employees on a walk to visit a statue of Gandhi.
Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey takes new employees on a trip to a statue of Gandhi. He often tweets photos of the experience.
New Google employees wear colorful beanies that say “Noogler.”
“The Internship”
This quirky tradition requires new Google employees to wear a beanie that says “Noogler” to their first Friday all hands staff meeting.
New Apple employees get a brand new iMac, but they have to set it up themselves.
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
According to the book “Inside Apple” by Adam Lashinsky, new Apple employees get a brand new iMac on their first day of work. The kicker: The new employees have to set the computer up themselves.
New employees also go through an orientation where they get new “Class of” t-shirts with the year they joined the company.
Microsoft celebrates anniversaries with M&Ms
It’s pretty well-known that Microsoft likes to celebrate new employee anniversaries by giving them candy, specifically M&Ms. Not a bad perk!
New Amazon employees get a desk made out of a door.
Business Insider
One of the quirks at Amazon’s office is that every employee has a desk made out of an old door. New employees used to have to make their own desks, but now they come pre-assembled.
Marissa Mayer reads the resume of every new hire at Yahoo.
AP
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer
Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer reads the resume of every potential new hire, according to Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson. Mayer likely picked this up from Google, her former company. Google’s co-founders also read the resumes of new employees.
Twitter employees get a T-shirt and bottle of wine.
Getty Images, Kevork Djansezian
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.
According to one of Twitter’s business operations managers on Quora, the company gives new hires a T-shirt and bottle of wine on their first day. Some even get to have breakfast with CEO Dick Costolo.
Airbnb employees get $2,000 to travel around the world.
Chad Riley
Airbnb’s office.
Airbnb, the site that lets you rent rooms from other people, gives new employees a $2,000 per year travel stipend.
Dropbox gives employees as much online storage as they want for free.
Owen Thomas, Business Insider
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston.
Dropbox, the online storage company, gives new hires as much free storage space as they want. Considering it can cost $10 per month for 100 GB of storage, that’s a pretty great offer.
New employees at about.me get beer and sausage on their first day.
Rosamunde Sausage Grill
Most about.me employees work remotely, but on their first day they get to take a trip to the company’s San Francisco headquarters. Then they’re treated to beer and sausage at Rosamunde Sausage Grill.
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via Hiring Quirks At Tech Companies – Business Insider.
Hiring Quirks At Tech Companies
