22 September 2009 | Author: J. Cave SEO Consultant

Google leaves coded messages for M.I.T. students

In a novel attempt to recruit some of the finest graduates, Google has posted signs at M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) containing a secret code. If able to crack it, students according to the sign, "may have a future with Google".

Cracking the code will reveal a phone number where students can leave a voicemail containing their contact details. Google may then contact the winners to discuss a potential contract with the search engine. So far nobody has cracked the code. Perhaps - as suggested by a witty comment on Techcrunch - this is because the sign was posted above the gym. Other reasons for nobody cracking the code include a suggestion that few students are interested in a future with Google.

So what can those clever enough to crack the code expect from a future at Google? According to the Google recruitment page, reasons for wanting to work at Google include Google being one of the 100 best companies to work for, free lunches and financial benefits such as stock options and company matched 401ks.

A position at Google may sound like an ideal career although a TechCrunch post earlier this year suggests otherwise. Whether or not it's posts like this that are discouraging geniuses at M.I.T. from phoning the secret number is unknown, although it is unlikely.

The code at M.I.T. is the latest of several puzzles which Google has been releasing. In recent weeks Google has posted several pieces of code relating to crop circles in the form of longitude and latitude coordinates. Experts believe the code is related to a countdown for the anniversary of 'War of the Worlds' writer H.G. Wells.