In an economy that has not been kind to many technical workers, word of available jobs at a young and growing company like Google brings swarms of people from all over the country and beyond. How can any company sift through so many applications and resumes in order to find the right people in a reasonable amount of time? The traditional resume-then-interview sequence would take far too long. The powers that be at Google came up with a system that breaks free of traditional hiring practices and brings the right people to their doorstep quickly and easily. It includes placing aptitude tests in "geek" magazines including "Physics Today" and "Mensa," resulting in a flood of answers sent in by candidates.

Google also buys space on billboards in Silicon Valley, posting on them only the phrase "(first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e).com", with no mention of the company itself. Whoever figures out the answer ends up at a site with a puzzle on it. Those who successfully solve the puzzle are then sent to a site where Google accepts resumes. Puzzles and challenges like these are irresistible to the brainiacs that are desired by Google, and they respond even if they didn't intend to look for a new job. Google uses these tactics to attract the quality applicants needed for its continued success. The beauty of this system is that Google has broken free of traditional hiring practices in order to construct a system that brings qualified potential employees to its doors efficiently and in a reasonable amount of time. So what does this have to do with homeschooling?