Just 11 days after leaving the Redmond giant

Nov 16, 2009 14:05 GMT  ·  By

After months of Google losing execs and top level engineers, it's nice to see the company reverse the process for a change by snatching up engineering evangelist Don Dodge, recently laid off by Microsoft. Very recently, in fact, Dodge has only been out of a job for 11 days and blitzed through Google's hiring process, something that rarely happens.

At Microsoft, Dodge was the director of business development for the company's Emerging Business Team and acted as the human voice and face of Microsoft when dealing with startups. In a tech world where human contact is more valued then ever, he was one of the few at Microsoft whom developers trusted and respected, no small task considering the overall view towards Microsoft in the development circles.

He was part of the recent layoffs over at the Redmont company, which saw about 800 people lose their jobs. This comes at a time when many big players in the tech industry have resorted to letting people go, as a cost-cutting measure. Just a few days after leaving Microsoft, Dodge was already making some visits in Silicon Valley and it's no doubt that several companies saw this as a great opportunity. Google knew this as well and sped up the hiring process to make sure he wouldn't end up at another company. In fact, it’s been less than a week since his first interview at the company and him actually beginning to work there.

As TechCrunch reports, at Google Dodge will take on a role similar to the one he had at Microsoft, working as development evangelist, particularly focusing on Google Apps, the company's enterprise suite of office and collaboration tools. He will be working under Vic Gundotra, another former Microsoft employee who has been with Google for the past two years as VP of engineering, working on mobile apps and various developer platforms.