Google Street View Spotted In EP - What It Takes To Be A Driver

Here's what it takes to be a Google Street View Driver for the biggest multinational tech company in the world.

Last week I spotted the Google Street View near UTEP and asked the driver about the job; much to my surprise, the driver was very covert, wouldn’t answer any of my questions, and instead told me to “Google It!”.

While I appreciate the company trying to drive more traffic to its page – after my persistent questioning, the driver did say that there is a lot of proprietary technology reserved for employee eyes only.

All the cloak and dagger vibes just made me more curious, and I ended up Googling as much as I could about the gig. (maybe Google’s tactic works after all)

So, what does it take to be a Google Street View driver? Well, you’ll need to have a good driving record, for starters, and you must be able to work with the latest technology.

The Google Street View / City Block Driver will have to work with commercial-grade digital still and video cameras and an array of eye-safe lasers equipped in each vehicle.

Although I wasn't able to find any job postings for El Paso, I did find one in Carrollton, TX, through the staffing service Adecco:

Some of the primary qualifications and details also include:

Associates must enjoy driving
Drivers work M-F; 8-10 hours a day/ 40 per week as the weather permits
No overtime allowed
Must live in mapping area (30-minute commute) and possess knowledge of local roads and traffic trends.
Must be available for a minimum of 3 months
Will be responsible for parking and securing the Google-assigned vehicle at the end of each day.
Will be responsible for routine car maintenance - i.e., oil change, tire rotation, etc.
Must be able to clear a DMV check and background checks
Must be able to pass a 5 Panel Drug Screen or Oral Fluid Drug Screen.

And this is just a portion of the job description, but if you're down to drive around taking pictures for about $15 an hour, then you'll have to do some digging because scoring this gig isn't easy.

Google hires via a third party, such as a staffing service, to fill their positions, so you might want to start there first. And while there are no job openings right now in El Paso for a driver, interested parties should keep checking periodically online for an opening.