I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Google (Cambridge, MA) in Jan 2010
Interview
Lots of red tape and bureaucracy to get to the on-site. Then a bunch of really good questions in a series of 5 one on one interviews. Some basic questions but then lots of algorithmic stuff, pointer arithmetic, optimization questions, scaling questions. LOTS of questions about how to make things work well on 100k+ computers at once. They also do a surprisingly good job of selling a company that practically sells itself.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Solve the "game of life" problem in C++ so that it will be both OO and efficient. Scalability and parallelism are also pluses.
Good, in depth technical questions and detailed analysis. Attention to detail to the problems given. technical knowledge needed spans several technologies and use cases. Ample time was given and felt very comfortable.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What are you long term goals and how are you pursing them?
great interview. they asked me about problems and how to solve them. not too bad at all, interviewer was very polite in my opinion. it was really nice to interview with google.
online, the recruiter seems quite questionable. doesnt give good first impressions im afraid but i am here for the money. they ask super basic questions. just learn your star and you are good
Want the inside scoop on your own company?
Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
Bowls
Get actionable career advice tailored to you by joining more bowls.