Although I have not succeeded with the getting-hired-at-Google thing I have had my crack at it a few times and have survived to write about it.
I occasionally hear from others about to try it, and they want to know
if I have any advice. Here’s my modest wisdom on the subject of
interviewing well at Google.
Question: I have an interview for an ops
position at Google tomorrow, and I found your web page about
interviewing at Google, can you give me any advice?
Answer: Really, just be at your best. Maybe brush up on
some fundamentals the night before. They like to see that you know how
things work at a low level, so like when they ask “tell me what happens
when you type www.google.com into a web browser” and you get on to
explaining that DNS operates via UDP, port 53, and so forth …
Take it like you would an exam. Get some sleep the night before, and
otherwise do whatever helps clear your head for good questions. The
initial screens aren’t all that hard, really, if you’re good. I swear I
screwed up my last phone interview because I had a cold, and wasn’t
feeling so great, and that made me nervous …
Also, don’t bother cheating. Google employees spend a lot of time
interviewing people, and they know that when they hear “uhh ….
*clickety clackety clickety clack* … the answer is … uhhh …” and you
read something off a web page, that you are a no-hire. If you don’t
know something, admit it. They may try to explain it to you, and if you
can pick up an understanding pretty quickly, and use that to solve the
next problem, then that shows you are honest, and a quick learner.
At any rate, I wish you the best of luck. By all accounts, working at Google is pretty sweet. :)
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