Morgan on 8/30/2008 3:33 PM I didn’t apply for a job position at Google, but a recruiter from them contacted me. I told the recruiter that I wasn’t interested, and that it would be extremely hard to convince me to move away from my current job. I told them that I would not be able to work in certain areas for a while (due to my current position at a competitor), and that I would also demand a good relocation package. Despite all that, the recruiter told me that they would still be interested in a phone screening. I did the phone screening and all their questions made sense: how to optimize certain aspects of Google, like file transfer, etc. I was then asked to interview at their site.

I should say that I’ve talked with 4 interviewers, and 3 of them were nice and polite. I found a little disrespectful that one of them invited someone to join the interview to be “trained”, but that was acceptable. What was not acceptable was the behavior of one of the interviewers. The interviewer asked me a few dumb questions, and I literally decided to joke back, simply answering with enough high-level jargon that I couldn’t be considered wrong, while not giving him any specifics. I know several of the keywords that the guy was looking for in my answers (inverted index, Markov model, etc.). I simply refused to say any of the “keywords”. The interviewer wasn’t able to understand anything without the keywords being said, and from that interview on my interest simply wasn’t there. If what takes to succeed in a Google interview is to memorize a lot of keyword, then I don’t want to work in such company. Worse is that I really detected a little of the “we are the champions” attitude, even coming from people that clearly had no relation whatsoever with Google’s success. That is what was really unacceptable: I know folks that really changed Computer Science history, and are extremely approachable. And here I was, talking with people that could be considered bystanders at Google, and one of them behaving like if the company couldn’t survive without him.

Things then got really bad when an interviewer asked: “Why do you want to work at Google?” You should see the surprise in his face when I told him that I didn’t really apply for a job at Google, but given a very good offer, I would consider working at Google. Yet, this was one of the nice interviewers, and he had nothing to do with the moronic behavior of the previous one. But that was the key moment: I perceived that, when you “just talked with a moron”, some of the attitude sticks to you. Probably I would soon be a moron if working along such people for long. Luckily, that won’t happen.

Lloyd on 8/30/2008 5:51 PM I got an interview request from them without applying... I never applied to them... they told they tried to contact me 3 years ago, but I don't remember it... How did they find me? I don't want to work there 'full-time', I am very old for this (career path)...

Kelvin on 8/30/2008 8:09 PM Working at Google is something else. Yes interviewing is the tough part, but the most frustrating thing is working with Project Managers that lack respect and love to throw their weight around. It sucks! believe me, I can't even believe that I am actually admitting that I want to quit because of these over ambitious product managers.

Jacob on 8/30/2008 10:27 PM I had an interesting itnerview experience with them. They didn't make me an offer, either, but I enjoyed the experience. www.philosophicalgeek.com/.../a>

Charles Shackelford on 8/31/2008 12:45 AM Hello, my name is Charles Shackelford and I recently applied for a position with Google as a Facility Operations Manager.  I am looking for a recruiter that might have an insight on positioning me for an interview.  

Please e-mail me at charles.e.shackelford@pfizer.com or call 636-299-3168

Thank you,

Charles Shackelford

Adley on 8/31/2008 3:03 AM Yes yes, googly is awesome naa

Carver on 8/31/2008 5:21 AM Rob, recruiters never tell you the truth about why you did not match. They just tell you that you don't match. Don't try to argue, just accept and move forward.

Blaine on 8/31/2008 7:39 AM I will talk about the "toughness" later (go to the bottom). Let me get something off my chest first.

Google made me an offer, but I am still bitter at how they treated me. Go figure how bad their dealing with me must have been.

To be fair, the people who interviewd me on the phone and on site seemed quite competent and fair. As far as I could tell it was the recruiter I was working with that treated me like a dirt.

I am sad to say that reports of the company (or its recruiting organ) being arrogant, rude and perhaps even suicidal (given how I believe they are turning away good people) are NOT exaggerated. I can perhaps not fully convey the true sense of "being treated like a dirt" in my narrative here, because there were lots of subtle things that added up to give me that impression, but there were two definitive moments that really struck me.

It all started few months ago when I was looking around for a new position. My wife volunteered to help and found out that Google has really good benefits, especially if she were to get pregnant in future! Long paternal leave, meals-on-wheels for the family after baby's delivery and what not!! She was hooked. And they needed somebody with my skills too. I apply and more than a month passes.

Then I have a phone interview for a (software) engineer position. It went well and they wanted me to do an on site interview in Mountain View. I paid for the trip myself, because, they told me, they wouldn't pay such expenses for contract positions (supposed to be contract to hire). The understanding was I did not have to move to Mountain View...that I would work remotely if hired.

Flew to San Jose, checked into a hotel and next day showed up at their impressive headquarters. 6 interviews on site went well. They threw many tech issues that I believe were real design issues in their environment and I produced solutions to more than a few. And the free lunch was really gourmet quality! Free oil change sings in their parking lots were amusing to me, as were the massage chair in the lobby and the guards who seemed to be sunbathing rather than guarding anything! Truly relaxed and whimsical environment, I must say.

I fly back home and a week later get a call from the Google recruiter saying:
"Everybody who talked to you liked you, but sorry we can not move this process forward, because you are not local."

I said: "But you knew that before! Why did you say I could be remote and have me fly out there?"

No apologies. No, that's not in her nature. The response was: "We didn't know you were so senior. Somebody so senior needs to be here locally."

I didn't know how to parse that statement. My being senior was the sticking point?? She was doggedly avoiding having to say a simple "oops, sorry" (which I would have understood, because I know things can change) and kept arguing, in louder and sterner voice, that "I didn't know you were so senior, so you can not be remote". As if what she was saying was not disappointing enough for me, she made sure her cocky and unapologitic attitude made me feel like she just didn't care.

I thanked her and hung up.

Then, slowly, I began to be really upset. It was then that it hit me: if "we liked you" part was really true, why didn't she say "If you can work locally from Mountain View, you have the job???"

I never said I could not be local. I had just asked if I could work remotely and both before and during the interviews they had said yes.

I contacted the recruiter saying " are you saying I have an offer if I work locally from there? What hourly rate would you pay?"

She said yes to the first question. And I am thinking...darn you, if your full time job is to recruit people for a major corporation that wants to grow explosively, but publicly laments about staffing shortage, shouldn't you have the basic wisdom as well as the courtesy to have broken the news to me the first time along these lines so I could decide if I wanted to move to CA to get the position? This is the first of the two moments I talked about above. She just didn't seem to care that I had invested so much in pursuit of this position so far, and that she seemed to delight in "sorry, no deal for you" bombshell, rather than a "we have a deal, only if you...".

3 days pass before she calls me and quotes the hourly rate. It's a good $15 below what I can make locally, and also below the rates I see advertised in SF, San Jose area. Disheartened, I told her that was quite low and that I could not do it. Move to California and then be underpaid? What on earth are they thinking??

After I hung up, my wife talked some sense into my head saying, basically, that longer term this position may be a good deal for us, if I do become permanent. Perhaps. To verify the "if" part in this reasoning...within minutes of hanging up...I contacted the recruiter saying that before deciding, I wanted to talk to the manager I met during the interviews so I could figure out the longer term prospects.

She says she would try to get me in touch with him and another person that interviewed me. Dumb me, I did not get contact info from any of the people that interviewed me and didn't even know the full name of all but two of them.

Days pass before she produces contact info. In the mean time, two emails I fired with guessed email addresses of the manager and the other person bounce back. After 3 days the recruiter is kind enough to give me the email of one. The manager is on a vacation and the person whose email I got is too busy. I keep the recruiter in the loop with the fact that I am waiting to get a response from him. Few more days pass. I am finally able to talk to the guy. He is very nice and helpful, but suggests that I talk to the manager about longer term prospects. I try getting to manager's voicemail thru google's main number (god knows how many days would it take the recruiter to give me the number). It works and I leave a message. Manager is back from vacation, but no callback.

I tell the recruiter I am waiting for a call back. Then the recruiter suddnely tells me that the position has been filled, thank you very much!

This is the second moment I talked about above. During this conversation, she has the nerve to tell me that there was no offer on the table at any time!! Then she goes on to tell me that I had declined the offer...which I did, once, but then I had immediately contacted her saying I wanted to talk to folks there and only then decide!! Then she told me that my skills were not strong enough to work remotely, that's why I was not made an offer. (Remember what she said before? "You are so senior you can not be remote?"). She was just throwing one nonsense after another one at me, so I got upset this time without getting nasty and soon we hung up.

How does the recuiter spend her days at work? An offer has been made to a candidate and you know he is having difficulty trying to talk to the people in the company before making the decision, the least you can do is either help him get in touch with them...or...warn him that time is running out and that he should decide soon else the offer will expire.

But why do that? That would be too nice. That's the kind of thing that other recruiters at other earthly companies would do. Why not do it differently, right? Would it be evil? You are only wasting somebody's time and money and playing with his emotions. That's nothing in the grand scheme of things of the most hyped company in the world today.

But, the sad part for me is I truly think they are more than a hype. I like the company, their vision, and their technology and would have liked to be a part of it all.

The very last conversation with the recruiter, made me feel like she is either delirious or a plain liar. More realistically, she has her head in clouds (too many resumes pass by her every day, all the poor people eager to enter Google) and she just doesn't care about this poor hungry lot. There are so many of them, they are dispensible. How does a major coproration keep such person on its staff??? She says what she wants when she wants. How can you have such a person represent your company to potential hires???

The manager did call me later, said that they had really liked me, even apologized that something had gone wrong with the process. He did defend the whole thing saying every offer is tentative only, which is of course true, but you don't just dump somebody for no reason. At least he had the courtesy to say a simple sorry...but how many more candidates are mistreated/misinformed by Google...or their recruiters? I don't know about all the Google recruiters, but I bet the one I worked with is hurting Google more than helping it.

I would have been a software engineer for them, a very good fit for them, if I can say that without sounding arrogant, because I am the experienced but eccentric kind that I think they wanted. This time of job searching, I have done 4 interviews so far besides Google, and gotten an offer each time. No, I would not have worked anywhere near their search technology, so a position like the one I was targeting is not a super critical one for them...but I can't help but think that many other candidates with skills critical to their core technology/business may be being treated like they are not wanted and are being turned away. If true, they are choking themselves with their own hands. Sad. I wish they realized it. New York Times had an article that alluded to this trait of theirs. Don't they read papers, or do they just not care?

I feel a bit lighter now.

Ok, regarding the interviews, yes they are tough. They grill you with specifics, so you really have to know your stuff.

Skills like C++ and Java were only secondary requirements for me, the main requirement being a different platform (I hesitate to mention it here, it would be too damning to me) so I can not give much specifics that would help most of you out there (plus I have to worry about the Non Disclosure agreement that I signed).

The phone interview was around 40 minutes. It was technical, but wasn't too in-depth. I think the guy sensed I knew my stuff, so he didn't really grill me.

On site interviews lasted almost 4 hours, and were rather grilling. Much of the technical questions they asked me were real design issues they were facing. They use whiteboards often, which was really cool for me, because I like hammering out solutions as I write and draw. They didn't throw any of the (in)famous puzzles that I hear about, nor did they try any kind of personality tests. They just grilled me on the platform that is my main expertise. Please understand that I am a guy with a B.S. degree only (not in Computer Science) but tons of development experience, only some of which is in stuff like Java and C++, so your interviews may be wholly different, especially if it's for a core search technology or a research oriented position.

I had a lot of fun during on-site the interviews. These people really know their stuff.

If you are going for an interview, please take this advice, even if you ignore everything else I have said above: make sure you have a way of getting in touch with the people you interview with, so the recruiter doesn't choke you afterwards. Ask for their cards, or at least get their full name, so that if you need to contact them, you can just call Google's main number and use their dial by name feature.

Barry on 8/31/2008 9:57 AM I was interested in a position about 2 years ago, but being a Microsoft developer, my .NET skills wouldn't have gotten me very far, with the main focus being on C++, Java, Python and Perl.

So, I would have had to fall back on my marketing background, which I wouldn't really want to do in a company producing such cool software. To me, that would be purgatory.

Stallone on 8/31/2008 12:15 PM I have few insights to really share but I will say that I was sooo tempted to try for a position at Google a few months back. I used to work close to them before I moved back East and 1 person I used to work with who I had a good relationship with and who currently works at Google told me about the position and constantly tells me about how they treat their employees. Even if I have never heard of Google I would rate it as one of my most dreamed about companies to work for.

None of what I learned through my friend has been anything a Google search won't tell you about Google. I do know that they have similar processes to other bay area companies in that they have different rounds of interviews.. Each one gets tougher and more technical. I also know someone who has mastered this time of interview process and has even turned down a top level networking position at Yahoo simply because he didn't like that they have "sleeping rooms" for employees. (can't blame him there - they must treat you like your a machine rather then human) At any rate, his insights tell me that you need to know the right answers, give more then they want to know.. be cocky but not arrogant. Just confident.. Part of the reason for such a rigorous interview process is because during day to day operation you may have constant challenges and they want to make sure you can give a solution later on without having to resort to some notes you keep written on the bottom of your shoes.

As much as I would have loved to try for the job, especally having an inside contact (which is a massive advantage), I was to busy learning other things and focusing on Microsoft development environments. The job called for more CGI/Linux experience then I had. I have been messing with some Python and other stuff a lot lately so maybe in a few months I will feel confident enough to go after a job there and move back West. Just remember this, Google is looking for a certain type of employee and to be that employee you need a level of confidence that can not be questioned and can withstand any doubt.

Norman on 9/3/2008 9:09 PM me too.

Lincoln on 9/3/2008 11:27 PM i want suggestion for interview

Kendrick on 9/4/2008 1:45 AM who/where do you send a resume/cover letter to at google?

Earl on 9/4/2008 4:03 AM I'm recently got my MS from a top 10 CS program and have several years of experience. After getting contacted by a Google recruiter through LinkedIn, I applied for the general Software Engineer (SWE) position at Google. I believe this application process is similar to the Cisco Choice program, in the sense that I was not applying for a specific role.

I just found out I did not get an offer. I was declined at the SVP level committee (almost the last level).

Here's the application process as I experienced it (followed by how I was told it would have worked if it continued):

- I was contacted by a recruiter through LinkedIn saying I should consider Google.

- phone interview.

- on-site interview; hiring committee reviews feedback

- recruiter says "we're moving forward"; sounds very optimistic, saying I'm 80% likely to get an offer. (!) Calls my references, gets my unofficial transcript, etc.

- VP level committee reviews application

- SVP level committee reviews application [it stopped here for me]

- Larry Page reviews application

- Google extends an offer

- If you request a higher offer, it takes a week for turnaround because it again goes through the VP and SVP commitees

- After accepting, you can delay starting work by up to 8 weeks

- 2 weeks before you start, you work with someone at Google to figure out what group you will be placed in

About me being declined, as expected, the recruiter says she has no idea why, as she receives no feedback from higher level committees. She speculates it's due to headcount issues or wanting to hire more senior people. Who knows, maybe it was my grades.

The entire process took 5-6 weeks for me.

A friend of mine, a PhD from a top 5 university, reached about the same stage as me, and also didn't get an offer.

It just goes to show, never take optimism from recruiters seriously, and even when a recruiter tells you you're about to get an offer, don't stop searching for other jobs. It's hard to think that way, though -- when you're told you're about to get what you want most, it's so easy to believe it.

Denley on 9/4/2008 6:21 AM Aliaksei said:



Rob, recruiters never tell you the truth about why you did not match. They just tell you that you don't match. Don't try to argue, just accept and move forward.



Dude, the group I interviewed with wanted me in, so I was a match. Not knowing if I am willing to relocate or not, the incompetent recruiter had no business deciding whether the CA location was a fit or not for me and my family.

--

I have an update to my long story above.

They contacted me a year later saying they found me in their resume bank.  "They" means Google, NOT the same recruiter or the same group I interviewed with before.

The position dealt with the same platform (BMC's platform for automating business workflow/processes) and was based in my hometown, NYC,  but was more of a support oriented position, not development.

I had a phone interview with a HR guy and another one with the manager of the group. Neither was technical and went fine by my perspective. I didn't really have much opportunity to mess up.

Both said that they are supportive of and in fact encourage employee's movement within the company.

I thought I could use the support position as a foot in the door and then move to development. The support position was more than typical phone support answering stupid questions. The way they explained it to me it was more like a liaison between the development group and the business users. Not bad. I might even like it and stay with it, I thought.

After the second interview, I never heard anything from them.

I was pissed off enough that I never followed up myself.

I think the manager probably sensed that I was too much into architecture/development, so was not a fit or would not stay in the position too long.

Fair enough.

But is it too hard to let the guy know they were terminating the conversation??

Bartholomew on 9/4/2008 8:39 AM I've been invited twice to interview at Google,

once for a chair-filling position so low I could not have accepted,

the second time for a fairly decent job I might have considered.

It's the typical microsoft-ish think-on-your-feet nonsense.

Candidates should know that it's not terribly organized over there

with such explosive growth, and while the perks may be high,

they won't last forever.  Shame on Google for turning good people

away for illogical reasons.  Not smart, and will lead to negative

words, perhaps an eventual slowdown and downfall.

Addison on 9/4/2008 10:57 AM My interview was about 4 hours long with 5 interviewers (2 to-be close workers, 1 tech guy, 1 Manager and final one was the Director of the Unit. No off the wall ones for me. 1 was pretty generic, in the second one I was given a process and asked to point to out inefficiencies and make improvement suggestions (all to be done on a white board), Tech person asked some "think quick" questions and the manager tried to test my patience and behavioral reactions in diff. situations.

Finally the director tried to make sure that I was comfy, didn't have any final questions, and more of acted as a counselor.

Eventually I held an informal conversation with him, asked about cost of living, company culture, etc.

That was it. I flew back the next morning.

Also, I started a month ago, and it's going good

Antony on 9/4/2008 1:15 PM I'm hoping against hope that Google won't develop a juxtaposed attitude about corporate recruiting - being unbelievably liberal in scouting, attracting and drawing-in talent, and then so arrogant and senselessly pointless in its interviewing process as to turn off and turn away thousands of qualified people per year because they couldn't truly "answer" the canonical quandary of "how do you design a perfect toaster?"

----

I think that actually describes them just about spot on.  I've interviewed with them - and been rejected by them - two separate times now, and what you describe is pretty much my takeaway from the process.

John on 9/4/2008 3:33 PM "Probably I would soon be a moron if working along such people for long." ... I have been working along side moronic people. I hope there's a way to quickly brush it off.

Norman on 9/4/2008 5:51 PM "Probably I would soon be a moron if working along such people for long." ... I have been working along side moronic people. I hope there's a way to quickly brush it off.

Malcolm on 9/4/2008 8:09 PM I just finished my second phone interview. I think I let nerves get the better of me, but I was told that my first interview was excellent. Hopefully, they'll level out. The second interviewer had a cold, it sounded like, so I think she was kinda in a hurry to get off the phone. She kind of implied that I'd be getting a third phone interview.

I will say for myself, that they did ask some quite in depth questions. The ones that make you question how much you really know. I think I only flubbed a couple of questions.

Jacob on 9/4/2008 10:27 PM hope i hear something....i sent a follow up email to them but still havent  heard anything..

Foster on 9/5/2008 12:45 AM Ditto.  Maybe HR's overloaded since they just had a huge grand opening party/recruiting event in Seattle last week?

Egil on 9/5/2008 3:03 AM how long should I wait before I give up? I submitted my resume a week ago.

Cuthbert on 9/5/2008 5:21 AM Rusty,

Do you mind sharing how your on-site interview went?  

Rusty on 9/5/2008 7:39 AM I also applied for a position with Google around 3rd week of December. It’s a for a non-technical position (Enterprise Customer Support Administrator). Few days later, I received an email with a little “let’s talk about you” questionnaire where you had to explain yourself and answer some questions pertaining to the position. After that I received another email from my recruiter to set up for a phone interview.

I thought heck, for a company that receives more than 3100 Resumes in ONE DAY, I wasn’t doing too shabby. So I had my first round of general phone interview then had another Phone Interview that was focussed more on the position (about 30 mins.) I wasn’t too sure about how I did at the 2nd one, but I received an email within a few mins. They have now invited me for an on site interview at their Mountain View HQ. So far, I haven’t been asked any of those “How many golf balls can fit in a bus” kind of questions. So, now I’m just looking forward to the on site interview and not really worrying about it. If it happens, it happens, if not then well I’ll appreciate the experience of making it there.

So if anyone has any tips, or any recent interviewees, please share your thoughts.

Also, does any know if Google pays “for the airfare/living/transportation” expenses??

aggie on 9/5/2008 9:57 AM One thing is for sure they want picture perfect answers for their questions, which is something that is really hard.

Stallone on 9/5/2008 12:15 PM I didn’t apply for a job position at Google, but a recruiter from them contacted me. I told the recruiter that I wasn’t interested, and that it would be extremely hard to convince me to move away from my current job. I told them that I would not be able to work in certain areas for a while (due to my current position at a competitor), and that I would also demand a good relocation package. Despite all that, the recruiter told me that they would still be interested in a phone screening. I did the phone screening and all their questions made sense: how to optimize certain aspects of Google, like file transfer, etc. I was then asked to interview at their site.

I should say that I’ve talked with 4 interviewers, and 3 of them were nice and polite. I found a little disrespectful that one of them invited someone to join the interview to be “trained”, but that was acceptable. What was not acceptable was the behavior of one of the interviewers. The interviewer asked me a few dumb questions, and I literally decided to joke back, simply answering with enough high-level jargon that I couldn’t be considered wrong, while not giving him any specifics. I know several of the keywords that the guy was looking for in my answers (inverted index, Markov model, etc.). I simply refused to say any of the “keywords”. The interviewer wasn’t able to understand anything without the keywords being said, and from that interview on my interest simply wasn’t there. If what takes to succeed in a Google interview is to memorize a lot of keyword, then I don’t want to work in such company. Worse is that I really detected a little of the “we are the champions” attitude, even coming from people that clearly had no relation whatsoever with Google’s success. That is what was really unacceptable: I know folks that really changed Computer Science history, and are extremely approachable. And here I was, talking with people that could be considered bystanders at Google, and one of them behaving like if the company couldn’t survive without him.

Things then got really bad when an interviewer asked: “Why do you want to work at Google?” You should see the surprise in his face when I told him that I didn’t really apply for a job at Google, but given a very good offer, I would consider working at Google. Yet, this was one of the nice interviewers, and he had nothing to do with the moronic behavior of the previous one. But that was the key moment: I perceived that, when you “just talked with a moron”, some of the attitude sticks to you. Probably I would soon be a moron if working along such people for long. Luckily, that won’t happen.