I applied online. I interviewed at Google in Jun 2012
Interview
1 Phone Screen, 5 Onsite, 1 Essay, 1 Onsite
- Starts with a phone screen with current APM where they ask vague/design questions on products (can be Google related or not)
- 3 Onsite APM interviews that are similar questions (number-driven, vague, theoretical product design)
- 1 Onsite technical interview with current software engineer (all coding)
- 1 Onsite with current director-level PM (vague product design/working with a team/collaborating questions)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Had to calculate expected value randomly in one onsite
How would you design a mobile app which gave you your current mood
Does renting formal dresses make sense?
I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jan 2012
Interview
First round interview was a phone interview with a Google PM, he asked a few design questions, very broad and not so difficult. I think it was more to get a feel for how creative you can be. The interview was really short, probably less than 40 minutes. I didn't expect a call back.
Surprised when I did hear back 2 weeks later with an invitation to on campus interview. They flew a bunch of us in and even arranged a scavenger hunt for us around SF. The actual interview day was long, and consisted of 4-5 one on one interviews with existing APMs. Each of them are responsible for one "area", such as technical, design or both. The design questions often have to do with how to improve an existing product or how to design a consumer product from scratch. Since Google is a web-based company all the designs had to do with websites or mobile apps. Overall, there wasn't any too difficult, but it's hard to think on the spot sometimes.
The culture is great, you can tell everyone is super smart there and you'd be able to extract a lot out of the experience.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
How would you design a windshield wiper (extra features etc.)?
The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Feb 2011
Interview
After two phone interviews, I was invited to Mountain View where I had 4 interviews during one day that all were asking me for problem solving (I am trying to find a pot of gold in the middle of the jungle in Brazil, how can I get there the cheapest way possible), etc.
Offices were beautiful, the lunch was absolutely fantastic.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How can I get to some gold in the middle of the amazon in the cheapest way possible?