I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Google (San Francisco, CA) in Jul 2021
Interview
I was contacted by a recruiter after submitted my application and availability.
Then they(the recruiter and the coordinator) quickly arranged the first interview. In the first email, the recruiter didn't mention the format of the interview, so I assumed it would be an initial phone screening. However, just two days before the interview, the recruiter sent me an email told me that they would like to move forward with my candidacy and I would have a portfolio walkthrough with a designer. I was totally confused because I never prepared for a portfolio presentation, and I had no idea how they decided to move forward with my candidacy without meeting me or calling me. I expressed my confusion to the recruiter but she never replied to me, all I had to do was to ask the coordinator to reschedule the time so that I could have more time to prepare for it, but still, I had no clue what format would my first interview be.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Portfolio presentation, choose one or two projects that you are most proud of.
I did one round of a recruiter interview and moved on to a portfolio review. The recruiter interview was just walking me through the interview process, which I'm going thru and the portfolio interview was with the hiring manager.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you collaborated with engineers
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Google in Nov 2025
Interview
I was moved along the process really fast, the only slowdown I experienced was with the scheduling team (def not the most efficient or responsive, so be ready to be patient with them)
That said, the hiring team and recruiters were really good at keeping things moving. I heard back the morning of the next working day after my initial hiring manager call, and was notified that I was moving to the offer stage less than 20 hours after completing my final round.
Overall, a fast, well-run interview process once the interviews themselves started.
The interview process was very pleasant. I had the opportunity to meet with a few team members, and the questions asked were insightful. They really took the time to understand my background, and I felt that the interviewers were genuinely interested in my experience and how it aligned with the team's needs. The process was smooth, and they provided great feedback along the way.
