I applied online. I interviewed at Google (Austin, TX) in May 2021
Interview
I applied through the Google Careers Page. Within two days, the Recruiter reached out to me. We set up a time to chat and then had our screen two days later.
I was then invited to meet with 3 interviewers for 45mins each. There was a prep session (that I HIGHLY recommend attending) the Friday before the interviews, where they go over everything from how to prepare (and how to answer) some of the interview questions.
A few business days after my interviews, I was told my packet was being presented to the Hiring Committee. A few days later, I was approved and onto the Team Matching stage. This is done to ensure you are a good fit for that specific team, and it's mostly for your benefit to interview your to-be manager and see for yourself if it'll be a match.
The first and only manager I met with was a fit, so then m my packet was sent to an SVP and Comp for final approval. Then I got my offer!
Total time: 3 weeks
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you foster an inclusive environment at Google if you were the Head of Diversity?
How would you go about planning a work trip for your boss to a place you both have never been to?
If you were in charge of facilitating the building of a new Google office, how would you design the conference rooms so that employees would not need a map to get to them?
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Google (Chicago, IL) in Apr 2021
Interview
Overall, a very positive recruiting process at Google, but not without some flaws.
First round screen with a recruiter asking about my motivation for applying, background, and a behavioral question. After that, I submitted my availability and was scheduled for the onsite portion (all done through Meet due to covid). Before this, the recruiter sends over a TON of really helpful preparation material and you can even attend a virtual prep session by a current employee. Really great communication from my recruiter and coordinator through the whole process.
The onsite consisted of 3 back to back 45 minute virtual interviews with various people in the staffing org. Every question is either behavioral or a hypothetical with 4-5 in each interview, and you're encouraged to take your time and jot down notes. The hypotheticals may or may not even be related to the area you're interviewing for. Google prides themselves on not asking brainteasers anymore, but if you ask me their hypothetical scenario questions are for the most part not much different.
There are only a couple aspects of the process I didn't quite like. One, you have zero idea which team you are interviewing for. The process is for you go through the interviews first, then Google determines if there's a fit in any of the groups. For example I had no idea if I was interviewing for a technical or nontech role, and there is a huge difference between the two. If I'm interviewing for a role hiring salespeople for Cloud, I'm clearly going to want to tailor my questions different versus if I'm going to interview for a role hiring SWEs.
The other thing that didn't sit well with me is I had almost no time to ask my interviewers any questions. As part of the prep you're reminded interviewing is a two way street and it's an opportunity for you to interview the company as well, yet at the end of each of my 45m interviews I only had around 2-3 minutes left to try and get in any questions.
I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Google (San Francisco, CA) in Feb 2020
Interview
Excellent recruitment process, great team. I was asked questions related to previous work experience and the recruiter was very friendly. It felt like a discussion rather than interview. I was asked about a few scenarios as well.