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Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

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Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#121

Post by com2kid »

beachstartup wrote: post #49
hkmurakami wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like preparing for an iBanking or Management Consulting interview: undergrads and bschool students alike will spend months preparing for those. And it's "worth it", if they really have what you're after. For banking and consulting, analyst training is truly great. The signaling after those few years when you're a bright kid who studied history in undergrad, is pretty good too. And with Google, you can't deny…

it wasn't so long ago that nobody did this for tech, because we had a self-selecting industry that paid smart people very well, and those banker and consultant kids looked to us with a certain level of envy because we could naturally, seemingly effortlessly (not really), do what they studied years and years to do, which is make over 100 grand in your early 20's without really trying. those days are almost over. the b…

> it wasn't so long ago that nobody did this for tech

How long ago is this?

When I was in school 10 years ago, I know I spent ~3 months studying for my upcoming interviews. I memorized all the big algorithms, and an entire book of programming puzzles.

Prior to that, in HS, I remember reading on /. about programming puzzle interviews.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#122

Post by digler999 »

blatant wrote: post #118
digler999 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still remember reading the article about one of google's (?) early recruitment campaigns, circa 2001: an ad in the train station that said www.e^(5,000,000 digits ).com, so you would only know the URL if you were nerdy enough to know how to calculate the non-repeating non-terminating decimal. The webpage then solicited them for hiring. I still think that was a cool idea. Edit: it wasn't e^ of anything, it was like…

Do you mean this one: https://blog.beamery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Googles-... ?

that's funny because I dont remember it that way, but it definitely could have been that one. Or maybe it was part of a campaign of many.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#123

Post by tayo42 »

tempw wrote: post #56
tayo42 wrote: post #36

How are these people that study for what ever company so certain they'll even get an interview? I'm still waiting for Google to acknowledge my application from last year lol.

he has a referral, it's said on the post.

Oh skimmed it. I guess I missed that. Although I still feel like Ive seen that attitude of studying for these interviews like they're guaranteed to come. Maybe more people have referrals then I think

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#124

Post by [deleted] »

solipsism wrote: post #110
msoad wrote: post #106

I worked at Google. This makes me sad. Sad to see people are treating a for profit company like a religion. Google is a good workplace compared to other companies but it's not a religion and it's not perfect. As other commenters said it's not the thing it was before either. I left Google to work on something more interesting and I can't be happier. If we're going to hire people, I'm not putting any weight on their wo…

What are you talking about? Where in this article does the author treat Google like a religion? He specifically said it wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't make it. He specifically said others shouldn't study that much. Another comment based on the headline and not reading the article? Bet you'll get those anti-google upvotes anyway.

[deleted]

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#125

Post by ilaksh »

plussed_reader wrote: post #116
ilaksh wrote: post #113

I used to think the CS-y whiteboard interview stuff was a complete waste of time. But now I look at it as a way to prove objectively you have a computer science skill/knowledge-set. Which is nice because it evens out the playing field because many who have the degree don't have the skills and many who don't could acquire them. So its like a bar exam. There is still an issue though because computer science base knowle…

"For example, algorithms and data structures generally accepted as core knowledge do not take enough advantage of today's relatively high RAM availability." Wouldn't it be prudent to keep your algorithms as lithe as possible? I would think an algorithm/scheme that chews up large amounts of ramm would be perceived as inefficient? Kinda like the dumpster fire that is Chrome, currently.

Case in point. Read the Google engineering articles describing the work optimizing V8's memory usage. That primarily involved using profiling tools on lots of web pages and then changing the initial size of buffers.

But they still have to use relatively large buffers from an old-fashioned CS algorithm perspective and they couldn't make them smaller without impacting performance the other way. And they can't know that without doing the profiling on the whole system.

So yes you want functions to be lithe but you have to also focus some time, skills and knowledge on optimizing the entire system using tools and real-world data.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#126

Post by hex_3934252261 »

aaachilless wrote: post #103
fdsfsaa wrote: post #13

This guy is sad. All those people on Quora who ask unending questions about Google are sad. They're suckers. They've eaten up Google's marketing. You want to know the reality? Whatever's special about Google is long gone. Management let the smoke out a long time ago. Nowadays, Google is just another big software company, with all the opaque politics, purposelessness, and random nonsense that comes with being a big co…

As far as I can tell, this guy is motivated, entrepreneurial, proactive, professionally competent, etc. He thinks working at Google would be awesome and he's worked hard to give himself a shot at doing so. He might be completely wrong, work for Google for 6 months, realize it's all bullshit, and quit. Even if that happens, there's nothing "sad" about it. Maybe you have some insider experience with Google and you alre…

He thinks working at Google would be awesome and he's worked hard to give himself a shot at doing so. He might be completely wrong, work for Google for 6 months, realize it's all bullshit, and quit.

Remember the guy (I dare not say his name) who had exactly that experience and ended up getting attacked by the worst people in the tech industry?

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#127

Post by hex_3934252261 »

ryandrake wrote: post #63
fdsfsaa wrote: post #13

This guy is sad. All those people on Quora who ask unending questions about Google are sad. They're suckers. They've eaten up Google's marketing. You want to know the reality? Whatever's special about Google is long gone. Management let the smoke out a long time ago. Nowadays, Google is just another big software company, with all the opaque politics, purposelessness, and random nonsense that comes with being a big co…

(Disclaimer: not a Googler) Like it or not, Google is consistently ranked near the top or #1 on all of those "Best places to work" lists that get published from time to time. Everyone I know who has managed to get hired there sings its praises, and none of them have left (yet). I think it's unlikely that each one of their opinions is fueled by Kool-aid. There's something to it. I don't think this guy is sad at all. I…

There's a sort of person for whom the Google environment works. Also, there's some interesting work being done there.

It doesn't work for everyone and when there's a failure of fit, it gets ugly. For example, Google made the mistake in the late 2000s of becoming an Argentina for disgraced tech executives and ended up with stack ranking for a while. (It may still have it.) I've seen several hideous departures.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#128

Post by solipsism »

bambax wrote: post #120
solipsism wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about? Where in this article does the author treat Google like a religion? He specifically said it wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't make it. He specifically said others shouldn't study that much. Another comment based on the headline and not reading the article? Bet you'll get those anti-google upvotes anyway.

What about: "The more I learn about Google, the more I want to work there. In brief, Google is a company that [...] gives employees the freedom to make good decisions for the user. [...] Nowadays candidates are chosen based on coding ability, technical knowledge, and Googleyness." As a user, it hasn't been my experience in a long while that Google gives employees the freedom to make good decisions for the user . Goog…

None of that approaches religiosity. Your ridiculous interpretation is colored by your preexisting opinions about Google.

Your logic also fails you. Developers having the freedom to do what's right for the user doesn't imply they succeed.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#129

Post by judahmeek »

40acres wrote: post #57
preordained wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's maybe a bit harsh, but I'm pretty much with you. It's passed the tipping point where it's inevitable it takes on the mold of a soulless megacorp. its really obvious that so many people just "need" to get into Google because it's validation for their ego. "I told you I'm a special snowflake genius!" Google is awesome, and I'm at Google, so you know I'm awesome...yada, yada. The inauthenticity is palpable; you j…

I think this is a shortsighted view. I work for a pretty influential tech company as a Software Developer, I've interviewed with Google twice and have failed both times, but I look at interviewing with and potentially being hired at Google as a great challenge and opportunity rather than something to validate myself. I'm 25, and I think I speak for a lot of folks my age when I saw that Google is the 'Bell Labs / IBM…

Nothing you said contradicts preordained's claim that a lot of Google's current hype is due to ego validation. In addition to having the highest average salaries in tech, Google has purposely made their hiring process very stringent, not because the techniques that they use more accurately predict job success rates, but because by making their job openings harder to obtain (in proportion to applications), they increase the subjective value of those job openings in the eyes of potential candidates.

It's premium branding, plain and simple, and the fact that Google employees have to justify the effort and time they put in to get hired in the first place partially explains why Google is rated so highly by current/past employees.

I'd be really curious to learn how much Google spends in man-hours for each hire in comparison to other tech companies.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#130

Post by ArlenBales »

msoad wrote: post #106

I worked at Google. This makes me sad. Sad to see people are treating a for profit company like a religion. Google is a good workplace compared to other companies but it's not a religion and it's not perfect. As other commenters said it's not the thing it was before either. I left Google to work on something more interesting and I can't be happier. If we're going to hire people, I'm not putting any weight on their wo…

People spend years at medical school or law school to become a doctor or lawyer. I don't see the big deal at devoting a huge amount of concentrated time and effort to being an engineer at Google. If you got the free time and willpower (and the author does), more power to you.

If he doesn't get the job, he's still got the knowledge. And 8 months is nothing compared to multiple years in college.

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