Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
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Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#2Another data point - I had a very similar Google recruiter "test", being disdainfully dismissed because I couldn't/wouldn't regurgitate the same incorrect template answers they had. I've since terminated any approaches by Google recruiters as being a waste of my time and emotional energy.
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#3Another data point - I had a very similar Google recruiter "test", being disdainfully dismissed because I couldn't/wouldn't regurgitate the same incorrect template answers they had. I've since terminated any approaches by Google recruiters as being a waste of my time and emotional energy.
I'm in a similar boat - I've been approached twice in the past, and both times went on to the onsite interview day only to be told "We are unsure whether we want to hire you, so we will err on the side of caution and ask you to come back in a year".
However, I am still getting contacted randomly by their recruiters without any indication why I should invest energy to try again - the result will generally the same. Getting an answer to that question also turned out to be impossible, since I only got stock answers back. Really shameful for a company which (at least in my perception) prides itself on celebrating an engineer-driven culture (instead of one driven by HR).
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#4Another data point - I had a very similar Google recruiter "test", being disdainfully dismissed because I couldn't/wouldn't regurgitate the same incorrect template answers they had. I've since terminated any approaches by Google recruiters as being a waste of my time and emotional energy.
This is similar to taking standardized tests where you are smarter than the question-writer.
What would you select as the answer to the following question:
" x is an integer. If x² = 16, then x =?
A. 1.
B. 2.
C. 4.
D. 16.
E. Not enough information.
"
Think hard and tell me what you would select. For me it is VERY clear that I have to select C, 4. It is just as clear that it is the wrong answer, and the correct answer is E, because x can be -4 or 4, and you do not have enough information. How do I know to select C? Mostly, from the context. "x is an integer" is a weird and stupid way to begin a question like that, the whole question is pretty stupid. The choices are just natural whole numbers, and ones that someone might select.
Still, the question has a VERY clear correct answer, which is E. It is not the answer you should select.
Likewise if you are being given a technical interview by someone reading stupid template questions, then you need to figure out how dumb the template is, and answer on that level. It's not about being correct.
The question "standardized test" I just made up and answered should be answered incorrectly. Don't answer questions like that correctly.
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#5This is so good I can’t tell if it’s literal or a parody. The part about inodes in particular.
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#6I’m not sure I could take more than a couple of those extremely petty replies from the interviewer before I would just tap out.
Why even bother having this interview conducted by a human when they display as much nuance and understanding as a Scantron? “Quicksort is the best sort, period.” Fuck off.
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#7Another data point - I had a very similar Google recruiter "test", being disdainfully dismissed because I couldn't/wouldn't regurgitate the same incorrect template answers they had. I've since terminated any approaches by Google recruiters as being a waste of my time and emotional energy.
This is similar to taking standardized tests where you are smarter than the question-writer. What would you select as the answer to the following question: " x is an integer. If x² = 16, then x =? A. 1. B. 2. C. 4. D. 16. E. Not enough information. " Think hard and tell me what you would select. For me it is VERY clear that I have to select C, 4. It is just as clear that it is the wrong answer, and the correct answer…
I don't get it. Integers include negative numbers, so -4 and 4 are both integers.
Why would you select C? Because you're assuming the recruiter doesn't know what an integer is, based on the fact that all the answer choices are positive integers?
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#8> Recruiter: that's not the answer I have on my sheet of paper.
This is the problem. Google hires as such ridiculous volume (onboarding >5000 people last quarter, and on average growing at ~10000 employees (FTEs) per year) that the process gets abstracted into whatever Google thinks can be done algorithmically. This makes almost no sense for most roles, including any type of specialist as well as middle/senior management, and you end up with situations like you faced.
If it makes you feel better, it's equally frustrating for hiring managers, who just get input from recruiters that so-and-so failed the phone screen. I'm at the point where I tell my recruiters to let me do the phone screens myself whenever they come across what -- on paper -- looks like a strong, viable candidate.
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is similar to taking standardized tests where you are smarter than the question-writer. What would you select as the answer to the following question: " x is an integer. If x² = 16, then x =? A. 1. B. 2. C. 4. D. 16. E. Not enough information. " Think hard and tell me what you would select. For me it is VERY clear that I have to select C, 4. It is just as clear that it is the wrong answer, and the correct answer…
I don't get it. Integers include negative numbers, so -4 and 4 are both integers. Why would you select C? Because you're assuming the recruiter doesn't know what an integer is, based on the fact that all the answer choices are positive integers?
Correct.
Re: Google's “Director of Engineering” Hiring Test (2016)
#10Tossing my hat in the ring with a similar experience. Was approached in 2003 because of an app I had written that got attention, and was told that Googlers wanted to speak with me about the app. What followed was three calls with gate-keepers of sorts, between which there was zero knowledge transfer from call to call. None of them inquired about the app and all of them asked questions so unrelated to the app that they might as well have been interviewing me for a position writing Sanskrit. On the last of the 3 calls I asked the interviewer when someone was going to inquire about the app, to which the person replied that they had no idea what it was and that they were told I had applied for a position. Though they couldn't tell me what that position apparently was. I kindly requested they not contact me again.
I'm no all-star, I don't think I'm special, and I was still pretty green back then. But that experience permanently put me off from any interest in that company. It would seem Google HR / Recruiting hasn't improved in all these years.