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Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

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Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#11

Post by lowercased »

daenz wrote: post #9

I've had Google recruiters reach out to me multiple times over the years and I've never taken them up on an interview. This last time, I told the recruiter I just wasn't interested in going through the process, and his response was a shocked "but why??" Is it so shocking that I don't want to subject myself to grueling demoralizing interviews to likely be rejected? I can get good work, with people I know, making good…

I had a google recruiter reach out a couple years back, and I asked for just some ballpark idea of salary range. No dice - they wouldn't discuss even a ballpark range until I'd flown and and given up a couple of days or my time for travel and interviews. I didn't followup.

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#13

Post by fenwick67 »

ben_jones wrote: post #7
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

> Your interviewers try to understand what it feels like to work with you on a daily basis. If that were true then why not simulate those situations rather than riddles, google-able CS trivia, or whatever the interview flavor of the month is? I'd actually argue that for many companies this post is true (i.e. that getting it "right" is less important than the journey) but I still won't forgive companies that design th…

To me OP seems to assume a competent, unbiased, and well meaning interviewer: always giving hints, knows exactly what they want, will field and answer questions comprehensively. At Google's scale with hundreds of thousands of interviews on the books, thousands of interviewers who like all human beings have good days, sick days, angry days, and depressed days, this will not always happen. What happens when its the int…

I agree 100%, there are too many testimonials about people asking about things like linux syscalls and the different bits in TCP headers for me to believe that all Google interviews are conducted without any tech pissing-contest shenanigans.

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#14

Post by an4rchy »

I am not sure if this is in the interest of any company but why not provide feedback, as it can only help the interviewees in the future and the companies attract better talent.

Even if it's not standardized, a rubrik across X attributes with a scale and a number. (Which is what I am assuming they are doing anyway -- as it sounds likes the interviewers are rating them across different dimensions)

Not sure if this is some sort of a thing to do with liability but the interviewee can get generalized feedback.

Ex: Technical skills (2/5),Communication skills (4/5) etc. and they can improve on the relevant dimensions or compare notes with other companies / candidates as well.

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#15

Post by lowercased »

Someone1234 wrote: post #10
joshuamorton wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are manhole covers round, and similar brainteaser questions have been banned at Google for ~5 years at least. They're only the new normal if you're a decade behind the curve.

My link from Glassdoor has feedback from interviewees from as recently as days ago. You can see the types of interview questions Google is asking right now. The sentence you're referring to was in the context of the FIELD which is why it said as much, and the specific question is a very well known stereotypical example: > But disrespectful and unprofessional interview questions ("why are manhole covers round?") has b…

> Why don't they ask questions relating to the job?

When I hear of this sort of behaviour in interviews, I have to assume that the culture of the dept is such that x% of your job will entail fielding issues that are things that you consider outside your 'job'. If 20% of the time you'll be talking about stuff that you consider tangential, and you don't react well to that, you may self-select out. ?

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#17

Post by oculusthrift »

lowercased wrote: post #11
daenz wrote: post #9

I've had Google recruiters reach out to me multiple times over the years and I've never taken them up on an interview. This last time, I told the recruiter I just wasn't interested in going through the process, and his response was a shocked "but why??" Is it so shocking that I don't want to subject myself to grueling demoralizing interviews to likely be rejected? I can get good work, with people I know, making good…

I had a google recruiter reach out a couple years back, and I asked for just some ballpark idea of salary range. No dice - they wouldn't discuss even a ballpark range until I'd flown and and given up a couple of days or my time for travel and interviews. I didn't followup.

you can google the salary range, its not too hard. protip: its pretty low unless you have competing offers then it can be a little larger than your largest competing.

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#18

Post by dominotw »

elcinr wrote: post #16

Why does everyone on HN seem to care so much about what Google does in interviews? We get it, no one likes weird off-topic brainteasers. Be a better engineer so you don't have to worry about having them on your resume and you'll be good.

> Why does everyone on HN seem to care so much about what Google does in interviews?

Because all other companies just cargo cult what google does in interviews. If you want to switch jobs then this is interesting.

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#19

Post by joshuamorton »

Someone1234 wrote: post #10
joshuamorton wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are manhole covers round, and similar brainteaser questions have been banned at Google for ~5 years at least. They're only the new normal if you're a decade behind the curve.

My link from Glassdoor has feedback from interviewees from as recently as days ago. You can see the types of interview questions Google is asking right now. The sentence you're referring to was in the context of the FIELD which is why it said as much, and the specific question is a very well known stereotypical example: > But disrespectful and unprofessional interview questions ("why are manhole covers round?") has b…

I see two questions on that page, one about string generation/ds&a and one about "networking stuff".

The rest are paywalled or something. So I'd implore you to be more specific about what kinds of questions you object to.

Re: Google's interview system: it's not about solving the problem

#20

Post by dominotw »

Someone1234 wrote: post #10
joshuamorton wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are manhole covers round, and similar brainteaser questions have been banned at Google for ~5 years at least. They're only the new normal if you're a decade behind the curve.

My link from Glassdoor has feedback from interviewees from as recently as days ago. You can see the types of interview questions Google is asking right now. The sentence you're referring to was in the context of the FIELD which is why it said as much, and the specific question is a very well known stereotypical example: > But disrespectful and unprofessional interview questions ("why are manhole covers round?") has b…

I interviewed there last year. Definitely didn't get brainteaser type questions.
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