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My Job Interview at Google (2008)

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Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#31

Post by kureikain »

Did anyone notices these questions aren't hard on algorithm sides(all algorithm questions in this post are common/trivial) but more about understanding Network(TCP) and Distributed System(Map-Reduce problem).

And the issue about forgoting to initalize data. Is the interview at Google really looking for that perfect solution on a whiteboard? In an interview, it's easy to forgot those thing like. I'm sure we have that moment when debug something and miss some trivial thing

Anyone has done similar SRE interview recently care to share some questions?

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#32

Post by Lammy »

cbanek wrote: post #7
mnd999 wrote: post #4

So how much of that stuff do you actually do day-to-day?

Yeah seriously, it seems like a lot of the questions revolve around the TCP stack. Maybe it was a more networking type job?

Companies like Google have hundreds of thousands of machines and nothing they do will ever run on just one box. I can see why they'd select for networking knowledge.

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#33

Post by pansa2 »

Rockslide wrote: post #8

Reading that stuff always makes me feel incredibly stupid (or rather clueless). I wouldn't be able to answer most of those questions off the top of my head. Including this weird clock hand question (which is probably some trivial math that might or might not have been taught to me more than a decade ago and which I never ever actually applied since). Then I probably have to remind myself that I'm (halfway successfull…

I feel the same way, except I think the clock-hand question is quite straightforward. Except for that one, just like every other time this sort of thing is posted almost every question is either:

1. About fairly low-level details of computer networking, or

2. What would you do if your data doesn’t fit in memory?

I’ve been a successful developer for years and never had to deal with either of those problems.

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#34

Post by robinduckett »

I recently had an interview at a taxi firm that followed this format.

One two three pre-interviews followed by a day of 5 grueling 1 hour interviews.

I didn't get the role. Apparently the frontend guy I had the first interview of the days five was concerned about my technical skills.

I mean, I find it insulting, having worked for the last 12+ years as a developer to be told that there were "concerns about your technical competency"

I hate interviews. I hate take home coding tests and have failed every single one I've had. Apparently this is a sign that I don't do well under pressure.

I've been building working software for years, and the main problem I have is convincing people that I can actually do the job. I don't have a degree, and I don't have prestigious companies on my CV, and I don't have the time or energy to chase around roles like this, so I have to settle for unfulfilling and underpaid roles

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#35

Post by fzeroracer »

itronitron wrote: post #18
mnd999 wrote: post #4

So how much of that stuff do you actually do day-to-day?

Apparently Google SREs spend a lot of time watching the clock.

The irony of the clock brain teaser is that it operates on two assumptions. One being that the person asked has experience with analog clocks (which, given that it's 2020 has become less relevant) and the second being that said clock behaves according to standard specifications.

If the clock was instead a jump hour clock for example, then that tosses the trickery out of the window. Which is really what that brain teaser is about; testing that your cultural understanding of how an analog clock functions is correct.

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#36

Post by chrisseaton »

StreamBright wrote: post #30
cassalian wrote: post #22

> Unfortunately, I just learned that I'm not getting hired. Seems like a ton of effort to go through to not get hired. I'm curious as to why he wasn't hired; IMO it seems kinda strange to go through 8 interviews only to be rejected.

Google is notoriously bad with these interviews. Most famous case is the Homebrew guy. I got turned down once because I haven't had a degree in CS. They knew that in advance yet they did the whole round.

> I got turned down once because I haven't had a degree in CS.

This doesn't make any sense - the employ I'm sure thousands of people without degrees in CS.

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#37

Post by chrisseaton »

Rockslide wrote: post #8

Reading that stuff always makes me feel incredibly stupid (or rather clueless). I wouldn't be able to answer most of those questions off the top of my head. Including this weird clock hand question (which is probably some trivial math that might or might not have been taught to me more than a decade ago and which I never ever actually applied since). Then I probably have to remind myself that I'm (halfway successfull…

> Maybe Google scale isn't for me.

Google employs the very elite of the elite. If you're working there you're probably at the very top of your field. Obviously not every can meet that standard and there's no shame in not being the absolute best.

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#38

Post by logicchains »

fiblye wrote: post #15
Rockslide wrote: post #8

Reading that stuff always makes me feel incredibly stupid (or rather clueless). I wouldn't be able to answer most of those questions off the top of my head. Including this weird clock hand question (which is probably some trivial math that might or might not have been taught to me more than a decade ago and which I never ever actually applied since). Then I probably have to remind myself that I'm (halfway successfull…

Using google products has made me certain that being able to solve math/algorithmic problems and being able to make good software really aren't connected in most cases.

Google products and Google libraries. Tensorflow, Angular, GWT, the Android development experience....

Re: My Job Interview at Google (2008)

#39

Post by cdent »

These sorts of interviews do not find good software developers, they simply remove a certain kind of bad (not really) software developers along with a whole host of very good software developers that don't fit a very specific mold (perhaps people who write cheery blog posts about how fun it was? ...weird). Which is fine if you're the company doing the interviewing, but completely time wasting for the interviewee. In aggregate it sounds like abuse and disrespect. It's dismissive of experience, accomplishment and aptitude in favor of training to the test.

People say that Google has changed their tune somewhat over the years, but their creed has had impact throughout the industry. It's a shame.

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