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My Google Interview Experience

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Re: My Google Interview Experience

#31

Post by eta_carinae »

lutorm wrote: post #23
cletus wrote: post #12

Hi, I am a Google engineer and have gone through the process twice (the first time unsuccessfully). It can be a frustrating and even exhausting experience so I certainly understand why you're bummed it didn't work out (I was the first time) but let me clear up a few things. You don't need to go to an Ivy League or otherwise top school (actually most of the Ivies aren't in the top CS schools). I certainly didn't. I di…

As far as releasing interview scores goes, that isn't going to happen for good reason. This is true, but it sure would be helpful if they could give qualitative feedback like "the impression was that you were strong in a and b, but weak in x and y." That doesn't seem like too much to ask. (In fact, if he had good rapport with the recruiter I'm surprised that they didn't give that much information.)

> This is true, but it sure would be helpful if they could give qualitative feedback like "the impression was that you were strong in a and b, but weak in x and y." That doesn't seem like too much to ask

Sadly, even this kind of feedback exposes the company on a legal front. There is a lot of precedent coming from rejected candidates who ended up suing the company because of this kind of feedback.

The only sane thing that a company can do from a legal standpoint is say "Sorry, we don't have a position for you at the moment, good luck in your search".

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#32

Post by javajosh »

The problem with silence is that it is inconsistent with the premise of the Google Interview (that it finds good programmers) and the unofficial Google Motto ("Don't be evil"). If these are true, then there's an opportunity for us to learn about our strengths and weaknesses, at least according to Google's POV.

If liability is an issue, have us sign a waiver.

Actually there are 4 possible attitudes about the Google Interview, according to what you believe: 1. Both claims are true: you don't have any problem with Google. 2. Only the utility claim is false: the interview is pointless, and can't be learned from. 3. Only the evil claim is false: the interview is not pointless, but Google is being evil by withholding valuable information 4. Both claims are false: you probably won't be interviewing for Google, and if you do you're a total cynic!

I think that the OP's position, and mine, is tentative support for category 3. I think there is value in the Google interview process, and after a long day of answering questions on a whiteboard, I feel like Google is being needlessly evil in withholding their feedback.

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#33

Post by shazow »

cletus, eta_carinae, and everyone else already gave great points, but I want to add one more to the pile: Google really cares about culture fit.

From the way I understand it, there are two main goals for hiring:

1. Always raising the bar by finding people who are better than the average Googler.

2. Find people who would fit in well and Googlers would want to work with.

This adds another dimension to the way you could perform in your interview. Keep in mind that not only the answer counts, but also how you answer, what kinds of questions you ask, what your attitude and personality is, etc. I have no idea if this was a factor in your outcome, but it's just another thing to consider.

Lastly: Don't be afraid to reapply after a year or so (I've interviewed at Google three times before joining)—prior results aren't held against you.

Disclaimer: I'm also a Google employee.

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#35

Post by RuggeroAltair »

dkasper wrote: post #10
alain94040 wrote: post #9

Having been on both sides, what the applicant often forgets is that you are being compared with the other candidates. It's not about reaching an absolute level. Maybe you were very good that day, but another candidate just was so amazing that she got the job. But you can't know, you just don't have enough information.

That doesn't really seem applicable. Google is more than big enough that they can hire both people if they are both good unless you're applying for a particularly specialized role which it didn't sound like was the case here.

I don't think this is true at all. I'm not saying that they will never hire an extra person in case they find two truly exceptional people (exceptional as in they feel like they really are missing out sending one home, not just that they are good programmers), but I'm sure that most of the times the hiring mechanism is quite compartmented.

If you interview with a specific group/organization, they need some people to do something in that group/organization. Now, it's possible that they leave a good comment about the "second" candidate, and it's possible that other groups eventually will contact them I guess, but I find unlikely that they will just hire two people in a group if they need one.

It's not like the people who interview you are interviewing you for the entire Google.

Most likely for 100 positions they are interviewing several hundred candidates. If their reasoning was like you were suggesting they would end up hiring about 200 people each time. 100 of which would have to find a group to work for.

Not a good idea.

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#36

Post by evmar »

(I'm yet another Google engineer.)

Personally, in my interviewing I don't care at all about schools or GPAs. (I think the only time I've even considered the school is when candidates are from a big name school like MIT, where I will modify my interview to ask more culture questions to try to see whether they are too full of themselves.)

Instead, consider this: hiring someone who isn't good is much more costly than not hiring someone who is good. It's not only that you need to pay a person who doesn't do good work, but they're also a drag on everyone else who is already really busy. That is to say, it's much better to err on the side of "no hire" when you have any doubt; Google has plenty of employees already, and while they surely want more (and the bar is continually lowering), there's also no shortage of people who are willing to go through the legendarily Kafkaesque interview process repeatedly.

So it is possible that your one bad interview sunk you, even when it wasn't indicative of your skill. Everyone has bad days or bad luck sometimes, so don't feel too bad about it. You're in a good position in the world where there are many other tech companies eager to hire you as well and even compete on what they offer you.

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#37

Post by lutorm »

eta_carinae wrote: post #31
lutorm wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as releasing interview scores goes, that isn't going to happen for good reason. This is true, but it sure would be helpful if they could give qualitative feedback like "the impression was that you were strong in a and b, but weak in x and y." That doesn't seem like too much to ask. (In fact, if he had good rapport with the recruiter I'm surprised that they didn't give that much information.)

> This is true, but it sure would be helpful if they could give qualitative feedback like "the impression was that you were strong in a and b, but weak in x and y." That doesn't seem like too much to ask Sadly, even this kind of feedback exposes the company on a legal front. There is a lot of precedent coming from rejected candidates who ended up suing the company because of this kind of feedback. The only sane thing…

Given how things work in the US, I guess that might be true. But on what grounds does someone get sued for saying "we don't think you know enough about template metaprogramming"? (that's less frivolous than getting sued for saying "we don't have a position for you at the moment", that is, since you don't need a reason to sue.)

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#38

Post by velshin »

cletus wrote: post #12

Hi, I am a Google engineer and have gone through the process twice (the first time unsuccessfully). It can be a frustrating and even exhausting experience so I certainly understand why you're bummed it didn't work out (I was the first time) but let me clear up a few things. You don't need to go to an Ivy League or otherwise top school (actually most of the Ivies aren't in the top CS schools). I certainly didn't. I di…

Am I off in thinking it's horrible for the interviewers to not provide feedback during the interview?

I'd also be curious how much throwawayttt probed for feedback during the interview process.

It always hurts to not get something you work hard for -- sorry mate!

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#39

Post by nessus42 »

redguava wrote: post #26

"Or it could have been that I might have not paid attention to little details which I thought were not important" I think you are underestimating the importance of this. I have hired people before and this is a critical thing I look for. Attention to detail is very important as a developer, if you don't showcase it while on your best behaviour during an interview, I would be concerned what you are like day to day. I…

It irks me that people think that being able to pay attention to detail in a stressful job interview while standing in front of a whiteboard has any strong correlation with their ability and desire to pay attention to detail while doing real-world programming. If this were true, wouldn't MIT and Stanford and CMU grade you while you code at a whiteboard, instead of grading you on significant programming projects?

Where I work, we give people a do-at-home programming assignment before having them come in for an interview. We then all code review the solution submitted. This seems to me a much more realistic gauge of a programmer's real-world abilities. Also, it clearly demonstrates that most people looking for jobs apparently can't program their way out of a paper bag.

Re: My Google Interview Experience

#40

Post by ootachi »

evmar wrote: post #36

(I'm yet another Google engineer.) Personally, in my interviewing I don't care at all about schools or GPAs. (I think the only time I've even considered the school is when candidates are from a big name school like MIT, where I will modify my interview to ask more culture questions to try to see whether they are too full of themselves.) Instead, consider this: hiring someone who isn't good is much more costly than no…

"Google has plenty of employees already"

With an attitude like that, it's no wonder employees are leaving Google for Facebook.

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