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Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

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Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#31

Post by chrisvogt »

karatestomp wrote: post #10
untog wrote: post #3

I'd be curious to know if this is typical. As someone that's never interviewed at Google but idly wondered at moments if I'd ever work there this sounds hellish. Not necessarily the exercises themselves (although they seem to have nothing to do with what any developer does day-to-day), but the sheer number of them and the amount of preparation required. I already have a full time job, I don't want to take on another…

All I can figure is that's by design. The process selects for some combination of IQ and how bad you want it, basically. If you can't or don't want to put in 10-15hrs a week prepping, for a few months, on top of your actual job (god knows nothing I actually do at work as a programmer helps me be better prepared for this kind of shit), to then subject yourself to a crushing marathon of a day, they don't want you. They…

nit: Cialdini's Influence: Science and Practice.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#32

Post by hello_moto »

untog wrote: post #3

I'd be curious to know if this is typical. As someone that's never interviewed at Google but idly wondered at moments if I'd ever work there this sounds hellish. Not necessarily the exercises themselves (although they seem to have nothing to do with what any developer does day-to-day), but the sheer number of them and the amount of preparation required. I already have a full time job, I don't want to take on another…

> (although they seem to have nothing to do with what any developer does day-to-day)

Depends on what you do at Google.

Google Guava is a data-structure/algorithms-heavy great Java library.

Dart and Golang are programming languages. I'd imagine you have to know how to write a compiler etc and the standard library definitely has sections for data-structure and algorithms.

They pay tons of money and prefer people to stick around and do different things within the company so I guess that's why they set the bar high for that specific section of skillset (algorithms and data structure).

Some people are willing to go through that for the Money, Prestige, and hopefully the experience. Some people don't. That's life.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#33

Post by ssully »

untog wrote: post #14
boarnoah wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise, even if you were to ignore the upfront preparation costs just the timeline (months with not much indication) makes it pretty tough sell. EDIT: Just, in general, it would be pretty difficult to commit time to such a task when it's more fulfilling to work on personal side projects (and potentially leverage that for employment offers).

> it would be pretty difficult to commit time to such a task when it's more fulfilling to work on personal side projects Or if you, I dunno... have a child. That's something that (as a relatively new parent) leaps out at me with interview requirements like this. It feels like you need to get a job at Google before becoming a parent, or you're going to need to wait until your kid is in high school.

Even without a kid, I think I would be lucky to have prepared half as well as this person did.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#34

Post by karatestomp »

vsareto wrote: post #21
karatestomp wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not aware of another industry that has interviews as awful as FAANG and their copycats. There may be something out there but I've not seen it. Try describing what they do to non-tech folks and watch the reactions. Incredulity and/or astonishment are typical, in my experience. But yes we do have tons of jobs and IME most places don't do this crap. So that's nice, compared with how other workers have it. Though you…

I'm sure if they didn't have the interviews, they'd only select from Ivy League or top X school computer science graduate pools. I bet investment bank or hedge fund jobs are/were just as tough for anyone to apply to and get.

There's a certain persona I associate strongly with folks I've known from that sort of school that I think they do select for. A little offputtingly probingly-aggressive in conversation (at least to my non-elite midwestern sensibilities), probably honed by the style & tone of class conversations at elite universities and, assuming it wasn't directly socialized into them at prep school, by their peers who had experienced a few years of Harkness method at Phillips Exeter or whatever. It's the only kind of personal affect I can imagine fitting well into these types of interviews and, if it comes naturally through long practice, not leaving one so worn down after the first couple hours that one falls apart for the rest of the day.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#35

Post by hayksaakian »

ctvo wrote: post #17

The current interview process is expensive for giant tech companies. In one hour chunks, per candidate: - Engineers for the phone screens or coding assessment reviews: 1-2 - Interviewers for the on-site: 6-7. 3-4 engineers, 2-3 managers - Reviewers for the feedback sessions: Interviewers + 0-2 This doesn't take into account the cost of HR, flights, hotels, on and on. Giant tech companies have data going back decades…

They're weighing the cost of all this up front work vs the cost of making a "bad" hire, onboarding them, and then firing shortly after they start or being stuck with them in the long term.

Google has so much "demand" to work for them that they can be this picky.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#36

Post by cmckn »

I interviewed with Google last spring. My experience was different, but about as disappointing.

I applied for a job, and received an out-of-the-blue email from a recruiter about a different job a couple months later (my resume must have landed in some "recent" bucket). The position was in Google Cloud. I was frustrated by the "you'll talk to a team after you've passed 100 hurdles" nonsense.

I had one phone screen with my recruiter, which was positive. She said we'd be scheduling a phone interview. I got a call a few days later; she said we'd be skipping the phone interviews and going to an on-site at Sunnyvale. I thought this was a good sign! In hindsight, I think they just needed to fill a lot of positions quickly.

I did the onsite, which I thought went terribly, and I left feeling really discouraged. My recruiter said my packet wouldn't go the hiring committee, but that she thought the feedback was positive enough that I could find another role at the company. I got handed to another recruiter for a lesser role doing developer support. That recruiter reached out to me a few days later to tell me that he didn't actually have any roles for me.

The whole process took a couple months, and ultimately made me feel bad about my abilities. Everyone I met at the onsite was kind of an asshole. My "lunch interviewer" complained about the bureaucracy and said he was looking for another job after being there for ~18 months.

It's unfortunate that positions at FAANG are so beneficial to my resume, because I'd love to never go through that process again. I'm going through it right now with Amazon.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#38

Post by twmiller »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #29
mtnGoat wrote: post #28

All I have heard are nightmare stories from everyone I know whom has interviewed at a FAANG(or the likes). It's crazy how disrespectful(and frankly insulting) these companies are to candidates, under the guise of trying to get the best. I would assume the best aren't sitting around on their hands for months waiting for offers, nor are they overly willing to be jerked around.

Maybe it's a good filter for them. If people start complaining in the interview process they will complain at work, too. Maybe such a process only keeps the ones who are eager and willing to work there and will continue their tasks even when jerked around ...

...sounds like the kind of place I’d want to work. /s

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#39

Post by mav3rick »

friday99 wrote: post #23
mav3rick wrote: post #13

"I got an idea of how Google works internally" No he didn't. He wasn't even hired. 99% of companies don't split interviews over 2 days. Most people are pressed for time and days off. If he would have gotten an offer, I would have loved to see if he would freelance then.

It was two phone interviews that he didn't want to do back to back after having already completed two successful phone interviews. People can often take a phone interview over their lunch break as it is typically less than an hour. That is impossible if they want you to take two phone interviews back to back. 99.999% of companies don't do four phone interviews before an all day on-site interview. He was correct that…

Yes. Extrapolate from one data point. Many many people are happy here. No matter how hard HN tries to avoid this fact by citing random blog posts.

Re: Google interviewing process for software developer role in 2020

#40

Post by diego »

Google wants people who are desperate to work at Google. The plus (for them) of getting someone to invest so much effort into getting in means that they will be committed for a while because of the sunk costs / defeated ultimate boss effect.

Luckily there is a large supply of those people for now. They won't change their interview process until this stops being the case.

Edit: I guess someone at Google didn't like this comment :)

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