Foreword
I have long been interested in working for Google and been wondering what kind of people could actually pass their interview..
So I have decided to do some research about their content of the interview and also their expectation for candidates.
Google's Interview Process
- CV Screening: Everyone struggling with this step.
Why can't my CV pass screening for Google and Facebook despite having Amazon in it? - Phone/Hangout Screening: Usually takes 30 - 60 minutes with Potential Peer/Manager
- On-site Interview: Meet Four Googlers for 35-40 minutes each
Expectation on Candidates
- General Cognitive Ability: To explain your answer for open-ended questions in a smart manner, e.g. solving a problem using specific algorithm.
- Leadership: you should be able to talk how you communicate with team-members to improve the productivity and enhance the efficient decision-making.
- Role-Relate Knowledge: you should be able to explain the bond between your career/experience and the position you applied.
- Googleyness: You need to tell how you can motivate others to achieve something great and grow outside of the comfort zone.
Tips
At the step of 2, especially for software engineers, they expect you to clarify the problem and explain your concept to fix the issue or fulfill the given task.
For example, as you know that you have to pass coding test while the interview, this is like a live coding test. So they tell you the task during the interview and ask to program the software to fulfill the task. Indeed, they list the steps to do this as below.
- When you are give the Open ended-question, you have to clarify the specification and devise requirements.
- Explain it in an algorithm.
- Convert it to workable code, be sure to consider the edges cases and production-ready code.
- Then you can optimise your code.
Throughout these steps, the interviewer will ask you to explain how you plan to approach the problem, actually this will be the work you do everyday. So no need to worry about it, the interview process is carefully designed from the viewpoint of the actual work!