I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Google in Dec 2016
Interview
Recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn and we set up a phone screening for the position. Next step in the process, I had another phone interview with an engineer from the team. He asked me an algorithm question and to show him how to write the function using google docs.
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Google (Pittsburgh, PA) in Jan 2017
Interview
I applied online and was contacted by a recruiter via email. I had a phone screening with them and they were very nice and informative. Next I was scheduled for the technical phone interview. When I got the study guide, I was a little turned off. I applied for a front end position, but it was all more advanced data structures and algorithms(tree traversal, graphs, etc). I feel like it's a little deceiving to advertise a front end position, but instead of testing my JS or front end knowledge, you test me in stuff I never work with regularly. I understand wanting someone with a good base knowledge, but if you're going into more complex problems, I would just advertise all your positions as general software engineers.
My second complaint was the actual phone interview itself. It's a little difficult to handle the phone and try to type at the same time. I wish they would have done a google hangout instead. It would have been a lot easier. Another complaint was that my interviewer had quite an accent, so he was hard to understand. Normally I wouldn't mind too much, but on a timed interview, it's annoying to have to waste time constantly asking, "could you please repeat that?" Other than that though, he was very helpful and a good interviewer.
About a week later I got an email to set up a time to chat with the recruiter. It was basically a call to tell me I wasn't moving on, but to keep in contact and try again in a couple months.
Overall it was a stressful interview process and I probably won't be applying again in the future.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I won't say specifics, but it was on tree and graph traversal
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Google (New York, NY) in Oct 2016
Interview
Extremely positive. Their HR team is one of the most organized and professional I have experienced.
My interview was an onsite in the NYC office for a front end engineering position. I had 6 interviews, 4 of which were with extremely nice interviewers. 2 of the interviewers played it tough. Every interview had one or two questions, all of which I found very difficult. Wish I had spent more time doing the practice problems in Cracking the Coding Interview.
Got rejected the day after my onsite interview, so that sucked.
Interview questions [4]
Question 1
Check if matrix is word square (check [i][j] === [j][i])