How to Prepare for Google
Interview
There are two types of interviews in Google hiring
process. Between each round, we gather feedback from your interviewers and
determine next steps.
How it works
Phone/Hangout
interviews
During phone or Google Hangout interviews,
you’ll speak with a potential peer or manager.
For software engineering roles, your phone/Hangout discussion
will last between 30 and 60 minutes. When answering coding questions, you’ll
talk through your thought process while writing code in a Google Doc that
you’ll share with your interviewer. We recommend using a hands-free headset or
speakerphone so you can type freely.
For all other roles, your phone/Hangout discussion will last
between 30 and 45 minutes. Be prepared for behavioral, hypothetical, or
case-based questions that cover your role-related knowledge.
Onsite
interviews
You'll usually meet with four Googlers—some
potential teammates and some cross-functional—for about 30 to 45 minutes each.
For software engineering candidates, we want to understand your
coding skills and technical areas of expertise, including tools or programming
languages and general knowledge on topics like data structures and algorithms.
There's generally some back and forth in these discussions, just like there is
on the job, because we like to push each other's thinking and learn about
different approaches. So be prepared to talk through your solutions in depth.
Push your own boundaries and find the best answer—that’s probably how you work
anyway.
For candidates outside of engineering, you’ll have the chance to
highlight strengths in four different areas:
·
General cognitive
ability: We ask open-ended questions to learn how you approach and solve problems.
And there’s no one right answer—your ability to explain your thought process
and how you use data to inform decisions is what’s most important.
·
Leadership: Be
prepared to discuss how you have used your communication and decision-making
skills to mobilize others. This might be by stepping up to a leadership role at
work or with an organization, or by helping a team succeed even when you
weren’t officially the leader.
·
Role-related knowledge:
We’re interested in how your individual strengths combine with your experience
to drive impact. We don’t just look for how you can contribute today, but how
you can grow into different roles—including ones that haven’t even been
invented yet.
·
Googleyness: Share how
you work individually and on a team, how you help others, how you navigate
ambiguity, and how you push yourself to grow outside of your comfort zone.
Throughout the interview process, feel free to
ask your interviewers for clarification to make sure you fully understand their
questions. And feel free to interview us, too. Ask questions—about the work,
about the team, about the culture—that will help you decide whether the job
will be right for you.
How to prepare
Interviews
for software engineering and technical roles
·
Interview prep: A
while back, two Google engineers recorded a Hangout on Air on our technical
interviews, including interview preparation, working through a sample question,
and an example solution.
·
Coding practice: You
can find sample coding questions on sites like LeetCode, CodeLab, Quora, and
Stack Overflow. The book “Cracking the Coding Interview” is also a good
resource.
Interviews
for non-technical roles
Here’s advice straight from Laszlo Bock, Google
SVP of People Operations.
·
Predict the future:
You can anticipate 90% of the interview questions you’re going to get. “Why do
you want this job?” “What’s a tough problem you’ve solved?” If you can’t think
of any, Google “most common interview questions.” Write down the top 20
questions you think you’ll get.
·
Plan: For every
question on your list, write down your answer. That will help them stick in
your brain, which is important because you want your answers to be automatic.
·
Have a backup plan:
Actually, for every question, write down THREE answers. Why three? You need to
have a different, equally good answer for every question because the first
interviewer might not like your story. You want the next interviewer to hear a
different story and become your advocate.
·
Be data-driven: Every
question should be answered with a story that demonstrates you can do what
you’re being asked about. “How do you lead?” should be answered with “I’m a
collaborative/decisive/whatever leader. Let me tell you about the time I … ”
·
Practice: Everyone
gets better with practice. Practice your interview answers—out loud—until you
can tell each story clearly and concisely.
Almost
ready? Here are a few last things you may want to know, based on what people
often ask recruiters.
·
How to structure your
interview answers: When answering questions, it’s important to show how you
arrive at a solution, so think out loud.
·
Helpful questions to
think about as you prepare: How do you work best, as an individual and as part
of a team? What challenges have you faced at school or at work and how did you
work through them? Which of your skills or experiences would be assets in the
role and why?
·
Ask your interviewers
for clarification if you don’t understand a question and feel free to take the
time you need with responses.
For more details about Google Interview Process, contact Appin Coimbatore @ www.appincoimbatore.com
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