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Updated Feb 7, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 371 ratings

3.5

“Difficult” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 371 ratings

Positive	38%
Neutral	42%
Negative	20%

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3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 (took a day)

Two back to back interviews. Applied through google website

Interview Questions

What is the biggest bug in your previous code

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Aug 2010 in Mountain View, CA (took a day)

For this Google phone interview, I got a 25 year old programmer who had limited experience, but who in his arrogance believed that because he worked for Google, he was a world-class computer scientist. As you might imagine, I couldn't convince him that I knew anything at all, despite my own success and experience. Would I interview with Google again? No, thanks!

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 in Mountain View, CA (took 6 weeks)

This is a more verbose review for those who want to know what the entire process is like. I won't list of exact questions due to NDA which I would like to respect, but will outline areas - see (*).

Some quick background on myself: new grad with masters in computer science.

Although I did not receive an offer in the end, it was a great experience and Google left me with a very positive impression about them. Albeit, the entire process was overall on the slow side, but my HR contact was very responsive to emails and kept me up-to-date.

I applied online on the company website. About a week later, I got an email to schedule two back-to-back phone interviews in < a week. Second one was rescheduled last minute to next week. Both phone interviewers went very smoothly and the interviewers were very polite and easy to speak with. Each were an hour in length, with maybe the first 10-15 minutes of resume questions, background, etc., then it quickly became technical. I coded in a shared Google Doc for both. The first interviewer asked for whatever language (I chose C++), but the second one insisted on Python (which I was happy to oblige, it's actually my favorite to hack in). I had those two on my resume, so I assume they were probing me to see if I was lying. They will not ask you anything not on your resume and conversely, don't lie/exaggerate as if one of the largest tech. companies doesn't encounter that on a daily basis!

***** I haven't seen any of the questions they asked here on Glassdoor, but were similar in complexity. 1st phone interview in C++: was asked to design and code a data structure with specific customization to a queue, big-O analysis, optimization, and short discussions on two other problems (no code due to time constraint). 2nd phone interview: manipulating lists in Python, write some SQL queries (simple selects with joins) for a DB schema he pasted into the doc, also answered some high-level conceptual questions on data structures. Made a small error in one of the SQL queries that I quickly corrected, but pretty much got the rest without help. With that said, couldn't answer the last sub-question in each interview, but they both said it was more of a bonus at that point.

Within an hour of the second phone interview, got an email saying they were impressed and decided to move on to onsite interview. This is the part that took a while, almost three weeks just to get it finalized, but it did go smoothly.

They put me in a nice hotel for two nights which provided breakfast and a shuttle limo (yes, limo) to/from the Googleplex. The office was very nice, the whole dot-com atmosphere still in full swing. Cubicles looked a bit cramped though compared with other places I've seen. Four people sharing one big cube. I've had larger, private cubicles in past internships at other places. Not a big deal though, I guess. Food was fantastic, better than the crap I regularly eat anyways.

My big day lasted four hours consisting of 4 one-on-ones each about 45 minutes and a one hour lunch meeting (not evaluated) with a senior who would answer whatever questions I had and gave me a tour of the campus. All interviewers were very nice and helpful and really do try to push you in the right direction - some more than others, naturally. Perhaps one came off as a bit arrogant at times, but still helpful. Another implicitly told me he wasn't into his duties, but ironically was the most fun to speak with.

***** I guess here's what most people want: Two interviewers asked resume questions for maybe 5 minutes, but other than that everything was purely technical: writing code on a whiteboard. The questions ranged from binary search trees (recursion), caching, string manipulation and some random recursion (I got an easy one). Usually asked to design test cases at end (no code). They were not very difficult, but it was clear that you really had to know them inside-out. Be sure to constantly talk and explain what you are thinking. Much better than long periods of silence which I had a few times. I couldn't solve a corner (admittedly important) case for the BST question, and my design for the specialized caching question was not too impressive but it did work; other than that, I pretty much solved the rest without hints. Any time left-over is given to you to ask them whatever you'd like.

Went to hiring committee, but alas, two weeks later got the disappointing email they were not going to extend me an offer. HR contact encouraged me to reapply after a year of industry experience, which, depending on my situation at that time, I will consider. Google has the advantage that if they are not absolutely certain you'd be a stellar engineer, they will pass even if this means false negatives.

Interview Questions

Phone: resume, custom queue data structure, list manipulation in Python, SQL, couple other short questions (no code)

Answer Question

Onsite: binary search trees, string manipulation, designing a cache, recursion

Answer Question

Both: Big-O analysis, optimize, design test cases

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 in Los Angeles, CA (took a day)

Recruiter contacted with me via linked in. Then scheduled phone interview after a couple of weeks. The phone interview was conducted well, that was what I felt. Asked several questions from math to coding detail. Answered all question well. But did not get offer. Checked with recruiter, was told she can not share with me regarding the result.
I feel they are already pre-determined if they want you or not based on the school you graduated. If you did not graduate from decent school, forget about it. It is wasting of time.

Interview Questions

Remove duplicate lines from an large text.

Answer Question

Some tricky part of hashmap

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jun 2011 (took a day)

two 45 mins phone interviews. And then one day onsite interview, met with 5 engineers. Very selective, high expectation in CS basics and apply what you know creatively to solve challenges.

Interview Questions

what can you do to improve Google search engine?

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Dec 2011 in Los Angeles, CA (took a day)

Googlers only want the best engineers. A tough, but positive interview experience.

The recruitment process is a bit on the slow side, though recruiters always kept me well-informed. I had two phone interviews before being asked to come to Google Los Angeles. The interviews consisted of the standard Google questions that are mentioned elsewhere on this website. I made a fundamental mistake on the first interview, but was able to send a correction via email. The interviewers really want to help you.

Before entering the building, applicants are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Even if I were to reveal what questions were asked, it wouldn't help. It's standard Computer Science algorithms and discrete math. You have to know your stuff and be able to explain yourself. Out of the six or so interviews, I totally botched one, becoming stuck. On another, I forgot an important conceptual detail. The rest went very well.

I received notification that I was not selected a few weeks later. The recruiters and staff are all very friendly. The engineers' reputation for being really smart is well-earned. The interviews are tough, and if I couldn't get in ---being one of the top students in my CS program--- then it must be true that only the best of the best get in. The Google office is amazing, as is to be expected. I had a very positive impression of Google and their recruitment process. I appreciated being placed in a nice hotel and having all travel expenses paid. It was nice to get a short trip to LA.

Anyone who is selected for an on-site interview already has a bright enough future so that she/he can find other offers of employment easily. From this website, it appears that most applicants who come on-site to interview do not get selected. However, anyone may apply again after six months. So if it is really important to work at Google, try, try again!

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Skills Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

5.0

Very Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Sep 2011 (took 2 months)

I was contacted by an in-house recruiter. After a short phone call with her, a phone screen was set up.

The phone screen took approximately 1 hour. I was only asked one question (very technical CS related), which I had to code in a shared Google doc. After I was finished, I had a chance to ask the other person questions. A few hours after the phone screen was finished I received a call from my recruiter... they wanted to set up a 1:1 interview in Mountain View, CA.

The Mountain View interview lasted an entire day. The day was scheduled as such: 1:1 interview 1, 1:1 interview 2, lunch with my phone screen interviewer, 1:1 interview 3, 1:1 interview 4. Each interview (and lunch) took about 1 hour. The questions ranged from semi-advanced CS topics to probability and statistics.

They emailed me about a week after the onsite interview to let me know that they weren't going forward with me.

Interview Questions

Questions related to probability and statistics.

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Negative Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 (took a day)

Recruiter booked 2 phone screens. Google docs were set up as a medium for coding problems. One of the interviewers seemed to want to see me fail, the other was very friendly and helpful. They ask fairly difficult coding problems, and expect you to code them on the Google doc page provided.

Interview Questions

why do you want to work at Google

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Mar 2010 in San Francisco, CA (took 3+ weeks)

Everybody that interviewed me was generally pleasant. Lots of emphasis on puzzles, which I tend to enjoy, but don't find to be very effective interview questions.

Interview Questions

Out of 10 coins, one weighs less then the others. You have a scale.
How can you determine which one weighs less in 3 weighs?
Now how would you do it if you didn't know if the odd coin weighs less or more?

View Answers (2)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and an IQ/Intelligence Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2010 (took a day)

It took them awhile for them to get in touch with me after I sent my resume in. After that, they schedule two phone interviews back to back, each about 45 minutes long. Most of the questions were on data structures and recursion so make sure you review those.