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Updated May 10, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 33 ratings

3.4

“Difficult” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 33 ratings

Positive	45%
Neutral	52%
Negative	3%

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3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Mar 2012 (took a day)

It was my first interview and I made a lot of mistakes but I liked the process a lot more than what happened in other companies.

They contacted me about a week after I submitted an online application and met with me in person on my campus. They contacted me 2 weeks after the interview to tell me that I was not hired, which I appreciate since a lot of companies don't tell you anything.

Interview Questions

find the largest prefix common in a list of strings

Answer Question

given list a and list b, output everything in list a that is not in list b

Answer Question

Other Details

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

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 (took a day)

The interview consisted of two technical 45 minute phone calls, which is the same for every applying intern. The first interviewer was difficult to understand (talked softly, had an accent), but I did much better in this interview than the second. First he asked a general question about my computer science studies, then two big coding questions. I did not completely finish them but walked him through how I would finish them since I was pressed for time. The second interviewer was friendlier and easy to understand, but asked a very difficult coding question that took me the whole interview. He had to talk me through most of the problem and the code still wasn't completely done at the end. There is no specific way to prepare for these interviews, as anything relevant you learned in the past few years can be asked. I'd suggest reviewing any data structures or algorithms you have had a hard time with in the past. Also, come prepared with questions to ask the interviewer at the end.

Interview Questions

Write an algorithm to calculate the total number of paths possible from point (0, 0) to point (m, n) in an m by n grid. (You cannot retrace a line you already made when forming a path.)

View Answers (2)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Skills Test and a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Feb 2012 in San Francisco, CA (took 2+ weeks)

I was recommended by a Google employee. The procedure consisted of two back to back phone interviews. Questions were pretty standard. Nothing too fancy. But I was asked to to use Lists in Java with which I was not well versed. So, I ended up Googling during the interview : Not Good. The interviewers were not as friendly as I had heard, but also not harsh. A week after the interview, the recruiter told me over the phone that they were not going to go forward with the process : Bummer. But they did not disclose any reason as to why.

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

View Comments (1)

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Mar 2012 in Zurich (Switzerland) (took 3 months)

The application process takes a long time. The process is publicly known and has been described several times on this site. I had 2 phone interviews.

The main issue is that each decision usually takes at least a week (after sending the CV, after an interview, waiting for the final decision, etc). However, the recruiter was really helpful by providing information about the process and how to prepare for the interviews. The interviewers were also very friendly and the 45min interviews felt like a nice conversation discussing a few problems.

I recommend reading the interview reviews on this site. The questions were similar to the ones posted here and it really helps to prepare your brain for the kind of reasoning you need during the interviews.

As a user posted here previously, I think that one of the main points of the interviews is to put some pressure and see how people (interviewees) react to difficult situations that may be out of their comfort zone. So, if you think you aced the interview and answered everything without a sweat, you probably missed the point of the interview (I had issues in both my interviews and it was ok).

Finally, HEAR the interviewers and especially their tips.

Negotiation Details

The offer was generous and I didn't need to negotiate.

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Declined Offer

Interviewed Aug 2010 in Cairo (Egypt) (took 3 weeks)

I applied through my uni's career center , later they contacted me telling me that they would like to schedule a phone interview , some software engineer called me all the way from zurich and it was pretty easy at first it wasnt intimidating at all , questions about my goals and personality more or less . after that she contacted me a week later telling me that they scheduled a technical interview through google docs online , that was pretty INTENSE , questions were not easy at all and they would probably even weed out a good candidate if he is nervous enough . they offered me the job but i ended up declining it cause i had other plans.

Interview Questions

Write a function in which ever language you prefer that would give an automated solution for the game sudoko

Answer Question

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Personality Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Mar 2012 in Mountain View, CA (took 2 months)

Long process, but interviewers were friendly. I can't compare, as this is my first internship, but it's a relatively smooth process throughout despite what some other folks have said.

Interview Questions

Signed an NDA so I'll respect that

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 Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jan 2012 in New York, NY (took 2+ weeks)

Hiring process was very fluid. I applied online and was contacted by a recruiter to set up a phone interview. First interview consisted of standard algorithms questions and a creative prices question. I passed the first round and was set up with a second phone interview. This one was less broad than the first but the difficulty was greater. Overall a good experience. Recruiters were friendly and prompt in following up after my interviews. Overall very happy with the process.

Interview Questions

textbook algorithms questions

View Answers (2)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

View Comments (1)

Inappropriate?

4.0

Difficult Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Feb 2012 in Mountain View, CA (took 4 weeks)

The interviewers were really nice. Both set up online docs to code on so they could see me code. Questions tended to be pretty open ended, so you could go where you wanted with them, but it did require that you knew the subjects the asked you about really well.

Interview Questions

Redefine a function (signature given) to write data to a new replacement for an antiquated database (which you previously designed)

Answer Question

Write a function to return the longest common prefix between two strings.

View Answers (3)

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Skills Test.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Nov 2011 (took a day)

I was contacted by a recruiter for a phone screen after submitting my resume online. Like other posters have detailed, the phone screen consists of two back-to-back 45 minute interviews with Google employees. Interviewers were generally friendly. After passing the phone screen, the recruiter will send and email informing you that you will be matched with a group.

Interview Questions

Signed an NDA which I'll respect.

Answer Question

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Feb 2011 (took a day)

Initially fit screening that is basically a hello. Then a 2-part phone interview by two interviewers who were both very nice. However, just answering all the questions correctly does not mean you pass. Questions range from easy to medium-difficulty (started with graph theory, ended with Prims)