I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Sep 2011
Interview
They are very into skills. They quizzed me on the phone in one of my 3 phone screens about random knowledge. Eg., they asked me acronyms to see if I knew what they stood for. Very quick stuff so I couldn't look it up on the internet. But very pedantic. Then, on site, they gave me a bunch of hypos - each meeting had 2 people who worked there - and one would ask the question and the other would write down comments on the laptop. Very much had the feel of an oral exam. Very skills/knowledge oriented and little to no focus on cultural fit.
First call was w/recruiter. Then after an in-person interview with several people, I had several separate calls w/individuals in different departments at Google. Great interviews with great people, but I was never told I was out of the running until I called the recruiter after not hearing for several weeks.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jan 2014
Interview
Phone interview with recruiter followed by in person interview on-site with team. Initially interviewed with a New York team, found out quickly that my skills didn't match theirs and was referred to another team where I ultimately ended up spending the summer.
