I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Google
Interview
First round phone call. Applied directly on the website and got an acquaintance to refer me. The person is a sr recruiting manager at Google. So I guess that's why I heard back quick. At least from what Ive heard, once you are in the system, Google archives details about you. If you choose to apply a second time your chances increase tremendously. There have also been instances where Google rejected an applicant initially and then called back a couple of years later to interview them again for a position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What would be an innovative idea for a vending machine - something that hasnt been done so far.
Very self-driven, first of multiple rounds, where I had to take the initiative to arrive at the problem, constraints, approach, solutions, tradeoffs and reasoning behind it in a matter of 30 minutes.
You would have to do a hiring assessment first, then a recruiter screening follows. First round interview with the hiring manager. Majorly product sense and product improvement. The questions were not direct though.
Overall a lot of steps to the interview process. Talked to different people and had opportunities to ask questions. Many different stages which made it a lengthy process overall. Wasn't too bad.