I was not given an offer and this is not a surprise to me as I have 15 years of support experience but only a few years with Android, it would not surprise me if they wanted someone with a few more years of android support on their belt for a level 3 support position.
My recruiter was awesome, very helpful and did tell me up front to be a go getter and to have positive energy for the onsite interview and I appreciate that. I was not worried about that as I am a very positive person to the point where I usually make people around me feel good because I am very laid back and have positive energy.
Now maybe it was the long drive to Mountain View or it was the hamburger i just had for lunch before i went in but it was hard for me to be physically exited when I walked into the interview. Instead I was calm and collective and ready for anything they where going to through at me. I did voice my excitement to be there but that was not enough for the two interviewers that I was interviewing with. They seemed to be two very nice guys but it seemed to me like they themselves where very scattered and nervous or maybe they where just too stressed out and overworked. Right from the beginning they could not figure out which conference room to take for the interview, something that should have obviously been worked out before hand. They seated me in one conference room and then moved me to another one.
Right off the bat that made everything awkward and the two interviewers radiated nervous energy. They mistook my calm and collective energy for nervousness almost like a deflection because they where really the ones making it awkward with their nervous energy. At that point one of them spent way too much time and energy trying to make me comfortable and even wanted me to list 6 things that where making me nervous on a white board which I could not give him anything because I really was not nervous at all. Then he suggested I put my feet up on the chair next to me to make me more comfortable which made me more uncomfortable. I respected what he was trying to do but he was trying too hard to make me comfortable, when I was already calm and collected.
I don't know if this is standard procedure for all Google interviews or if this is just my experience with these two interviewers but it was one of the most awkward and uncomfortable interviews I have ever been too. As I have been typing this I come to realize that maybe they where not nervous they where just too stressed and overworked which would fit some reviews I have been reading recently about working at Google. It would appear that the over-hyped benefits that everyone raves about at Google are distractions to suck you into a work environment where you are worked to death and have no life outside of work. Google is a trap to make you work like a slave, a slave into their own work agenda where you are just another worker bee spitting out productivity and numbers.
In the end I would like to thank the two interviewers for steering me away from this job as working for Google would destroy my life and individuality and just make me another slave. I am a very outspoken individual and this experience will be shared with others so that they will be better informed on what they are getting into.
