Preparing for your Interview
Google’s interview process will vary by position but you can generally expect to have 1st round interviews over the phone or on-campus and 2nd round interviews on-site at Google.
Interview Process
1st round interviews will either take place on your university campus or via phone. Both phone and in-person interviews are 30–45 minutes long and qualitative and open-ended in nature. The goal of the interview is to gain a better understanding of your problem solving abilities, communication style, leadership skills and passion for Google.
2nd round interviews will take place on-site at Google. 2nd rounds usually take a half-full day – depending on where you are traveling from – and consist of two to four back-to-back interviews with our Googlers, a lunch, and tour of the Googleplex.
Who will you meet?
There are usually two contacts that will handle your candidacy throughout the interview process:
On-Campus interviews (University Programs): A member of the University Programs Team will meet you for your 1st round interviews on-campus. They are not interviewing you, but setting up and facilitating your on-campus interview experience. They will also communicate with you about your status after the 1st round interview.
Phone or On-Site interviews (Google Recruiter): If you applied for a position that is not holding on-campus interviews, you will have your 1st round interviews via the phone. Your recruiter will set this up for you. For everyone (on-campus and phone interviewed candidates) that passes through to 2nd round interviews, a recruiter will become your main point of contact and handle your candidacy through to your final status.
Who will you interview with?: Both 1st and 2nd round interviews will be conducted by Googlers from the department that you applied to. For example, if you are interviewing for Finance, you will be interviewed by a member of the Finance department.
Interview Content and Preparation
Your Background: Your interviewer may ask you a little bit about your work and academic background. Please prepare yourself for these questions beforehand.
Engineering interviews (for Software Engineers): The online tutorials and suggested reading on Distributed Systems on the Google Code for Educators site is essential reading for any student interested in software engineering opportunities at Google. It will help you think about the scale and complexity of problems solved by Google engineers and will help you prepare for the sorts of questions our engineers love to ask.
Problem Solving: We’re interested in learning more about how you solve problems. These questions will require you to walk us through a complicated scenario and discuss how you concluded your answer. Don’t worry about being right or wrong – just answer to the best of your ability.
How to answer: Please be yourself. Here at Google, we believe in bringing your whole self to work and making the best possible match for you and for Google. We encourage you to be candid and active in your interview and to answer your questions clearly and concisely. If you need to take a moment and think through your answers, please do. It will help you and your interviewer understand your thoughts more clearly.
What to wear: At Google, you can be serious without a suit. While we have no formal dress code, you should look presentable during the day of your interview. Business casual is fine.
What to bring: Please bring an extra copy of your resume/CV and your unofficial undergraduate/ graduate transcripts.
