I applied for a position on Google Careers and was also recommended by a colleague who works at Google.

A recruiter contacted me a few days after I applied. We had a pleasant conversation and scheduled an initial phone interview. The questions during the phone interview were standard DBA questions covering general topics such as performance tuning, high availability, and backup and recovery.

A few days later, I was invited for an on-site interview. Due to scheduling conflicts, we had to reschedule the on-site interview a couple of times. The recruiter was thoughtful and considerate throughout this process. The on-site interview was scheduled approximately three weeks out. All logistics, including flights and accommodations, were handled by a separate individual.

The on-site interview lasted about 5-6 hours, including lunch, and involved four different interviewers, including the hiring manager. Two of the interviewers were located remotely. For the most part, the interviewers were cordial and made me feel welcomed. The questions were not overly difficult for someone with database experience, and there were no curveballs or questions about internal workings. Three of the interviewers were conversational and interactive, making for a pleasant experience. The last interviewer of the day was a bit less enjoyable. I also had the opportunity to meet the proposed DBA team. Overall, it was a very good experience.

I spoke with the recruiter immediately after the interview to provide an update and was told I would be contacted once feedback was received.

After about a week without receiving any feedback, I contacted the recruiter, who did not provide an immediate response. Two weeks later, they responded and requested another phone interview. While this was somewhat frustrating, I agreed after some hesitation.

The post-on-site phone interview was a bit shaky as the interviewer got disconnected and it took about 10 minutes for us to reconnect. At this point, I was frustrated, and it likely showed during the interview. The questions were largely similar to previous ones, but a few performance tuning questions required significant thought. The interviewer provided hints in a few instances, but it seemed my answers were not deep enough or not precisely what they were looking for.

The recruiter contacted me the same day to inform me that they would not be offering me the position but that I could reapply or try for a different role. No specific reasons were provided.

On a final note, the interviewers meticulously write down all your answers. This might seem unnerving, especially if they type slowly, but it is a requirement. The hiring committees, who may not be the actual interviewers, use these notes in their decision-making process.

I can't disclose the exact question, but it was related to Oracle database process troubleshooting on Unix/Linux.