Engineering Manager Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
February 1, 2016
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I went through the initial phone screen. After passing, they set you up with a technical interview which includes a code challenge.
I stopped the process at that point because they require you to take a step down if you come to Google.
The recruiter I spoke with could sense my hesitation, so she brought in someone technical to answer some of my questions. While I'm sure it is a great place to work, the "Google is the best place to work and everywhere else sucks" vibe really turned me off.
Questions
A lot of textbook questions come out of a B.S. Computer Science program:
- What's the complexity of this search?
- What is [some data structure]?
And so on.
Rate yourself from 1-10 on the following categories:
- Databases
- Distributed systems ...
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 15 interview experiences for the Google Engineering Manager role in Mountain View, California.
Success Rate
20%
Pass Rate
Google's interview process for their Engineering Manager roles in Mountain View, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive53%
Neutral7%
Negative40%
Candidates reported having good feelings for Google's Engineering Manager interview process in Mountain View, California.
Google Work Experiences
4.0
As great as a 100k person company can get
Engineering Manager • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
May 16, 2019
Pros: Great perks and compensation.
Employees' options matter and are heard.
Cons: Usual big company downsides, such as tedious perf cycles and a lot of processes.
4.0
Perspective from the middle of the pack, both in terms of job level and employee count
Engineering Manager • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
June 11, 2008
Pros: The people are pretty fantastic, as are the perks -- food, HR really does have innovative ways of taking care of you, and transportation options. Google has been willing to open up offices where its people want to be, which has been great.
There is a lot of opportunity to travel and communicate your vision to a wider audience. I appreciate some of the hard work that has gone into building the culture, and Google tries hard to maintain that.
There is a sense of legacy, and that great things are yet to come. This is not something that is easily sustained, yet there is so much effort here that it just might work.
Cons: Certainly, it's a big company. It tries hard to not be. It tries to rekindle some of the old things that made it unique, but it seems like a lost cause for the most part.
There is much less opportunity to shoot to the top. There is less and less exposure to people outside your organization and too far above your management chain.
There is a lot of work to be done, and Google is pretty cheap about the way that work gets accomplished. It puts added burden on many people, including engineers and lower-level managers. Getting actual things accomplished and seeing how it fits into the company goals has been hard.
4.0
Good pay and benefits, increasing bureaucracy
Engineering Manager • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
March 2, 2023
Pros: Flexible working schedule and locations, good internal mobility, good pay and benefits.
Cons: Lots of bureaucracy and increasing layers of overhead that slow down development and innovation.
- 4.0As great as a 100k person company can getEngineering Manager • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesMay 16, 2019Pros: Great perks and compensation. Employees' options matter and are heard.Cons: Usual big company downsides, such as tedious perf cycles and a lot of processes.
- 4.0Perspective from the middle of the pack, both in terms of job level and employee countEngineering Manager • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesJune 11, 2008Pros: The people are pretty fantastic, as are the perks -- food, HR really does have innovative ways of taking care of you, and transportation options. Google has been willing to open up offices where its people want to be, which has been great. There is a lot of opportunity to travel and communicate your vision to a wider audience. I appreciate some of the hard work that has gone into building the culture, and Google tries hard to maintain that. There is a sense of legacy, and that great things are yet to come. This is not something that is easily sustained, yet there is so much effort here that it just might work.Cons: Certainly, it's a big company. It tries hard to not be. It tries to rekindle some of the old things that made it unique, but it seems like a lost cause for the most part. There is much less opportunity to shoot to the top. There is less and less exposure to people outside your organization and too far above your management chain. There is a lot of work to be done, and Google is pretty cheap about the way that work gets accomplished. It puts added burden on many people, including engineers and lower-level managers. Getting actual things accomplished and seeing how it fits into the company goals has been hard.
- 4.0Good pay and benefits, increasing bureaucracyEngineering Manager • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesMarch 2, 2023Pros: Flexible working schedule and locations, good internal mobility, good pay and benefits.Cons: Lots of bureaucracy and increasing layers of overhead that slow down development and innovation.
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