Engineering Manager Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
Process
Requested a referral from a friend working at Google in a Senior Staff role. Heard from a recruiter about a month later (in June).
Prelim round was in July. Virtual Onsite in August. Now going through team matching in September.
Onsite consisted of:
- 1x code review
- 1x system design
- 2x people management and leadership
- 1x behavioral/Googleyness
- 1x project management
I've been in this role for a while, so all interviews were pretty typical. The only new format was code reviews, which I do day-to-day and also practiced a bit for with some Prepfully coaches. System Design was done by a Staff engineer. All other interviews were done by EMs and Sr. EMs. Had my prelim rounds in July, and virtual onsite (code review + system design x2 + people/leadership/behavioral x2 + project).
Questions
What's your approach to managing someone consistently underperforming in spite of feedback?
How would this change if they showed moments of improvement?
What's the hardest conversation you've had to have with one of your directs?
Design a photo editing app where multiple users can edit a photo at the same time.
Can you walk me through a technical project your team was a key part of?
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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
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
Candidates reported having good feelings for Google's Engineering Manager interview process in Mountain View, California.
Google Work Experiences
- 4.0Stress has not ended since the last layoffsEngineering Manager • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesNovember 30, 2023Pros: Overall good benefits, but mostly around secondary things like amenities and free food.Cons: Too much stress around ratings and lay-offs.
- 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.
- 4.0Disneyland for NerdsEngineering Manager • Former EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesFebruary 7, 2022Pros: Working with smart, talented peopleCons: It can be easy to get lost in a large company.
Google Interview Questions
