Software Engineer Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
April 1, 2014
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
Extremely competent, friendly, and respectful human resources.
We receive personalized emails, and they reply to emails and calls. The vast majority of employees I met were extremely friendly.
Questions
All questions are challenging.
It's best to prepare well by reviewing the material they send you before the interview.
Ideally, review the Algorithms courses given at Coursera.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 748 interview experiences for the Google Software Engineer role in Mountain View, California.
Success Rate
20%
Pass Rate
Google's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Mountain View, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive64%
Neutral23%
Negative14%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Google's Software Engineer interview process in Mountain View, California.
Google Work Experiences
4.0
Great place to work, but not a startup anymore
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
September 20, 2009
Pros: Great perks, from free food from >10 cafes, gym, flexible timings.
Amazing people to work with, some of the smartest people I know.
It's Google!
Lots of opportunities to learn and increase your skill set.
Cons: - Not a startup anymore; starting to feel like a corporate environment.
- Compensation is not as high as other companies in the locality.
- Recognition for your work is sometimes lacking.
- Can get lost in the sea of people.
4.0
Good work shifting priorities
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
February 14, 2022
Pros: Good work environment and people are great. The work itself is excellent.
Cons: Constantly changing priorities on non-mainstream businesses.
It often feels like too little engineering and too much planning (whether for one's career progression or for the main tasks).
3.0
Nice company, but bad career path
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
December 4, 2015
Pros: Good work-life balance. You can easily stay at T5 while working 40 hours a week.
Technical depth. Google has many projects that are very technically deep.
Cons: Bad career path.
Most people stop at T5. To reach T6, you have to fight for leadership and ownership.
Communication overhead due to the sheer size of the company.
Personal growth. While you are exposed to interesting and technical deep projects, you are likely to get lost on how the entire infrastructure works. Bad if you want to build skills for running or joining startups.
- 4.0Great place to work, but not a startup anymoreSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesSeptember 20, 2009Pros: Great perks, from free food from >10 cafes, gym, flexible timings. Amazing people to work with, some of the smartest people I know. It's Google! Lots of opportunities to learn and increase your skill set.Cons: - Not a startup anymore; starting to feel like a corporate environment. - Compensation is not as high as other companies in the locality. - Recognition for your work is sometimes lacking. - Can get lost in the sea of people.
- 4.0Good work shifting prioritiesSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesFebruary 14, 2022Pros: Good work environment and people are great. The work itself is excellent.Cons: Constantly changing priorities on non-mainstream businesses. It often feels like too little engineering and too much planning (whether for one's career progression or for the main tasks).
- 3.0Nice company, but bad career pathSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesDecember 4, 2015Pros: Good work-life balance. You can easily stay at T5 while working 40 hours a week. Technical depth. Google has many projects that are very technically deep.Cons: Bad career path. Most people stop at T5. To reach T6, you have to fight for leadership and ownership. Communication overhead due to the sheer size of the company. Personal growth. While you are exposed to interesting and technical deep projects, you are likely to get lost on how the entire infrastructure works. Bad if you want to build skills for running or joining startups.
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