Software Engineer Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
December 1, 2014
Negative ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I was contacted by a recruiter who scheduled a Google Hangout interview. They provided a lot of information on how to prepare, including algorithms, coding, and practicing to code in a Google Doc.
The interview itself was disappointing. The interviewer was five minutes late, did not introduce himself, and was generally a bit rude. He was holding my resume and it was clear he had just started reviewing it. He never asked any coding or algorithm questions, instead posing vague questions like, "What have you done and what do you want to do?"
The only technical question pertained to parallel programming and creating a new thread. However, the question was vague. I wasn't asked to write code, but he seemed to expect a very specific answer. My explanation, such as "you write a function for that thread and create a new thread passing that function," resulted in him staring back as if I weren't speaking English.
Questions
Parallel programming - creating a new thread.
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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
5.0
Great place to work
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
January 26, 2021
Pros: Best teammates and interesting problems make it a great place to work.
Cons: Internal tools don't transfer well to other companies.
1.0
End of the Google Fairy Tale
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
May 1, 2015
Pros: 1. Great office decoration. Very nice to show off to your friends about the working environment.
2. Decent compensation.
3. Great brand value all around the world. You receive immediate respect from strangers once you mention your employer's name, as it's so famous. Also, the Google brand is useful to land your next job.
4. Still relevant development technologies, useful for future software jobs.
Cons: Be aware of the Google fairy tale. The reality that I experienced is:
1. The so-called "20% project" is already gone. The first day I joined the team, I was explicitly told there is no such thing called "20% project." I was told to focus on this team's jobs.
2. The legend of "developers come up with ideas and have freedom to execute" does not exist. When I interviewed and was in the orientation, multiple times I was told "Google works bottom-up," "Gmail was a bottom-up idea," and "you have the freedom to use your time to test out your idea." But the reality is: the boss "suggested" a direction that you "may" work on; it was actually an authoritative direction, an order. I once tried to divert a little bit and have my own direction, then that one incident caused a pretty bad half-year review.
3. Management is fake and hypocritical:
a) They say you can have your own direction and creativity, but at the end of the day, they judge your performance just like a worker, on how much your "throughput" is.
b) They say "Google takes a long time to ramp up," but they actually count your output and rate it from day 1, not considering the ramp-up time.
c) They pretend Google has a relaxed culture, but they took notes of exactly what you said and used that months later as bullets against you.
4. Politics, politics: Under the disguise of "Google is bottom-up" and "Developers in Google are autonomous," there is just tons of politics and power struggle going on. Design meetings become a place for power struggle, and speaking/advocating a design requires taking the risk of jumping to the wrong boat.
4.0
Great Balance, Too Big
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
December 7, 2016
Pros: The work environment and work/life balance are great.
Cons: It's too big. Easy to get lost.
- 5.0Great place to workSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesJanuary 26, 2021Pros: Best teammates and interesting problems make it a great place to work.Cons: Internal tools don't transfer well to other companies.
- 1.0End of the Google Fairy TaleSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesMay 1, 2015Pros: 1. Great office decoration. Very nice to show off to your friends about the working environment. 2. Decent compensation. 3. Great brand value all around the world. You receive immediate respect from strangers once you mention your employer's name, as it's so famous. Also, the Google brand is useful to land your next job. 4. Still relevant development technologies, useful for future software jobs.Cons: Be aware of the Google fairy tale. The reality that I experienced is: 1. The so-called "20% project" is already gone. The first day I joined the team, I was explicitly told there is no such thing called "20% project." I was told to focus on this team's jobs. 2. The legend of "developers come up with ideas and have freedom to execute" does not exist. When I interviewed and was in the orientation, multiple times I was told "Google works bottom-up," "Gmail was a bottom-up idea," and "you have the freedom to use your time to test out your idea." But the reality is: the boss "suggested" a direction that you "may" work on; it was actually an authoritative direction, an order. I once tried to divert a little bit and have my own direction, then that one incident caused a pretty bad half-year review. 3. Management is fake and hypocritical: a) They say you can have your own direction and creativity, but at the end of the day, they judge your performance just like a worker, on how much your "throughput" is. b) They say "Google takes a long time to ramp up," but they actually count your output and rate it from day 1, not considering the ramp-up time. c) They pretend Google has a relaxed culture, but they took notes of exactly what you said and used that months later as bullets against you. 4. Politics, politics: Under the disguise of "Google is bottom-up" and "Developers in Google are autonomous," there is just tons of politics and power struggle going on. Design meetings become a place for power struggle, and speaking/advocating a design requires taking the risk of jumping to the wrong boat.
- 4.0Great Balance, Too BigSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesDecember 7, 2016Pros: The work environment and work/life balance are great.Cons: It's too big. Easy to get lost.
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