Software Engineer Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
Process
A Google recruiter contacted me due to my LinkedIn profile.
I was given four 45-minute interviews, with mostly novice-level technical problems.
These included:
- Bit manipulation
- Designing the infrastructure behind some Google services
- String manipulation
- Iterator manipulation
I also had lunch at the cafeteria. The food was decent but didn't live up to the reputation.
Of the four interviewers, only the anchor seemed truly competent. The others appeared to be bored engineers who had been asked to take on too many hours out of their work week for interviewing.
Despite NDAs, no one could tell me anything exciting they were working on. I took this as a very worrisome sign.
Overall, it was a dreary experience.
Questions
Find all (English word) substrings of a given string. (every = every, ever, very)
Design the backend for Ad-Words.
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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
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
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Google's Software Engineer interview process in Mountain View, California.
Google Work Experiences
- 5.0Nothing you didn't already know about GoogleSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesOctober 23, 2015Pros: Great perks and talented employees. Flexible hours and interesting projects make it easy to move from team to team. Physical health is prioritized with facilities on campus.Cons: It takes a while to get things done because of the size of the company. You need to make sure no one else is working on what you're working on. Even if they are, you can still do it anyway if you think you're better at politics.
- 4.0Great place to work - immersive environmentSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesDecember 8, 2008Pros: Google is a great work environment. Of course, the food is wonderful. In addition, it is such a good opportunity to work with really talented people on interesting and difficult problems. There are team opportunities but also space for individual work. You can't beat the resources and access to data. There are many opportunities to build on work that others have done in order to enhance one's own work. Overall, a very interesting and exciting place to work.Cons: Many people work very long hours, so it feels that you must do likewise in order to be considered a good employee.
- 5.0Nice place to workSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesDecember 24, 2024Pros: Comfortable living, nice colleagues, nice perks.Cons: Not for people who want to get rich in the Bay Area.
Google Interview Questions
