I applied online, and a recruiter got back to me very promptly.

There were two rounds of phone interviews and one hectic day of on-site interviews at their headquarters in Mountain View. The on-site process included five interviews (excluding the lunch):

• Four algorithmic/coding interviews
• One interview about my research interests

After interviewer feedback, my packet went to the hiring committee and was finally approved by the executive management committee. All told, the process took just under three months.

While Google has a very simple, smooth, and responsive application process that belies their current size, the interview process itself shows just how big the company has become. While the recruiter was very prompt in reaching out to me in the beginning, they were pretty slack in responding to my further follow-ups. I'm certain that I got done in less than three months only because I had a couple of counter-offers; otherwise, I could have gone through this process for a few more months.

On top of this, there was absolutely no one from recruiting or HR to show me around the campus or to walk me to the exit after the end of the day during my on-site visit. As a result, the experience felt slightly impersonal.

I signed an NDA, so I cannot disclose the exact questions. Prepare your algorithms and data structures questions well, and actually implement them.

Websites like Careercup and LeetCode are valuable resources to prepare. Focus on binary trees, hash tables, and dynamic programming questions.

Lastly, don't be afraid to go with your gut; sometimes you may end up implementing a solution that might be better than what your interviewer had in mind!