I interviewed for this position through university recruiting toward the end of my M.S. in Computer Science. After submitting an application online, I was invited for a first interview on campus.

This involved meeting with two different people back-to-back for about half an hour each. The interview consisted of basic data structures and algorithms questions, as well as an opportunity to ask questions about Google.

I was tracked into the Test Engineer role for the remainder of the hiring process. The second round interview was a full day and took place at the New York City office, with a group of ten or fifteen other students. I had more technical interviews with several different people, and the questions were a bit more involved.

In particular, there was a set of open-ended questions about how I would go about "testing" some common everyday objects. There was also lunch in the cafeteria, a tour of the offices (which included pretty cool games/activity areas), and a slot of time where current employees came in and discussed their experiences working there.

I wasn't very knowledgeable about test engineering prior to the second interview, so some of my answers showed my lack of understanding of the full breadth of known testing approaches. I was also not necessarily interested in a test position.

One of my interviewers held up the pen in his hand and asked how I would go about testing it.