Software Engineering Intern Interview Experience - Mountain View, California
November 25, 2013
Positive ExperienceGot Offer
Process
The process includes two phone interviews, which are mostly technical. You'll have a couple of minutes for your own questions at the end and perhaps a brief introduction of your previous experience at the beginning.
If the interviews go well, then host matching begins. Different potential hosts interview candidates until they find a suitable match. The host matching is usually just a relaxed conversation.
Questions
I can't remember the toughest question.
Preparing with TopCoder, ACM ICPC, or UVA Online Judge should do.
Try to keep the conversation going at all times. It's alright to take a pause for a couple of seconds and think, but it's important to always let the interviewer know how you are tackling the problem.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 11 interview experiences for the Google Software Engineering Intern role in Mountain View, California.
Success Rate
55%
Pass Rate
Google's interview process for their Software Engineering Intern roles in Mountain View, California is on the easier side as most engineers get an offer after going through it.
Experience Rating
Positive64%
Neutral36%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Google's Software Engineering Intern interview process in Mountain View, California.
Google Work Experiences
5.0
Pretty good internship
Software Engineering Intern • Former Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
November 28, 2015
Pros: - Very smart people if you get on the right team.
- Chance to work on really big products that over a billion people use.
- Good learning experience in terms of engineering practices, team organization, management style, etc.
- Lots of resources for you to learn on your own if you so choose.
- Company is still a prestigious place to work 17 years after founding (this is really unique in tech).
Great brand equity.
Head hunters start poaching you as soon as you add Google to your LinkedIn.
You could ace every interview you apply for in the future.
People in other industries like management consulting and finance respect it too.
- Perks are spectacular.
Cons: The interview process was painful. Host matching took over 3 months.
Not all teams are good. Due to its size, Google has some not-so-great people, and if you have to work with them, you will be miserable.
People who have worked here a long time tend to be complacent and non-entrepreneurial. They don't have the same drive as people at startups.
Everything is done the Google way, which is generally as efficient as it gets at this scale, but is still slow, methodical, and perhaps suboptimal.
For a company that is super successful on the outside, people on the inside don't seem to know what they're doing as much as you would hope. They're just working on every possible project under the sun, fueled by ad money, hoping to strike gold with a few products.
Politics and bureaucracy exist, though they make an active effort to reduce it.
5.0
Great company with a few oversights
Software Engineering Intern • Former Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
December 22, 2023
Pros: - Had a chance to work on an extremely high-scale platform and ship features that will be used at a mind-bogglingly large scale.
- Developer tooling and experience is great; the company has done a good job of keeping bureaucratic time waste to a minimum.
- Great benefits, especially food and transit.
- Work-life balance is taken very seriously.
Cons: - The recruiting process is extremely slow, opaque, and overall unpleasant.
5.0
Great Culture, Competitive Vibe
Software Engineering Intern • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
October 3, 2024
Pros: Great company culture and mentorship.
Cons: Big tech can lead to a competitive mindset and isolation.
- 5.0Pretty good internshipSoftware Engineering Intern • Former EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesNovember 28, 2015Pros: - Very smart people if you get on the right team. - Chance to work on really big products that over a billion people use. - Good learning experience in terms of engineering practices, team organization, management style, etc. - Lots of resources for you to learn on your own if you so choose. - Company is still a prestigious place to work 17 years after founding (this is really unique in tech). Great brand equity. Head hunters start poaching you as soon as you add Google to your LinkedIn. You could ace every interview you apply for in the future. People in other industries like management consulting and finance respect it too. - Perks are spectacular.Cons: The interview process was painful. Host matching took over 3 months. Not all teams are good. Due to its size, Google has some not-so-great people, and if you have to work with them, you will be miserable. People who have worked here a long time tend to be complacent and non-entrepreneurial. They don't have the same drive as people at startups. Everything is done the Google way, which is generally as efficient as it gets at this scale, but is still slow, methodical, and perhaps suboptimal. For a company that is super successful on the outside, people on the inside don't seem to know what they're doing as much as you would hope. They're just working on every possible project under the sun, fueled by ad money, hoping to strike gold with a few products. Politics and bureaucracy exist, though they make an active effort to reduce it.
- 5.0Great company with a few oversightsSoftware Engineering Intern • Former EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesDecember 22, 2023Pros: - Had a chance to work on an extremely high-scale platform and ship features that will be used at a mind-bogglingly large scale. - Developer tooling and experience is great; the company has done a good job of keeping bureaucratic time waste to a minimum. - Great benefits, especially food and transit. - Work-life balance is taken very seriously.Cons: - The recruiting process is extremely slow, opaque, and overall unpleasant.
- 5.0Great Culture, Competitive VibeSoftware Engineering Intern • Current EmployeeMountain View, California, United StatesOctober 3, 2024Pros: Great company culture and mentorship.Cons: Big tech can lead to a competitive mindset and isolation.
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