I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Google in May 2008
Interview
I took a phone skills test with Google for a Network Analyst position. It consisted of questions about very specific algorithm complexities (such as certain search methods) as well as simple questions about pointers, or common network protocols. Additionally, there was a question similar to what you'd see on an algorithms class final exam, which required knowledge of a specific tool for quickly accessing a large amount of data. General knowledge will not help solve the skill test questions; they were VERY specific!
The person I spoke with was very friendly and the test was enjoyable even though it was challenging.
I didn't like the that most of the questions were just on book knowledge. I figured Google would care more about innovative ideas and thinking out of the box.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Google (Palo Alto, CA) in Jun 2010
Interview
I was interviewed after being contacted by a Google Recruiter. Very excited and got a a great overview of the entire process from the Recruiter, but things went south very quickly. My resume was "great" according to the hiring manager and I had 6 years of very relevant experience. Case questions were pretty straightforward, estimations, prioritize, etc.
The interview went south when asked about my undergrad GPA. I never went to class, but have risen quickly in my professional career and have hard skills to show it. Unfortunate that GPA is still a hiring bar to jump over even 6 years out.
I applied online. The process took 3+ months. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jun 2010
Interview
I was recently interviewed by Google. The phone/onsite interview went very well. I was able to answer all the questions very well. I come from good university. But got an immediate response via email that my skills were not strong match. Sometimes I feel, the positions don't exit and they interview folks especially if you come from a competitor company. This is the 3rd time this has happened.