I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Google
Interview
I will try to be candid in my response and by no means are any of these frustrating remarks but rather a very well thought out feedback on why Google interview is a bit of luck than real evaluation of a candidate's talent. I am also on the interview panel of my company (a company slightly larger or equal size as google) and have been on both sides of the board i.e. have interviewed more than 20 candidates for PM roles.
1. Start of interview: My interviewer was very vague about using his name and was had hesitation on providing the last name. I asked 2nd time just so I do not mis-pronounce it however, he chose not to provide which was awkward.
2. The interviewer yawned 2-3 times which shows his/her dis-interest in interviewing.
3. I believe that Google is an amazing place where diversity is celebrated and it is the character of the company. (best one) however my interviewer seemed to not respect the diversity. I could feel that in the way he stressed on few skill set almost in a demeaning manner.
4. Tech skills are necessary but not if the interviewer asks about a particular tech question on a particular product. There are 151 google products today and its hard to study each one. I would tell my candidate a list of 10 or even 20 products to be really good at if I test their technical chops. The interviewer was unfair testing me on 1 question that I remember and the reaction was again very demeaning.
5. Last, I did get a chance to ask question; BUT only 1 question as the interviewer wanted to drop. Typically I take a lot of time to answer questions that candidates have (we are talking about non product related - only role related). The worst case I would answer 1 question and make the candidate feel good. The Google interviewer answered my question in 1 word. e.g. Wow you have been at google for 10 years, how do you like it? :) - The answer: In a stern and rude tone "good" ... a long pause... "if I did not like, why would be hanging around here!"
All-in-all many of the glassdoor interview experience are true and I did not feel motivated or felt as a opportunity lost, because if there are other people like my interviewer - I'd rather prefer to work somewhere else.
The process was straightforward and moved quickly. After applying online, a recruiter reached out within a few days for a brief phone screen. That was followed by two video interviews, one with the hiring manager and one with a panel of team members focused on project planning and stakeholder communication. The whole thing wrapped up in about two weeks, and the team was responsive and clear about next steps throughout.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I walked through a specific project where a key vendor delivery slipped. I explained how I flagged the risk early in our weekly status review, reset expectations with stakeholders, re-sequenced dependent tasks, and brought the timeline back within an acceptable range by negotiating a partial early delivery.
standard 1st round digital interview, they are asking about your experience, background, some behavioural questions and technical questions. and they also share a bit more about the role, culture and expectation
Very self-driven, first of multiple rounds, where I had to take the initiative to arrive at the problem, constraints, approach, solutions, tradeoffs and reasoning behind it in a matter of 30 minutes.