4 ms·

I used to work at Google. I didn't study for the interviews, I just showed up. It went well enough to be hired. I did study CS and know my algorithms and data s

by bla2 9y ago

I used to work at Google. I didn't study for the interviews, I just showed up. It went well enough to be hired. I did study CS and know my algorithms and data structures though.

xsegfault 9y ago
You are probably part of a really a small percentage.
kcorbitt 9y ago
It would be really interesting to do a study of Googlers and see how much time on average they spent preparing for the interview. Would also be interesting to compare that with average preparation of people who interviewed but didn't get the job. And finally, it would be fascinating to plot career performance at Google vs time spent interviewing. Intuitively I would expect those who got an offer without studying to do better (higher latent intelligence), but I could also see it going the other way (lots of studying correlates with willingness to work hard on boring problems, which is what most Google engineers actually have to do day-to-day).
marssaxman 9y ago
Yeah, same here - this "cramming for the Google interview" concept is strange. It's not like the interviewers asked lots of exotic trick questions; they were just making sure I understood CS fundamentals and knew how to solve problems. The interviews did add up to a solid, tiring day of engineering work, but it all seemed like reasonable stuff - they were questions about concepts anyone working at Google ought to be comfortable with.
- stale2002 9y ago
  And some people don't have to cram for there intro to data structures CS class. Other people do though. Perhaps you are one of those people who could just walk in and Ace the final exam for an intermediate data structures and algorithms class taught at colleges.
akhilcacharya 9y ago
Not everyone goes to a top school or does competitive programming. The rest of us have to work at it.
gspetr 9y ago
Can you explain how you kept the algorithms/data structures knowledge in your head fresh enough to pass Google interview on the spot? Were you a fresh grad?

by bla2 9y ago

I used to work at Google. I didn't study for the interviews, I just showed up. It went well enough to be hired. I did study CS and know my algorithms and data structures though.

xsegfault 9y ago

You are probably part of a really a small percentage.

kcorbitt 9y ago

It would be really interesting to do a study of Googlers and see how much time on average they spent preparing for the interview. Would also be interesting to compare that with average preparation of people who interviewed but didn't get the job. And finally, it would be fascinating to plot career performance at Google vs time spent interviewing. Intuitively I would expect those who got an offer without studying to do better (higher latent intelligence), but I could also see it going the other way (lots of studying correlates with willingness to work hard on boring problems, which is what most Google engineers actually have to do day-to-day).

marssaxman 9y ago

Yeah, same here - this "cramming for the Google interview" concept is strange. It's not like the interviewers asked lots of exotic trick questions; they were just making sure I understood CS fundamentals and knew how to solve problems. The interviews did add up to a solid, tiring day of engineering work, but it all seemed like reasonable stuff - they were questions about concepts anyone working at Google ought to be comfortable with.

stale2002 9y ago
And some people don't have to cram for there intro to data structures CS class. Other people do though. Perhaps you are one of those people who could just walk in and Ace the final exam for an intermediate data structures and algorithms class taught at colleges.

akhilcacharya 9y ago

Not everyone goes to a top school or does competitive programming. The rest of us have to work at it.

gspetr 9y ago

Can you explain how you kept the algorithms/data structures knowledge in your head fresh enough to pass Google interview on the spot? Were you a fresh grad?