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Google isn't interested in what type of value an engineer brings outside of memorization of popular algos typically studied in CS programs. It's a bit cult lik

Google isn't interested in what type of value an engineer brings outside of memorization of popular algos typically studied in CS programs. It's a bit cult like in that sense, but when you have a monopoly with no government regulation you can spend as much as you would like building the company with the people you like (see Peter Theil's book Zero to One where he writes about this). I live write by a Google complex and have a number of friends who work there as engineers and we have had chats about the hiring process. Any Google engineer will tell you that whiteboarding A* is not part of his day to day. But it's just culture in the end.

kyrra 9y ago
(I'm a Googler and opinions are my own) Interviewing is hard and I don't think any company has it perfect. The nice thing about going into a Google interview is that you can know what to expect. They provide lots of study material and there are multiple books or sites out there that give sample problems that mirror common problems interviewers may ask at Google. There are certainly negatives to whiteboard coding/algorithm interviews, but all other common methods I've seen also have their own problems. I do feel like the hiring team at Google has evaluated other methods (and continues to look into ways to improve the process), but they have stuck with the white board process. I'd say the hiring team does A/B testing like much of Google, but things have stayed somewhat similar over the years.