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Based on my actual experience: 1) I went to community college, dropped out, then finished my degree at a state school 10 years later. Google didn't care. 2) I
by spankalee 12y ago
Based on my actual experience:
1) I went to community college, dropped out, then finished my degree at a state school 10 years later. Google didn't care.
2) I have no idea how long it took them to decide to interview me. Once they decided I got a call. People I've referred recently have received _very_ prompt responses, though years ago sometimes people would sit "in the system" for a while.
3) It is good to brush up on algorithms, like for most other SWE interviews. You do end up using this stuff regularly though - Even if say, your'e "only" doing UIs, it's how you avoid accidental n^2 algorithms in the middle of your UI code which pisses off your users. I don't get the attitude that algorithms are just academic. They matter. Besides, "use a hash table" is often the correct approach in interviews and non-academic code ;)
4) I have no idea what a Fermi model of golfballs is, but I've never asked or been asked such a thing. And "fail" is such a black and white term. Candidates are scored, and those with marginal scores the first time often get another chance later on.
5) Not my experience in general. Sometimes the interviewers lag on getting in their feedback for non-hires, which is really unfortunate, but the recruiters are pretty on top of things.
You say your post is based on actual hiring experiences, but I bet that the negative experiences get much more attention than the positive ones. People don't generally write blog posts about how wonderful their interview was.
- kelukelugames 12y agoI actually had a very good interview experience at google even though I didn't get an offer. One interviewer and I clearly did not get along but that happens other companies too.
- pkulak 12y agoSame here. The recruiter was super nice and it all went very quickly. I got to a second interview, but then didn't make the cut. I understand why; I screwed up those interviews pretty badly. It was my first technical interview ever. But, the experience was great and I'm much better at tech interviews now.
- MCRed 12y agoBut, unless you were being an ass to that interviewer, whether you got along or not is not a measure of your quality as an employee. Presumably you were being polite and trying to develop a rapport. That means you didn't get along because the interviewer brought their own baggage or narrow mindedness into the interview. This is very common and shows the interview process was incompetent. That may sound like a strong word, but if you were qualified and they didn't hire you because of what this guy said, then they are, by definition, incompetent. Maybe arbitrary is a nicer word to use, but it's the same thing.
- oaktowner 12y agoYou seem to have an incredible grasp on what went on in that interview, along with how common it is.
- calibraxis 12y agoThe poster responded to someone who publicly offers interview advice. That affects probabilities in the poster's favor, I imagine. https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kelu/interviews/ https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kelu/interviews/ More importantly, conditions like "unless you were being an ass to that interviewer" make it an entirely sensible comment, in my view. I remember strongly disliking how fellow interviewers had zero empathy. They generally have more power in that situation, and therefore more responsibility for reasonable outcomes.
- oaktowner 12y agoI definitely agree with your observation that empathy is important, and an interviewer has responsibility for creating an environment in which the interviewee is comfortable. I also agree with the commentor that interviewers can be very arbitrary, and that is not good. I only took issue with "That means you didn't get along because the interviewer brought their own baggage or narrow mindedness into the interview. This is very common and shows the interview process was incompetent." Commentor doesn't know what went on in that room, and doesn't know that this is what happened in this case.
- morgante 12y ago1) Maybe it's different for internships, which is the only time I ever applied to Google. 2) I agree that algorithms are important, to the extent that you know the importance of "use a hash table." I don't think being able to implement quicksort on a white board is important.
- notphilip 12y agoI don't think these interviewers expect quicksort verbatim (though they usually don't ask for a run-of-the-mill algorithm). They want to see your thought process as you tackle an unfamiliar problem. Do you think about the input and the end-goals explicitly? Do you consider multiple different ways of solving it, and cover pros/cons? Do you consider where issues may occur, and attempt to mitigate them? That's what they want to see.
- MagicWishMonkey 12y agoI've heard from one senior engineer at Google that he likes to ask candidates to sketch out the implementation for a red/black tree on the spot. I guess I could go dig up my old data structures and algorithms book that I haven't touched in 15 years to refresh my memory, but I don't want to work at Google badly enough to bother with that.
- fataliss 12y agoI can totally relate. When a Google recruiter approached me and told me that they were looking for Python and also Java developers I was potentially interested in the python position (being a Ruby dev). But then I learned that my interview would be conducted in Java and they would generously give me 1 week to brush up my Java skills, I laughed and declined. Definitely got other things to do with my evenings than brushing up my Java skills so I can work a Python job...
- spankalee 12y agoReally? The general policy, as I've been told, is to let the interviewee use whatever language they're comfortable with as long as the interviewer is comfortable with it too. I even give the option of using sufficiently detailed pseudo-code.