As far as my specific interviewers are concerned, I liked 7 of the 8 as individuals, which is great. What I didn't like was the company felt like a monoculture. Same schools, same majors, same pre-education background. Everybody looks the same, dresses the same, etc.
The process, on the other hand. Ugh. I have zero respect for Google as a company after that.
It starts with the standard phone screen/day-long onsite/hazing ritual. Then come phone calls with teams, and teams saying "yeah, we want you", and me saying "sure, sounds good". The recruiter basically said "time for the higher-ups to rubber stamp this, and here's the $$ to expect". Someone up the chain said "well, we're not so sure, let's haul him back here for another round of onsite interviews". Which I did, it went through the same process, and the response was "well, maybe not you for this role, but lets set you up with more teams".
All of this finally goes through, and I get an offer. Then there's a negotiation that goes something like:
Me: I'd like 4 weeks to think about it while a couple of other applications come back (keeping in mind they've dragged this on about 2 months longer than it needed to be).
Google: You get 2.
Me: I'm at a conference week #2, but I'll do what i can to get a decision to you Friday.
<Fast forward to monday of week #2>
Google: Have you made up your mind yet?
Me: I'd like to look at my options, and I'll get back to you COB Friday
Google: It's really important that we hear beginning of day Friday
<Fast forward to wednesday>
Google: Have you made up your mind yet?
Me: No. One of the options I was looking at is now off the table.
Google: So WTF are you waiting for.
Me: The other options
<Fast forward to Thursday>
<Phone rings while I'm at the conference>
Me: You can't pay me enough to deal with this.
Maybe no individual involved is a prima-donna, but the ego showed by the company as a whole through the recruitment process is stunning. It felt like I was dealing with the star quarterback who never considered that when they asked someone on a date, they might get turned down.
In my experience, this is standard HR pressure. Not saying every company is like this, but once I'm given an offer I expect HR to use any carrot or stick to get me to accept.
> What I didn't like was the company felt like a monoculture. Same schools, same majors, same pre-education background. Everybody looks the same, dresses the same, etc.
One reason you might have gotten this impression is that Google picks interviewers who have a lot of overlap in expertise with your resume so they can ask questions tailored to you. For example, if you have a PhD in computer science, many of your interviewers will, too.
I'm a Googler, and I don't think Google is a monoculture. Okay, maybe everyone does dress the same. But I've had teammates from wildly different cultural backgrounds—including Irish, Romanian, German, Hungarian, Israeli, Iranian, Pakistani, and Indian, and Chinese. Even among teammates from the US, it's not all the same schools. I went to the University of Iowa, which probably isn't one you had in mind. I've had teammates without a college degree (and I don't just mean interns).
I do think the interview process sucks. IMHO, it's the most bureaucratic part of Google. Sorry for your bad experience...
Google: "Just checking in to see if you have an update for me? Can we set a time to speak on Friday?"
Me: "I decided to pass on [OTHER OPPORTUNITY]. I let my manager know about the offer last Thursday. I am out at a conference this week, and we're going to discuss options on Friday.
Does end-of-the-day Friday work for you? 5? 6?"
Google: "I need to speak to you in the morning on Friday.
if you are passing up [OTHER OPPORTUNITY, misspelled] why are we waiting till Friday. Can we talk now?"
Also, It's hard to say "abuse" with a straight face, when at the end of the line there's a serious payday involved. It's easy to say "let's make sure we get it right", when 6-figure checks are involved.
It just felt... off, though. Like, it would have felt normal if it was 7 years ago, and I was straight out of school, and as a process to separate amongst the folks in a given CS class.
As someone who has worked as an engineer, though? It was disconcerting. Writing 20 lines of code is very different than writing 20,000, and the process that:
(1) selects for the best writers of 20 lines of code, while thoroughly ignoring the skills required to write 20,000.
(2) is exhausting. Like, none of the questions were "difficult", per se, but it was a draining process. I know the grades I got probably got worse as the day went on, and it wasn't because the questions got harder. It was just a matter of "are we done here yet"?
Anyway, I guess it was also surprising, b/c Google is relatively known for having "the best" hiring process, and it just felt flawed, arbitrary, hostile, and not quite designed right. Basically, it felt more like a hazing ritual that existed because "we went through it" than anything that pertained to building a good team.
Maybe I'm wrong but I think HR's pushiness might be a result of their process yielding so few offers, then even fewer people accepting offer letters. It could be resulting in HR having to work A LOT harder than the industry average to fill positions.
The process, on the other hand. Ugh. I have zero respect for Google as a company after that.
It starts with the standard phone screen/day-long onsite/hazing ritual. Then come phone calls with teams, and teams saying "yeah, we want you", and me saying "sure, sounds good". The recruiter basically said "time for the higher-ups to rubber stamp this, and here's the $$ to expect". Someone up the chain said "well, we're not so sure, let's haul him back here for another round of onsite interviews". Which I did, it went through the same process, and the response was "well, maybe not you for this role, but lets set you up with more teams".
All of this finally goes through, and I get an offer. Then there's a negotiation that goes something like:
Me: I'd like 4 weeks to think about it while a couple of other applications come back (keeping in mind they've dragged this on about 2 months longer than it needed to be).
Google: You get 2.
Me: I'm at a conference week #2, but I'll do what i can to get a decision to you Friday.
<Fast forward to monday of week #2>
Google: Have you made up your mind yet?
Me: I'd like to look at my options, and I'll get back to you COB Friday
Google: It's really important that we hear beginning of day Friday
<Fast forward to wednesday>
Google: Have you made up your mind yet?
Me: No. One of the options I was looking at is now off the table.
Google: So WTF are you waiting for.
Me: The other options
<Fast forward to Thursday>
<Phone rings while I'm at the conference>
Me: You can't pay me enough to deal with this.
Maybe no individual involved is a prima-donna, but the ego showed by the company as a whole through the recruitment process is stunning. It felt like I was dealing with the star quarterback who never considered that when they asked someone on a date, they might get turned down.