I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jun 2018
Interview
I was reached out to by one of Google's sourcers via LinkedIn and even though I wasn't actively looking at the time, I thought 'hey why not, and it's Google!' The first couple of phone interviews (one with recruiting coordinator and the other with my recruiter) went swimmingly and this part of the process went off without a hitch. I was then told I'd be moving forward to onsite. Before my slated interview date, my recruiter prepped me for the onsite with the kinds of questions they'd ask as well as various pieces of advice. Awesome! Even booking the travel was smooth as can be.
However...the onsite is where things begin to get strange. The morning of my onsite, I check my email to see that one of the RC's had emailed me at almost midnight the night before saying that not only would my entire panel of interviewers be different than who was originally slotted, but several of them would be on Google Hangouts. So I flew over here just to do half the interview virtually? Though admittedly, meeting several folks who worked in People Ops and getting to see one of their main campuses was cool, I did enjoy this part of the experience. I check in at the front and the receptionist has me down as interviewing with the wrong person. I corrected her saying it was supposed to be someone else, but she thought I was wrong. Anyway, after this back and forth the person I thought I was interviewing with first comes out and the slate of interviews begin. The first 2 went pretty well I thought, and my answers to their questions were fairly on point. Then came lunch...oh man, this was bizarre. The girl I had lunch with wasn't originally supposed to be my lunch meeting, she was a fill in. She was very outspoken on how poorly some of the teams in People Ops functioned and warned me against accepting a position with several of the groups in it. Fantastic. So needless to say, that was a tad awkward and off putting. Then came my last 2 interviews. I don't think these went quite as well; the third interviewer asked questions that were poorly worded and didn't seem to like all of my answers. The fourth interviewer seemed to almost forget she was scheduled to do an interview. This one felt rushed and she was in a small booth offsite somewhere--someone needed to use the booth and she was trying to shoo them away. At least the gentleman who walked me back to the lobby after it was all over was super friendly and offered me a beverage for the road.
All of this was a month ago and despite following up with my recruiter several different times, he has gone completely MIA. Total radio silence. I understand that my interview fell the week before July 4th so I was willing to give them some leeway here. But this long with no update is just unprofessional and left an even worse taste in my mouth. I totally get it if they moved forward with other candidates or lost headcount. As a recruiter myself, I am well aware that these things happen all the time. That said, after taking time off work to travel for this interview, at least give me the courtesy of SOME kind of follow up. All in all, even if on the off chance I am presented an offer, I don't think I will be accepting.
TLDR; after rocky and strange onsite interview experience and recruiter ghosting me; likely won't be accepting offer if given one.
The initial stages of the overall process was good. I was contacted by a sourcer and then a recruiter who asked me a few basic questions over the phone. Then I received a quick email saying I have been selected for an on-site interview. A few emails were exchanged and an on-site was scheduled. On the day of the interview, I was received by a coordinator and informed of the interview schedule. This is when everything started going downhill. My recruiter (who had scheduled the on-site) had called me prior to the interview saying that the interviewers may ask situational hypothetical questions not related to recruiting. I just did not realize how many of such questions will be asked. I thought I prepped really well. But almost all of the questions by 4 interviewers over 2 hours were situational, hypothetical, non-recruiting related questions - What if I have to design their new cafeteria, what if I have to design a training plan......it went on and on....There were barely 2-3 questions that they asked related to recruiting. Apparently, Google wants to understand your thought process. The interviewers kept saying there are no "wrong answers" and they want to understand how I think. I tried my best to answer their questions. It was the toughest interview I had given but I had practiced a lot. But two days later, I received an email from my recruiter saying that I will not be moving forward. He also said he would like to talk to me to discuss the "interview outcome" and how we can stay in touch for future opportunities. When he called, it was a 2 minute call to let me know that he cannot discuss the interview result due to confidentiality and that I can apply again in 6 months. This is ridiculous, if you cannot give feedback, why bother telling me that you would like to call and discuss the "interview outcome". Also, I am not sure how Google determines a person's success in a particular job by asking totally irrelevant questions. I have been a recruiter for more than 8 years and have been pretty successful in all of my jobs. After the interview itself and before even getting the results, I realized one thing - Google only employs people with the same thought process - there is no diversity of thoughts.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
All situational hypothetical non-recruiting related questions
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Google (Seúl) in Apr 2018
Interview
1st round: Applying in LinkedIn
2nd round: phone interview with Sr. Recruiter based in Japan, I felt the interviewer didn't prepare anything for the interview and seems quite overproud
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is your main role and responsibility?
What was your most challenging experience with recruitment?