Google Hiring Process

“We don’t just want you to have a great job. We want you to have a great life. We provide you with everything you need to be productive and happy on and off the clock.”

Larry Page, Google Co-founder
Stanford University

 

 

Job search

The process begins with searching for a job opening that interests you by job department, location, or even by key word.

Applying at Google

Once you apply for a job, your qualifications and experience will be reviewed by one of our recruiters to determine if you are a fit. If you are a possible match for the position, a recruiter will contact you to learn more about your background and answer questions about our hiring process and what it's like to work at Google.

Phone interview

You’ve applied for the position and your skills fit the job. The phone interview assesses your technical skills and proficiency, to the level of determining whether you should be brought in for in-person interviews. Typically phone interviews are conducted by someone in a similar role and last about 30-40 minutes.

Onsite interview

Our interview process for technical positions evaluates your core software engineering skills including: coding, algorithm development, data structures, design patterns, analytical thinking skills.  During your interview, you’ll meet with several engineers across different teams who will give a cross-section view of Google Engineering. Interviewers will ask you questions related to your area of interest and ask you to solve them in real time. Our interview process for business and general positions evaluate your problem solving and behavioral abilities. Remember, it's not a question of getting the answer right or wrong, but the process in which you use to solve it. Creativity is important.

Hire by committee

Virtually every person who interviews at Google talks to at least four interviewers, drawn from both management and potential colleagues. Everyone's opinion counts, ensuring our hiring process is fair while maintaining high standards as we grow. Yes, it takes longer, but we believe it's worth it. If you hire great people and involve them intensively in the hiring process, you’ll get more great people. We started building this positive feedback loop when the company was founded, and it has had a huge payoff.

What happens next

Following your interviews, we will decide if you are suitable for the job opening. We take hiring very seriously and like to make consensus-based decisions. To that end, it can take up to two weeks for us to make a definitive decision as to whether we'd like to have you join the team. Please be patient with us – your recruiter will keep in touch with you when feedback has been received and decisions made. Also feel free to get in touch with your recruiter at any time.