I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Google (Chicago, IL) in Apr 2021
Interview
Overall, a very positive recruiting process at Google, but not without some flaws.
First round screen with a recruiter asking about my motivation for applying, background, and a behavioral question. After that, I submitted my availability and was scheduled for the onsite portion (all done through Meet due to covid). Before this, the recruiter sends over a TON of really helpful preparation material and you can even attend a virtual prep session by a current employee. Really great communication from my recruiter and coordinator through the whole process.
The onsite consisted of 3 back to back 45 minute virtual interviews with various people in the staffing org. Every question is either behavioral or a hypothetical with 4-5 in each interview, and you're encouraged to take your time and jot down notes. The hypotheticals may or may not even be related to the area you're interviewing for. Google prides themselves on not asking brainteasers anymore, but if you ask me their hypothetical scenario questions are for the most part not much different.
There are only a couple aspects of the process I didn't quite like. One, you have zero idea which team you are interviewing for. The process is for you go through the interviews first, then Google determines if there's a fit in any of the groups. For example I had no idea if I was interviewing for a technical or nontech role, and there is a huge difference between the two. If I'm interviewing for a role hiring salespeople for Cloud, I'm clearly going to want to tailor my questions different versus if I'm going to interview for a role hiring SWEs.
The other thing that didn't sit well with me is I had almost no time to ask my interviewers any questions. As part of the prep you're reminded interviewing is a two way street and it's an opportunity for you to interview the company as well, yet at the end of each of my 45m interviews I only had around 2-3 minutes left to try and get in any questions.
Smooth sailing. The recruiter was communicative and kept me up to date throughout. Pretty clear the teams here are packed with smart people. Googleyness interview was actually quite fun, but the GCA one was pretty tricky.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Google (Singapore) in Mar 2026
Interview
Structured, rigorous, and well-organized process with clear evaluation criteria. Thoughtful interviewers, strong focus on problem-solving and communication, smooth coordination, and a professional, candidate-friendly experience throughout. Really enjoyable process overall with friendly and approachable interviewers.
I applied, then had a recruiter screen. After that, I went through two interviews focused on sourcing and stakeholder management, followed by a virtual onsite with four interviews. Each interviewer tested one competency. Maybe there would be more stages but I didn't pass the fourth one.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
“Walk me through how you would build a pipeline for a hard-to-fill role.”
“Tell me about a time you disagreed with a hiring manager. What did you do?”
“How do you evaluate candidate quality beyond a resume?”
“How do you prioritize when you’re managing multiple roles with competing deadlines?”
“Describe a time you had to close a candidate who was hesitant.”
“How do you use data to improve your recruiting process?”
“Tell me about a hire that didn’t work out. What did you learn?”
“Why Google, and why recruiting here specifically?”
