From 2009, after I completed my bachelors in Computer Science. Working at Google was a part of my wish list. I followed Google's growth from 2009, when Gmail and Gchat were very popular. I remember using it in my first job. Because those were the good options out there during those days. I also followed and used many Google open source technologies and frameworks in my various projects. Starting from GWT to Angular, Android to Dart and Golang recently. Those days, I remember reading about Darwin VM and Android and how amazingly they stripped JVM and fit it into mobile. In a couple of years Android made a mobile revolution.
Google has impressed me with so many things over the years. And working at Google was like a dream come true. So far Google's presence was very less in India. I believe it was only in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Recently they started expanding in other cities as well.
After 12 years, in 2022, I was not looking for a job change. I was happy with my current work and my current job at Cisco. I was probably working in my comfort zone for some time. Many of my colleagues and friends changed jobs. The resignations were happening so frequently during this period in IT that this time period was also named as "The Great Resignation" period. Every week I was seeing 1-2 goodbye emails. I have been seeing such emails for more than a year now. This triggered me to search and apply for a new job. At the same time Google Pune news had just came. And Google had started recruiting people for Pune Office.
One Sunday I re-visited my resume, updated it with the latest information and applied for one of the open positions in Google Pune the same day. Few days went by, but no phone call or email came. I found another opening in Google, applied there. Few more days went by, but no phone call or email came. My energies were not reflecting back to me. Then came the opening for Cloud Engineer - Web Application. I was unsure about the role, but reading that it is for individual contributor and it is for web applications, I applied for it.
In 3-4 days, I got an email from the Google recruitment team. They asked to share some more details of my work experience and also asked me a preferred time to scheduled meetings. I shared details and scheduled a meeting for Wednesday 8:30 am India time. Recruiter being in Singapore time zone, we had a 4.5 hour time difference.
6th April 2022, 8:30 am - Introduction Round
I can not call it as an interview round. It was more of an introduction and screening round. The purpose was to introduce me to the project and check whether my skill set really matches with the project's needs.
Sharp at 8.30 am, I joined on Google meet. Recruiting coordinator started with a brief introduction of self and then gave me brief information about the project I am going to work on. Then she asked me to introduce myself and share my daily work. After that she asked some technical questions and shared one coding problem to check.
At the end, she told me to revise my algorithm and data structures concepts. Also recommended websites like leetcode and hacker rank to get prepared for coding rounds. Next she checked with me about my availability for Friday 12 pm to schedule an interview preparation session of 30 mins, which I need to attend before further interview rounds can be scheduled.
8th April, 12:00 pm - Interview Preparation Session
Another recruiting coordinator took the session. There were 3-4 people who were invited to this session. We were all in mute mode.
He went through all the slides and some Q&A at the end. The information in slides were strictly prohibited. So nothing about the same I can mention here. It was a very good session. All I can say is, there were some good guidelines for us to get prepared for the interview. It gave me a good sense of the whole recruitment process. It will be fully virtual and over Google meet.
I felt how humble the people in Google are. He made me feel so comfortable with interviews and explained the whole recruitment process. This session really won my heart. Today hardly anyone is focused on making other people comfortable. He made me feel valuable. Culture is really important in our daily lives, whether in personal or professional life. Good culture goes a long way.
At the end of the session, some action items to be performed on our side. Once actions are done, the interview process will proceed further.
18th April, 10 am - Coding Interview
Today, my first coding interview has been scheduled at 10 am. Last week, I went through a couple of videos on YouTube about Google interviews. I was trying to solve the problems on leetcode.com. I got some basic ideas about what an interview would be like. I am ready to give my best.
At 9:30 am in the morning. I set up my table and have arranged the curtains to get better lighting. Switched on lights for better video. Everything was nicely set up. I did an internet speed test. First speed test gave average results, the next speed test gave slow results. I restarted the wifi router. After restart, the internet speed was okay.
At 9:50 am, and I logged-in to Google Meet. Waiting for the interviewer to join. In excitement and nervousness, I was looking at the mirror next to me and smiling without any reason. it was total madness 🙂
At exactly 10 am, the interviewer joined. He asked me to briefly introduce myself and share my recruitment experience so far. I gave a very brief introduction about myself and shared my experience so far with the recruitment process. We didn't had much time. We had to solve two coding problems in 45 mins. So we jumped into the coding round immediately.
Interviewer asked me to login into the interview document. With the link provided in the email, I just logged-in. He asked me to type something. I typed my name, which he was able to see from his side. So we were all set for the coding round.
He gave the first problem. Due to Google interview privacy policy, I can not mention the exact coding problem here. Assume it was like one of the coding problems. It had to do with data structures.
According to me it was a simple problem to solve. But there were so many possible solutions. The challenge was to find the best possible solution. Initially I came up with a less effective solution and then we did some optimisation together and found the optimal solution. I believe I gave my best at that time.
After 30mins, the interviewer shared another problem. For this second problem, I came up with two solutions. One solution had to do with graphs and other to do with maps. I explained both the solutions first. Explained Pros and Cons of both. We agreed to go with the tree approach. I started coding and explained it. For this problem as well we spent about 30 mins.
At the end, some questions I asked about the office, project and interviewer's name. Finally we said goodbye to each other and the interview ended there.
In my opinion I did good. Unfortunately I couldn't recollect some of the code optimisation techniques which I could have applied in the first attempt. But good thing was I got some clues from him, which I followed.
19th April, 11 am - Technical Interview
Yesterday after the first interview finished, I prepared for the second coding round. I was expecting a bit of a tough and tricky question today. Interview was scheduled at 11 am.
At 10:30 am, I was all set. The Laptop was fully charged. Internet speed was also good. Video, lighting and location were all set. Today I was feeling a bit more nervous than yesterday. The first round was easy. Now I had the history of the first round in my mind, which has created some kind of fear in the back of my mind. And so I was a bit nervous than yesterday. I was not doing any madness today by looking in the mirror. I was drinking, lot of water, and went washroom 2-3 times due to nervousness 🙂
At 10:50 am, I logged-in into Google meet, waiting for the interviewer to join. Looking at my face in camera and getting lost in some random thoughts, about what question could be. At 11:01 am, Google meet gave an error. I came out of the meeting and re-joined the meeting. After I rejoined, in a few seconds the interviewer also joined.
Interviewer briefly introduced herself and gave a high level idea of how the interview will go. Then she asked me to introduce myself and tell about my current projects. I started with my introduction and talked about the project I was working on. I kept speaking for almost 5-7mins and concluded my talk. So the interviewer can ask further questions.
There were 4 questions asked. All questions were open ended questions. Where I just need to keep speaking. I believe I spoke for each question for around 10-15 mins. Questions were simple, but had a lot of depth to be covered.
Finally at 12:00 pm, the interviewer asked if I had any questions. I asked about coding interview and about the Pune office. Interviewer answered briefly. Finally waving our hand we said goodbye. With that the second round of interview ended.
As per email from the recruitment team I received, it was supposed to be a coding round. But then this round was also a good interview. I feel I gave my best today also and I am hoping for the next round.
21st April - Waiting and checking emails
Checking email and waiting for next steps or interview rounds. It can probably be a system design interview or behavior interview or one more coding round. I don't know.
25th April, 12.30 pm - Meeting with Recruiter
Today I had a 15 minute discussion with the recruiter. Recruiter told me the feedback, he received from the first and second interviewer. They had more expectation to ask clarifying questions. I took the feedback positively. I believe in learning and improving. He told me about the next interview. The next interview was system design and troubleshooting.
28th April, 12.30 pm - System Design Interview
At 12:30 pm, I was ready and waiting for the interviewer to join. At 12:32 pm the interviewer joined. Interviewer first asked me if this was my first interview. I told him, I already had 2 rounds.
Then the interview started with a system design problem. I tried to design a system with whatever came to my mind that time. Keeping feedback from the last interview in mind. I was trying to explain each point properly to ensure I don't get the same feedback again. First question went for about 30 mins.
Then interviewer asked second question. It was also about system design. Again I tried to give a solution with whatever was coming in my mind. Time was near to finish. I was not able recollect effective way to solve one part of the problem. In few mins we ended interview there itself. Interviewer asked if I have any questions.
I asked him his name, and also asked, if the next interview will be face to face or online. He was very nice guy. He told his name and said due to the current situation, all interviews will be online only.
Overall interview went well but I felt there are 50-50 chance of getting selected. I don't know if I will be selected or rejected in this round. I would probably get selected, b'cos first question I tried my best and I am satisfied with the design I proposed. Second question, I felt I wasn't able to get a better solution in constraint of time. After the interview was over, in some more time, I figured out the effective solution which I should have found in the interview itself.
Then I had Lunch. I got an email from a recruiter, that they are going ahead with the final round of interview. I was extremely happy, since I was not sure if I would be selected or not. Recruiter had a scheduled catch-up meeting for the next day.
29th April, 12.30 pm - Feedback Call with Recruiter
I had a short catch-up meeting with a recruiter. Recruiter was very excited to tell me the positive feedback, he received from the last interviewer. I acknowledged his feedback and said Thank you.
Recruiter told me about the next interview and what to expect from that interview. I understand from him that, it would be a non-technical and behaviour interview.
2nd May, 12.30 pm - Googliness Round
Today Googliness and leadership interview was scheduled at 12 pm.
At 11 am, I had some problems with my broadband internet. It was not working. Arranged alternate option on phone. In case broadband internet does not get restored. I planned to use the mobile internet.
At 11:45 am, I was all set for the interview. Broadband internet was also restored. So there was no problem from the internet connection side. Interviewer joined at 12:02 pm.
Interviewer explained it will be behavioural questions. He will be asking 5-6 questions and in between he will write and keep taking notes.
Lots of tough questions were asked. I tried to give my best. Some questions were easy and related to my work. Some questions were too open ended. I was struggling to get any better answer. I just kept speaking whatever things was coming in my mind.
Last few questions made me scratch my head. My mind was trying to create a lot of visualisation and find answer. I didn't realise, when one hour got finished. It was a totally different experience of giving this interview. Interview name is rightly named as Googliness. It's like getting a lot of Googly balls in Cricket 🙂. Each ball needs to be interpreted well before attempting to play. I'm glad I reached till this round at least.
Initial questions, I answered very good. In the last few questions, I was really struggling. I don't know what decision they will take. I feel it's again a 50-50 chance. Generally, non-technical interviews used to have less weightage compared to technical ones. But I don't know how it is in Google. Now I just need to wait for the recruiter's email to come. Tomorrow is a holiday, so I need to have more patience now.
8th May - Waiting
It's been a week after Googliness interview. But no updates from the recruitment team. I got to know, recruiter is on leave till 12th May. Hopefully after the recruiter's return from vacation. I might get some updates.
12th May - My Profile sent for Team Match
I got an email from a recruiter with overall good feedback, they are proceeding with Team Match. Some more information they asked me to share. Most of the information was already present in my resume. I filled in the information and replied back. They call this information an approval packet document. This document will be then shared with the Hiring committee. Hiring committee will go through my profile and a setup a meeting for the team match.
18th May (Wednesday) - Finally Selected
I got the meeting invite from Recruiter for 1.30 pm to 2.00 pm. Just after lunch, I was checking my email and found there was a meeting scheduled. I immediately joined it. Recruiter told me I am selected, he took 10 mins to explain to me the provisional offer letter and additional compensation and benefits. I was so happy in that call and was just smiling the whole meeting. Finally my dream to come true.
After the meeting, I am supposed to go through the offer letter and give my confirmation. In the offer letter two important pieces of information I found were missing. First the Base Location and second was the Grade at which I got selected. Immediately I sent an email to the recruiter to confirm. He responded immediately.
After his confirmation, I asked him to go ahead with final offer letter creation. It will take two more days. Once the final offer is released I need to digitally sign it.
My Experience
Comments
Post a Comment