Google Hiring Process

 Hiring Process: what to expect

We're looking for get-things-done, problem solvers who are excited about tackling major challenges at scale. Because our people are core to all we do at Google, our hiring process is designed to reflect our consensus-driven culture. Candidates can meet with a variety of Googlers so that we can get to know our candidates - and what makes them unique - and they can get to know us in return. To find out more about the steps in our hiring process, click the tabs below and check out these tips and tricks around applying for a role at Google.

Hiring Process Steps

Step 1: Apply

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

Step 2: Contacted by recruiter

If you are a match for the position based on qualifications and experience, a recruiter will contact you to learn more about your background and answer your questions.

Step 3: Phone interview

The phone interview assesses your role-related skills and proficiency, to determine 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.

Step 4: 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. For business and general positions, we evaluate your problem solving and behavioral abilities. Interviewers will ask you questions related to your area of interest and ask you to solve them in real time. Remember, it's not a question of getting the answer right or wrong, but the process you use to solve it. Creativity is important.

Step 5: 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.

Step 6: What's 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.

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Preparing Your CV/Resume

Your resume is our very first impression of you. To make sure that you present yourself as best as possible, click on the tabs below for some general tips on cv/resume content and submission.

CV/Resume Submission

• Submit your resume in PDF or Microsoft Word formats. Text formats are also acceptable.
• All resumes and related materials (transcripts, portfolios, etc.) should be submitted in English.

General Information

• Include only essential personal information: email, phone, city, and state of residence. Also, be sure to include your name and how to contact you in the resume, not just your cover letter.
• Do NOT include your gender, date of birth, age, family status, military status, citizenship status or personal identification numbers.
• If you use acronyms, spell them out once unless they are well known in industry.

Educational background

• Make sure your CV/resume should accurately reflects your academic achievements and accomplishments.
• Include the full name of all post-secondary institutions attended, degrees conferred, and a cumulative grade point average (if available) for each degree received.
• Report your college/university-level education. However, feel free to include any "year abroad" programs as part of your pre-university education.
• Provide a brief description of projects you completed related to the position for which you are applying.

Work Experience

• Even if you're fresh out of college of university, we want to know what skills you've acquired along the way. We'll look closely at the work experience section of your resume, so the information you provide here is very important.
• Provide your job title, employer name and dates of employment.
• Provide a brief description of the companies you have worked for especially if they are not well known.
• Provide your specific “key accomplishments” in each role.
• Include bulleted, concise, and specific key accomplishments and the impact your efforts had on your company. For engineering resumes, please include the programming languages and tools used for each.
• Mention any of your jobs while attending college/university, either during the summer or concurrent with your coursework, even if it isn’t specifically related to a potential job at Google.
• Customize your resume by highlighting the skills that are relevant to the position.

Additional Information

• Tell us what makes you unique! Here at Google, we value talent and intelligence, group spirit and diversity, creativity and idealism. Googlers range from former neurosurgeons and puzzle champions to alligator wrestlers and Lego maniacs.
• Include any awards received, articles published, conference presentations given, or professional organizations you are involved in (ie. SWE, IEEE, ACM, etc.). We don't need to see copies of awards or publications, just a reference to them.
• You can also include personal projects related to the position.

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Preparing for Your Interview

As you prepare for your interview, don’t stress. Why sweat the small stuff when you can change the world, challenge the status quo, impact millions of peoples' lives? We're doing this every day and want to enlist as many people as possible in our quest to do more.

How We Interview

At Google, every candidate goes through both manager and peer interviews. While conventional interviews normally have a single hiring manager make or break a hiring decision, Google values both peer and manager feedback. In fact, candidates also interview with at least one Googler who works in a completely different department to ensure that we’re hiring someone who is a great fit for the company overall.

Here are some general tips to follow as you prepare for your interview:

• Know what interests you about Google and why you’ve applied.
• Get to know Google’s products and services. Research our competitors.
• If you are interviewing for a software engineering or technical role, be ready to answer high-level technical questions on data-structures and algorithms. We would like you to code up your answers on boards with our engineers.
• Familiarize yourself with the job description you are interested in.
• If you are interviewing for a software engineering role then you may first want to visit the websitewww.topcoder.com. Please launch the “Arena” widget and go to the practice rooms where you can solve problems in the first and second division.
• Make sure that you substantiate anything your CV/resume says – for instance, if you list Java or Haskell as your key programming language, questions about this are fair game and may be asked of you.