Google’s interview process is long and arduous, seeming like a black box to many candidates. Not knowing what’s ahead makes it even harder to prepare.
We’re here to help. We work with 50+ ex-Google interviewers on our platform, who have helped thousands of candidates navigate the Google interview process.
Here’s what you need to know: Google’s interview process takes around one to two months, and there are seven steps: resume screen, recruiter call, phone screen(s), onsite interviews, hiring committee, team matching, and salary negotiation. The steps that will require the most preparation are the phone screens and onsite interviews.
In the rest of this article, we’ll dive deep into each step of the recruitment process and how you can prepare for it.
Let’s get started.
The first step of Google’s recruitment process is the resume screen. Here, after you’ve submitted your application through Google’s jobs portal , or been contacted directly via email or LinkedIn, recruiters will evaluate your resume to see if your experience aligns with the open position.
Note: Google does not require cover letters and admits that they “ may or may not be considered .” So, unless you have a highly untraditional profile that needs to be explained, we recommend focusing on your resume.
Thankfully, Google has already laid out their own list of tips on how to craft a great resume. We recommend you follow them. Here are the tips:
Google’s tips on crafting a resume:
To learn more, take a look at our comprehensive guide: How to write a resume for Google (including 5 examples from successful Google candidates).
Alternatively, you can use one of our role-specific guides:
Don’t forget to have a friend or family member proofread your resume before finalizing it. They’ll be able to spot grammar and formatting errors. For expert help on whether or not your resume is best suited for the position, you’ll need to get input from ex-Google interviewers.
After your resume has been approved, a recruiter will get in contact with you to schedule a call. This generally lasts 20-30 minutes.
During the call, the recruiter will have a non-technical chat with you about your background and why you are interested in the job. You should have answers prepared for questions like, “Tell me about yourself,” “ Why Google? ”, and “Walk me through your resume.”
The recruiter will also discuss with you how the overall interview process will work. If you have any specific questions (e.g. timeline, location, clarification about the job description), now is the time to ask.
The recruiter will be your point person for the rest of the interviews, and the best suited to answer your questions about the process. So it’s important to keep lines of communication with them open.
If all goes well, the recruiter will get back in touch with you to schedule your first interviews: the phone screens.
Depending on the role, you will either have one or two phone screens with your hiring manager, or a future peer of the team you’re applying to join.
These will typically last between 45 and 60 minutes each, over Google Meet. In the majority of cases, this will be a video call, but in some cases the interviewer may choose to keep their camera turned off.
We’ve researched the interview process and questions for six Google roles, so we’ll give you an idea of what to expect by role. If you’re looking for exact example questions to work with, see our guide to Google interview questions and answers.
What to expect in Google phone screens (by role):
Product managers: you’ll be asked about your background, followed by a mix of product design, estimation, and strategy questions.
Software engineers : you’ll share a Google Doc or a collaborative coding platform with your interviewer and answer data structure and algorithm questions, as well as a few behavioral questions.
Engineering managers: you’ll have a similar coding round as the software engineers, with higher-level coding questions and behavioral questions around people and project management.
Data scientists: you’ll be asked a few general background questions, as well as SQL, coding, and statistics questions, showing your work on a Google Doc or coding platform.
Technical program managers: you’ll be asked a mix of program management, technical, and leadership questions.
Account managers: you’ll be asked primarily behavioral and background questions that test your client service skills.
Ultimately, if you’re prepared for the types of in-depth questions you’ll receive at the onsite stage, then you’ll be prepared for the initial phone screens. So let’s dive into the onsite portion, including the exact interview questions that have been reported by past candidates.
The longest and most daunting step of the Google interview process is the onsite interview loop. This may take place in Google’s physical offices, or via video call.
Here, you will face up to six back-to-back interview rounds that last around 45 minutes each. If you are physically onsite, one of these will take the form of an informal lunch interview with a future peer of the team you’re applying to join.
To see a breakdown of the kind of questions you're likely to face in your onsite interviews, check out our comprehensive guide to Google interview questions (with answers).
After the onsite rounds, your interviewers grade your performance using a standardized feedback form. It contains your responses to each of the questions, their feedback on your responses, and their final recommendation (e.g. "Strong no hire," "No hire," "Leaning no hire," "Leaning hire," "Hire," "Strong hire").
The feedback forms from each of your onsite interviewers are combined in a packet, which includes your resume and feedback from the initial phone screens, and it is sent to a third party hiring committee for review.
Your recruiter will notify you when your application has progressed to this stage—all you have to do is wait.
The hiring committee is made up of a group of third-party Googlers who were not present during your interviews. Google uses this committee to make the hiring decision, rather than your interviewers, in order to remove bias from the interview process.
Overall, you’ll be assessed on the four main attributes Google looks for when hiring:
Your recruiter will notify you when the hiring committee has made a decision. This typically takes one to two weeks after the onsite interview rounds. Beyond that time, if you have not received an answer, send a polite check-in to your recruiter to get more information.
There are four general responses that you may receive from Google’s hiring committee:
If you applied and interviewed for a role that is specific to a certain team at Google from the beginning, then you will likely skip the team matching step.
Otherwise, candidates go through a separate step in order to find out which team they’ll be working for at Google. This may occur before or after the hiring committee makes its decision.
If team matching occurs after the hiring committee, the candidate’s information is passed along to teams with open headcount, in order to find the best fit for the new hire.
If team matching occurs before the hiring committee, the information is added to the packet of interview materials that the hiring committee evaluates to make its decision.
In either case, you may have an interview scheduled to meet with members of a few different teams. Here, the recruiter will inform you of the interview and of whom you’ll be meeting with. We recommend that you research the teams ahead of the interview to get an idea of what questions to ask them, and of what you’re most interested in.
As always, if you are unsure of any step in your specific interview process, check in with your recruiter.
Finally, once you’ve passed each of the six steps above, you’ll receive your offer package from Google.
At this point, all that is left for you to do is negotiate your offer. Your recruiter will get in touch with you about the details, likely scheduling one final call to clarify and discuss the terms. If they have not scheduled a call, you can ask for one.
Of course, salary discussions can be difficult and a bit uncomfortable, especially if you are not used to them. Below are some tips to help you navigate your salary negotiations. And you can also get salary negotiation coaching from ex-FAANG recruiters to help you maximize your compensation.
Salary negotiation tips:
Once you’ve completed this step and accepted your offer: congratulations! It’s time to start your career at Google.
As you may have noticed, Google has a long and difficult interview process, which means that it requires quite a bit of preparation to succeed.
The lists of practice questions and resources in section 4 above will give you a great start, but practicing by yourself will only take you so far. Ultimately, the best way to improve your interview skills is to do as many interviews as you can.
That’s why we’ve put together a coaching service where you can practice Google mock interviews one-on-one with real ex-interviewers from Google. Start scheduling sessions today .
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