I was referred by a friend who works at Google and I had applied for a specific position that they advertised. They called me within a few days and asked me when I am available for a phone screen. The phone screen started with another engineer asking me to type a program into a shared Google doc. While it wasn't a particularly difficult program, I found it to be tough going trying to solve it while on the phone typing in a Google doc editor. It probably took me longer than it should have and I don't think I quite had the boundary conditions just right. I don't know exactly what to say about the experience. Its entirely possible that it reflects poorly on my ability to program, however I have no doubt that it a program I can write fairly easily if I need to. I didn't get past this stage, but regardless I am told that further stages would have involved multiple interrogations and their Mountain View office. It all seems a bit much or maybe despite my years of experience, I am perhaps a programmer gone "soft".