I initially applied online for Google in November 2010. They got back to me about a week later, and in their email, asked me a few more detailed questions about my background, experience and education. I replied quickly, as I was really happy to have been contacted. They said they would be in touch in the coming weeks about upcoming opportunities. I told them I was currently studying for my Masters, so they knew there was no rush in getting back to me.
In mid-December, I got a phonecall. A recruiter asked me a few questions about myself, what I was currently doing, and then organised an official phone interview for January. I did a bit of research into Google interviews before the phone interview, and was prepared for some crazy questions and a really difficult interview.
The recruiter sent me a really detailed email with a lot of information that I should familiarise myself with before interview (adwords product-based). The phone interviews arrived, and I must say, the interviewers were really friendly and conversational on the phone. They made me feel relaxed and I think this made me perform better than I would have if I was nervous or intimidated. Compared to the kind of off-the-wall questions I had prepared for, I thought the phone interviews were a breeze, as they were all competency-based and were mostly about me selling myself.
It took a little while to hear back about the phone interviews, just over a week if I remember correctly. I got offered an onsite interview, and was sent a questionnaire to fill out, which was personality-based and asked a lot of teamwork-type questions. The email contained links to a lot of information on Adwords, and said I should familiarise myself before the onsite interview.
The first onsite interview was quite like the phone interviews, with a heavy emphasis on competencies. Again, the interview was very conversational and put me at ease.
The final interview was more difficult, with nearly all questions being specifically related to Adwords, and a lot of questions that demanded strategic thinking and real-life every day problems for Google advertising account managers were asked. It was difficult, but no more difficult than I had been expecting. I may not have survived this section, had it not been for the research I did beforehand.
I got a phonecall the next day to say I had passed the interviews, and I was being taken to the offer stage. I had to prepare a "case" for myself, highlighting, in bullet points, all my best attributes and experience. The case was then sent to the hiring committees and for executive review. The whole process, from the time I submitted my "case" to the time I got offered the job, took exactly a month. While this was a long time, and was fairly nerve-racking, my recruiter kept in touch with me to tell me the stages my application was at, and gave me positive feedback at each committee stage, so at least I didn't feel like I wasn't going to get it!
The last stage did take a long time, and I was anxious, but my recruiter was a real gem and made sure I was aware of what was going on.
To anyone interviewing for this position, I would say, show enthusiasm, do your research and don't believe the insane questions you've read on the internet! I did get a few hard ones but they were all manageable and relevant to the job.
