I had an initial call with a Google recruiter. The call was short and to the point (Positive Experience)
Had a 45-minute phone screen interview with a program manager, which was a behavioural style interview. (Positive Experience)
Had a coordination call with the staffing operation team to schedule the onsite interview, the individual was a little vague on details but was able to piece together enough details. (Neutral Experience)
I arrived on site about 20 minutes early and registered with the front desk, I then sat and waited for the interview to begin.
The first interviewer was a little late (approximately 11 minutes late). The interviewer greeted me and escorted me to a huddle room. I waited for the interviewer to instruct me to sit. The interview started, the interviewer began asking me a series of coding/software engineering questions. The interviewer was a bit on the cold side. I was told to answer the questions in code using either Python or an equivalent language using the whiteboard. I was totally caught off guard by this request as I'm not and have never been a software engineer. The job description did not mention programming skills.
After completing this 45-minute interview, I knew I was not going to get the position.
The next interviewer was waiting outside the door. Another 45-minute interview of coding questions. I explained to the interviewer that I am not a coder, but the interviewer said that all they had were coding questions and they were not allowed to deviate from the pre-assigned questions.
After another 45-minutes, someone came by to take me to lunch. Had a quick lunch, then I was taken back to the huddle room for 3 more 45-minute interviews. 1 interview the format was Behavioral Style (tell me about a time when....) and the other 2 were AGAIN coding interviews. (Negative Experience)
I spent 3 weeks intensely preparing for this opportunity, just never thought a program manager position would have such an emphasis on coding.
Advice to others: Spend the majority of your time focusing on coding prep.
