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aristidedn t1_jdy06wn wrote

Reply to comment by iTand22 in [OC] My partner’s 2 months job hunt as a Product Manager (UK, 4 years xp) by fryd_rice_all_rise

Hi, PM at Google, here.

When I was being considered for the role, I went through the following:

  • Recruiter screening (not an interview, per se; basically a pass/fail conversation about your experience)
  • Interview 1 (the first actual interview, succeeding here means you go on to the full interview process)
  • Interviews 2-6 (each lasted 45 minutes and evaluated a different high-level proficiency)
  • Three placement interviews (these are interviews with specific hiring managers once Google has decided you're worth hiring; they continue until you find a team you "match" with)

So, in total, I had 9 interviews or screenings before the hiring process concluded.

This is not unusual for a top-tier tech firm hiring PMs and engineers. Other roles likely have fewer hurdles, but PMs and engineers are arguably the most critical roles and receive the highest compensation.

I think a lot of people outside of tech don't have an understanding of what tech interviews are like. Interviews outside of tech - especially for lower-level roles - are often just conversations about your experience and personality, plus some discussion of what the job entails. Interviews in tech are tests. You will be asked to solve hard problems - many of them deliberately crafted to have no clear correct answer - and you will be judged on how you think.

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nn4260029 t1_jdz3eld wrote

I work in tech in The Netherlands. Hiring is usually a first interview with the manager to assess your personality and team fit, and then an interview with some people in the team who have your future role to assess job skills.

Is anyone in your team really better of because you asked the new hire to market a fridge to Inuit or to sort an array of JSON objects without using a parser?

To me it sounds a bit like a ritual hazing dance, sort of a “job hunting performance art”.

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aristidedn t1_jdzd2wd wrote

I'm not involved in hiring decisions or in measuring hiring success, so I can't produce data showing that the process produces better teams.

What I can say, however, is that this is an incredibly expensive process for tech companies. If they are engaging in this process, it's because they have data indicating that it produces better results and that it's worth the investment.

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SlowbroLife t1_je2n736 wrote

I'm also a PM working for a very well-known company.

I deal with consumer electronics so it's probably different but I only had to go through 2 interviews.

Is it normal for tech PMs to have that many interviews or is Google special? Since there is no shortage of interest working for Google, I assume they can get away with such rigorous interview process.

Honestly, if I had to do 9 rounds of interviews, I wouldn't even go for it.

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