I applied through college or university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Google
Interview
Phone interview with a PM was pleasant and consisted of standard product manager type questions
In-person interview at HQ was less smooth. First interviewer showed up 15 minutes late and the whole day was late / rushed from there. Three 45-minute interviews before lunch, followed by a rushed lunch with a guy who made it clear he did not want to be there. After a 10 minute lunch, was whisked across campus to a room with broken teleconferencing equipment that did not zoom or allow use of the whiteboard. Final 2 interviews were via Google Hangout in the room with the broken equipment (the interviewers were on campus but apparently did not have time to walk over to the building I was in). Questions were standard difficulty but the lack of a whiteboard was annoying. Had 6 PMs and 1 engineer as interviewers.
Overall, very surprised that Google was so rushed and disorganized, and people were fairly harried and rude throughout. Didn't seem like such a pleasant place to work.
Also: Didn't seem very diverse. Out of 6 total interviewers plus my lunch companion, I never met a single female product manager or female engineer, all men.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
When are Bayesian methods more appropriate than "Artificial Intelligence" techniques for predictive analytics?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Google
Interview
Internal recruiter had reached out to me directly via LinkedIn. I found all of the background material forwarded to me by the recruiter (interview tips, working at Google, etc.) extremely helpful. The conducting of the interview met the expectations set in the prep material so definitely recommend that candidates go through it thoroughly.
Phone interview was performed with an existing Product Manager.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Take a grocery app - what would be the features you would suggest?
I applied in-person. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Google in Oct 2014
Interview
My interview process started with a friend of mine referring me internally. I initially had a phone screen with the recruiter that went very well. I was almost immediately invited to come into the office for a all-day interview day.
On my interview day I was interviewed by 4 PMs. There was also an interview with a PM Director that was relatively a short interview.
I thought I did fairly well but wasn't sure if I did well enough.
My recruiter emailed me 1.5 weeks later to let me know that all had gone well and they would be submitting me to the Hiring Committee. I was super excited and looking forward to the green light.
Alas- the hiring committee over-rode the feedback and gave me thumbs down.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Nothing difficult or unexpected. The type of questions are very well covered here: Expect a Why Google, or why PM, what products you like, why/why not. You will be expected to do estimation questions as well as case study questions. This is an absolute given.