I applied for the position through Google careers web site. after few days I received a call from the recruiter, who was clear on the steps. The recruiter scheduled a phone screening which took place after about two weeks.
I aced the phone screening, which covered algorithms, data structures, and of course writing code in Java. Few days later, the recruiter called to inform me that I moved to the next stage, which is a one-to-one interview with 4 of the team. Once again the recruiter was clear on the process and what is expected.
I traveled to CA after about 6 weeks from the phone interview to conduct the one-to-one interviews. Each interview should take 45 minutes, and is supposed to cover specific topic(s).
The first covered, once again, algorithms, which I did well. The second, covered system integration, which I did not do very well at, it also covered model knowledge and design, which I did excellent. The third covered customer relationship, which I did well. Finally, the last interview, covered algorithms, which I did well.
It is worth mentioning that the first three interviewers were professional, but the the last interviewer was really rude and unprofessional. First he showed up about 10 minutes late, he was not prepared, to the point that he asked me what questions I had in my first interview to avoid giving me the same questions(!). He took at least additional 5 min to (supposedly) get setup between starting his laptop and getting connected to the internet, then finally he threw a question from the top of his head. Also, he answered a text message, a phone call, and left the room to (supposedly) go to the restroom (!!).
Despite everything, I literally aced all the topics, except the system integration. After 10 days later, I received a call from the recruiter to tell me that they need to conduct a follow up phone interview, which will cover the system integration which I performed low compared to other topics. The phone screening was scheduled about 10 days from that call.
I prepared myself with everything possible about system integration, even some implementation details, and when the day came, the interviewer started asking me algorithm and SQL questions, which I found very strange given that the interview was supposed to cover system integration. Although I was not prepared, I answered his questions perfectly, and then I hung up the phone waiting for an offer.
The recruiter called me and inform me that they decided that I was not a good fit for the position. I told the recruiter that the interviewer did not cover the system integration as I was informed, but the recruiter told me that the interviewer has the choice to change the topic of the interview. I also mentioned the rudeness of the 4th interviewer in CA (which I should not have).
I later knew that I was supposed to receive a survey to evaluate the interview process, I did not receive it... because the recruiter did not want to put the rude interviewer in harm, and because it was very clear why they decided not to cover the system integration in the last phone interview. They wanted to keep the score for that topic low, to find an excuse to eliminate me.
It is worth mentioning here that 6 out of the 7 people, who dealt with, were from .... (take a wild guess). It is unfortunate to see that such a systematic organization being manipulated by a gang.