I have applied several times directly on their website for full-time jobs with benefits, and instead been called by several agencies for contracts for jobs with the same job descriptions as the ones I had applied for directly. Finally, I decided to interview through one of the agencies, and was told that the contract can only be for 12 months max. Heard the same from another friend who also interviewed there (She turned down the offer they gave her). Basically, after the first 12 months, you will need to go on unemployment and " take a break of 3 months" before you are allowed to go back for another 12 months. I was disappointed to hear about the constant recycling of contractors, although I hear other big names in Silicon Valley are doing the same thing. I understand the need of a hiring strategy of "Travel Light", but when it becomes a regular practice when they actually need more headcount on a full time basis, seems to me that it is crossing the ethics line because these people go on unemployment during the rest period, and tap onto government benefits. I had higher expectations of ethics from a company like Google.
The interview itself was quite different as compared to other companies. It was a situational and behavior interview, where I was asked what I would do in different situations that might occur during a project. Very thorough interviewer that covered most of the tricky scenarios that would happen in managing a project. If you are an experienced project manager, there is nothing to worry about in terms of the questions they might ask.
