I interviewed with Google at the end of February 2019 through a referral for the role of Account Manager. I had a phone interview with the recruiter, and one with a team member before I made it to the onsite interviews (45 min. each). One of the four could not be coordinated during the same day and was made via Hangouts.
As it is the standard procedure, each of the interviews aimed at assessing a different attribute, leadership, cognitive ability, role related knowledge and how I fitted the company's culture. Some of the questions were behavioural, intended to understand how my past experience proved I was a good fit for the role, and hypothetical ones, where the aim was to assess how I approached situations.
Three of the interviews went very well, I was lacking product related knowledge, but it was known to the recruiting team. My answers in my cognitive interview failed. This was not a complex interview, if only for the fact that it was difficult to articulate a structured answer when my interviewer did not create a relaxing atmosphere. All the others interviewers had been terrific, and it was unexpected. I knew I would likely be going to report to her if I got the role, and while I was answering her questions, I kept on trying to imagine working with someone who was being aloof, regardless of the numerous times I tried to break the ice. I just felt disengaged from the discussion, and not my best self.
The interview results were communicated by the recruiter in a phone call. It was appreciated that she let me known the areas where I needed improvement.