Technology

These Are 22 of Google’s Trickiest Interview Questions

May 3, 2016 | Kelly Tatera

Google headquarters

The tech giant is notorious for its tough interview questions.

By now, you’ve probably seen one of the many articles that offer a look into a day in the life at a Google office — futuristic architecture boasting Google’s logo colors, rooms with bean bags and hammocks to take a mental break, and cafeterias with delicious-looking grub.

Basically, Google’s work environment is one that loads of people would dream of being a part of, but it’s easier said than done. The tech giant’s interview process certainly isn’t a walk in the park.

In fact, the company is notorious for asking interviewees brain teasers and questions that make you think out of the box in order to gauge how well you perform under pressure.

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After fishing through Google interview questions on Glassdoor, we found 22 of the toughest, most mind-blowing, and cringe-worthy questions that Google applicants — both successful and unsuccessful — have been faced with.

 

1. Describe what happens when you go to Google.com in the most technical way you can.

Technical Solutions Consultant

2. You have 3,000 accounts and 3 weeks to sort through them. What data would you collect and how would you convince your customers to up sell across the verticals?   

- Account Manager  

3.  What is your favorite Google product, and how would you improve it?

Associate Product Manager

4. A coin was flipped 1,000 times and there were 560 heads. Do you think the coin is biased?

Quantitative Analyst

5.  Estimate the number of tennis balls that can fit into a plane.

Intern

6.  How would you describe a database to a third grader?

Associate Product Manager

7. My processor is consuming too much power. Write a program to reduce processor power consumption.  

-  Software Engineer

8. If you could be remembered for one sentence, what would it be?

Associate Account Strategist

9. What is the most challenging bug and what did you learn?

Software Engineer

10. Tell me a joke.

Executive Assistant

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11. Design an algorithm that predicts where a ball will exit a given maze based on its entry point.

Intern

12. If I gave you 10 million dollars right now, what would you do?

Associate Account Strategist

13. A web app is crashing and there is no meaningful trace. How would you diagnose the problem?  

Software Engineer

14. You have a colony on Mars that you want to communicate with. How do you build a system to communicate with them?

Associate Product Manager

15. Would you remove the link to an extremist piece of writing?

Legal Assistant

16. How would you solve homelessness in downtown San Francisco?

Product Manager

17.  Design a new theme park ride.

Associate Product Manager

18. Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult coworker.

Business Consultant

19. Design a phone for a two-year-old.

Associate Product Manager

20. What do you say to a customer who says they will stop being a customer?  

Product Support Specialist

21. Define a service that would allow you to travel to the future.

Interaction Designer

22. At this stage, do you prefer earning or learning?

Software engineer

 

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