I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Google in Nov 2015
Interview
I had a phone screen for a Product Manager position in no particular part of Google. This was on the heels of two other phone screens and a full day of on-site interviews for a Technical Program Manager role. (That experience was a boondoggle of its own. After flying me to CA the recruiter went MIA mid-process - emails even bounced back - and there was no follow-up. They ultimately told me they lost headcount for the position.)
A generally combative man interviewed me for the Product Manager. He made virtually zero attempt to understand my skills and 20-years of industry experience. Instead, he chose to berate me with two questions for virtually the entire call.
Overall, I felt my interviewer’s demeanor was consistent with the 10 or so “Googlers” I’ve met so far, which is to say generally arrogant and challenging. He was not the type of person I’d want to work with, and I’m grateful I did not advance in the interview process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
There were just two questions the entire hour. How would you solve homelessness in downtown San Francisco? What is the market for driverless cars in the year 2020?
Very self-driven, first of multiple rounds, where I had to take the initiative to arrive at the problem, constraints, approach, solutions, tradeoffs and reasoning behind it in a matter of 30 minutes.
You would have to do a hiring assessment first, then a recruiter screening follows. First round interview with the hiring manager. Majorly product sense and product improvement. The questions were not direct though.
Overall a lot of steps to the interview process. Talked to different people and had opportunities to ask questions. Many different stages which made it a lengthy process overall. Wasn't too bad.