Interviewing at Google
Interview structure
Behavioral, hypothetical, case based questons that cover role related knowledge General cognitive abilitiy No right answers Use data to inform decisions about what is important Leadership Communication / decision making skills Role-related knowledge Grow into different roles why Write down 20 most common questions
AdSense
delivers ads to individuals websites; Google pays web publishers for the ads displayed on their site based on user clicks/ad impression monetizing websites, adding to partner channels
US market size
10% of market
# of US households
100 million US households, 3.2 people per households
US Population
320 M
Number of people per age group
4 million people per age group
People per generation
80 million per generation
Life expectancy of Americans
80 years, even distribution of ages
Google products (business)
AdWords AdSense Analytics: Surveys 360, target surveys to specific groups of users, provide quick access to advertiser metrics like bran sentiment / favorability, inform content , test effectiveness of campaigns Gsuite Google Domains
Cost based pricing Questions
All costs? -> add margin to it Need to know break even point If market is misjudged, will need to cut costs Industry norms for pricing?
Google products (operating systems)
Android Chrome OS TV Google Assistant: smarter than siri, faster/more accurate -> integrated into Home speaker -> capturing more data at every point of the way, helping get things done
Alphabet Companies
August 2015: Calico: "health, well-being, and longevity" -> age-related cognitive decline as well as age-related diseases and therapeutics" Google Fiber: Austin, Kansas City, Provo, Atlanta, Durham, Nashville, Salt Lake City Nest: home automation, sensor driven, wifi enabled thermostats, security systems using machine learning X: research and development: driverless car, driven 2M millions, Loon: bring internet access to everyone by creating an internet network of LTE balloons, gone into testing phase (~200 days) wing: unmanned aerial delivery, undergoing tests at 400 feet -> like amazon prime air glass verily: life sciences contact lens to allow people to check glucose levels continually -> partnering with pharmaceutical giant for diabetes program google brain/deepmind: deep learning, used in photo search, image/speech recognition, recommendations mimicking human brain activity (16k computers) learning from experiences: outperforming traditional neural nets, require half the examples
Android
Be Together, not the same -> open platform, for everyone to imagine, invent, make, buy whatever assistant 7.0 nugat -> expanded emojis, tailor content based on location, multi window apps, seamless updates, encryption sends location to emergency services
Google products (specialized search)
Customer search Shopping Finance Scholar
Double click AdExchange
developing/provides ad serving services serves agencies, marketers allows advertisers to control how often ad is shown to a browser -> online publishers use double click to display adv on their websites targeting for one website owner: sports website, adv sports tickets
Pricing Pricing strategies
Competitive Analysis Cost based pricing Price based pricing
Google products (hardware)
Driverless Cars Nexus Pixel: controlling both hardware/software; big leaps come in software/service/ecosystem better camera, screen, unlimited cloud storage of photos/videos, (smaller battery life), but faster charge: better incorporation of all products. privacy concerns wit over sharing too much data. runs on nougat 7.1, software will be most effective at using hardware. fully integrated assistant, imprint on back Chromebook -> cheaper (<200), secure, targeted to nonprofits Chromebox Chromecast - > ultra in 4k, selling for $69 Google Glass Daydream View-> vr headset costs $79, cheaper than Gear VR, made of cloth, integration with android iOS; use Pixel to enjoy VR content / games other manufacturers phones work in device, touch controller is separate ($79) Jump VR -> camera rig for VR video capture
Important Googlers
Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Board of Directors Sergey Brin, President, Director , founder Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet, Director, founder Ruth Porat, CFO, SVP Marissa Mayer, helped create AdWords, APM program, then moved to Yahoo Bill Morgan, CMO Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc, former product chief Susan Wjcicki, CEO of youtube, Eric Beach, Salar Kamanger: key in building AdWOrds
Increasing volume
Expand number of distribution channels Increase product line through diversification Analyze segments of business that have highest future potential Invest in marketing campaign Acquire the competitor (increases market share) Adjust prices (lower to increase volume, raise to decrease demand) -> increase profits create seasonal balance (change product mix depending on the season)
Pricing
Investigate company / objective Learn about product/service / competition Pick a pricing strategy
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads: paid social, helping users find businesses based on thins they're interested, the ways in which they behave online 1.13 B monthly active users importance lies in potential granularity with which adv can target users creating lookalike audiences, which is then uploaded to FB which then matches users whose information the adv uploads -> finding audience of users, more reach by targeting new customers w/ same interests / consumer behavior as their customers customer segment of one powerful visual ads, persuasive good ROI, high potential return on investment -> can stretch a limit ad budget well highly competitive pricing, best-value online advertising solutions more targeting options, immediate influx of traffic, complete control over daily budget, maximum CPC -> best for B2C markets
Google products (home/office)
Gmail Drive -> tracking down details/ people, suggests action items, spend less time searching for files/ typing, also utilizes Explore and NLP Docs/sheets/slides -> explore allows for instant insights, formatting suggestions for slides, helps with research/ inserting content, optimize quizzes Forms Translate (100+ languages) 10 years old -> helping make connections, 500M, 100B words a date, translations select trends/events, World Lens to instantly translate in 28 languages, bilingual conversations Calendar -> now get events in Google Maps, smart scheduling, cross functional with reminders wallet (discontinued) store hangouts -> being replaced by Duo/Allo: using machine learning tech to suggest reply to last message, adapting suggestions, supported by assistant as chat bot (pictures, restaurantrecs), incognito mode (end to end encryption ) -> privacy concerns, since unlike WhatsApp/imessage, not automatic
Google products (social)
Google+ Groups Bloggers
How Google Hires
Leadership Knowledge Positive impact Direct / indirect leadership Role related knowledge Multiple strengths Adaptive, Working in fast paced, rapidly changing work environment Transferable skills How you think Thought process, see how you approach problems/scenarios Googlyness Comfortable with ambiguity Open to learning Effectively manage relationships Doer / working on both a team /individually Fit Googliness for you:
Growth and increasing
Learn about company, size, resources, products Investigate industry: is it growing, how is the client growing relative to the industry Prices relative to others> increasing sales =/= increasing profits
E(P = R - C)M
Look at external factors first: economy, markets, weather Analyze company: revenue + profit trends, customers, products, brand, channels Revenue streams and changes, costs and changes To increase revenue: increase customers (dist channels, marketing, entering new markets, develop new markets), buy more often, spend more $$$ To decrease costs: finance (refinance debt, hedge, sell NE assets, cut down on labor/production
Google products (geo)
Maps Earth Waze
Market Core questions (customers, competitors)
Market size, growth rate, trends? (3 years of data, how is industry doing, how is company growing compared to industry? Where is it in its lifecycle? (emerging? maturing? declining?) industry drivers? (brand, price, content, size, economics, tech, geopolitical events, bargaining power, distribution channels?) customer segmentation(s)? (which segments are they going after, how big are they?) Industry changes? (new players, regulations) Mergers / acquisitions? Changes in technology? Distribution channels? Major players and market share? (competitors, how much market share? fragmented market, or monopoly?) Product differentiation? (how do competitors differentiate products / services?) Barriers to entry? (capital, distribution channels, material, human talent, gov regulations, loyalty, stick feature, market domination) Barriers to exit? (massive investment, non-transferable fixed assets, contract requirements, gov regulations, etc)
Name a good marketing campaign and name a bad marketing campaign (Google and/or not Google)
Nike: just do it -> encapsulates everything people feel while exercising, driving ourselves to push ourselves beyond our limits' ???
What does "Googley" mean to you and why are you "Googley"?
PERSONAL EXAMPLE DON'T USE $133.33 B 60K employees I don't think googleyness can be defined by one word. In my opinion, I think googleyness not only means having unique passions and drive to learn, but applying your curiosity, imagination and expertise to causes that are bigger than yourself and driving impact. As a child, I was always curious and driven to learn, which is what pushed me to grow out of my public school in a low income area and helped land me at a competitive private school and ultimate a school I can call home. However, it wasn't until I was old enough to recognize that it wasn't just my own hard work that got me to where i am, but also others who came before me and left the door open that i was able to have the opportunity to nurture my abilities, that i realized that my goal in life is to make sure others have the same chances i do, make meaningful impact. i think the accessibility of information and technology is critical for people to reach beyond their current circumstances, and i want to apply the abilities/skills that i've had the chance to nurture towards make social impact for those who aren't as privileged -> using technology as an equalizing force
Least favorite google product, how would you fix it?
PERSONAL EXAMPLE DON'T USE Duo / allo cons: all sms communication through all is sent through a relay number, not through phone number -> good for communication between android devices since there is App Preview Messaging Api not a default SMS app, instead need to use messenger will not receive Allo text messages if deleted transition from hangouts, which will still exist -> too much over lap making it default, with greater integration with SMS pros: assistant is very robust, predictive messages is useful, separating duo was a good move as you are not over complicating the application future integration to chromebooks
Favorite Google product? Now design a marketing campaign for that product on the spot.
PERSONAL EXAMPLE DON'T USE Youtube: unlimited entertainment, but a way to share memories, making information not just universally accessible but digestible. my cousins in ecuador upload videos of birthdays and festivals that we watch here at home; my dad practiced for his citizenship exam by viewing videos on youtube; my mom listens to songs of her youth that aren't available anywhere else; my brother watches educational videos on chemistry while eating lunch, my friends and i losing it in the computer lab at school would have a video of people uploading, watching ,the value of what people get from youtube to make better -> use google machine learning to place ads in better positions (not in the middle of an experience) , ruining customer experience, quality of content, robustness of ads
What is the biggest challenge facing Google right now?
PERSONAL EXAMPLE DON'T USE amazon is highly underrated strength in search e commerce ad unit not being priced in by market amazon prime is more than a subscription service Amazon -> people jump there to look for products, rather than searching on google People know that Amazon is a one stop shop for almost all possible products, completely circumventing Google Google shopping platform has not been growing as quickly as needed, search juggernaught for purchases (50% of all shoppers go straight to amazon, bloomberg) -> consumers care less about specific retailers --> not shrinking, but losing MKT share to amazon Amazon ad sales jumped 28 percent in Q2 2016, prime incentivizes people to go to amazon first/ exclusively search engine of choice for products amazon prime members are around 63M, $1.2k spending per years can use data to target specific ads to customers -> unmatched shopping data google express -> doesn't offer online media services -> retailers continue to lose mkt share in aggregate to ad revenue
What is the biggest thing that Google needs to do to grow?
PERSONAL EXAMPLE DON'T USE find a way to emulate / grow within chinese market -> Facebook is doing that with messenger, emulating WeChat -> grow their cloud business, which will be growing faster, estimated to be 20B in 2020 -> don't want to be left behind already integrating it think about next big platforms and getting them to emerging markets -> seeing emerging markets be hyper competitive with smartphones, need to have the next platform (ar) be positioned to be a market leader
What are three things that keep Larry Page awake at night
PERSONAL EXAMPLE DON'T USE whats the next letter in the alphabet to acquire censorship in google -> perversity of information blocks, slowing down growth and advancement because of competition socio economic effects of advanced intelligence systems, how advanced didigtal technologies can make us more efficient and how to mitiagte detrimental effects of technological unemployment
Google products (media)
Play Books Images/photos -> video/photo sharing / storage device. in may had 200M active users, 1.37 petabytes of photos/videos, 2 trillion labels -> explore is applied to photos, saving space, machine learning, smart photo albums, location pins News
Written cases
Present case, much like verbal case Draw up 3 PPT slides, with 1 chart Read executive summary, analyze exhibits
Entering a New Market Company questions
Product mix: cannibalization w/ new products, segmentations, distribution channels, sales force, production, labor changes Brand strength WCS
Core company questions (company, product)
Profits/revenue for the last three years? (Publicly traded / private company?) Customer segmentations? Product mix? (products / services the company offers, costs and margins, recent changes to product mix) Production capabilities and capacity? (ability to expand, at full capacity?) Brand? (how strong, market leader or faded?) Distribution channels? (how are p/s distributed, how can company expand channels?) WCS?
Profit and Loss
Revenues What are the major revenue streams, what percentage of total revenues does each stream represent? Does anything seem unusual in the balance of percentages? Have the percentages changed lately? If so, why? Costs Any major shifts in costs? Do any costs seem out of line? If we benchmarked our costs against our competitor's costs, what would we find? Products Advantages/ disadvantages? Price? Volume? Solutions: headings, revenue-based strategies, cost-based strategies E(P = R - C) P
STAR
Situation: There was a time when.. Task: What I realized I needed to do was... Action: What I actually did was.. Result: As a Result...
Entering a New Market State of current / future market
Size of market? Growth rate / trends Life cycle stage? Who are customers? What role does tech play/ how quickly does it change? Competition?
Pricing Investigate Company
Size? Products? Market Leader? What is their objective? (Profits, market share, or brand positioning? In charge of pricing strategies? (price taker v monopoly) High margins v market share v ancillary sales
Developing a new product
Special /proprietary characteristics? Patent, for how long? Similar products / substitutions? Advantages/ disadvantages of new product? Fit within product line? how can our sales force sell it?
Entering a new market Entry strategies
Start from scratch, grow organically Acquire existing player from within industry (M&A) Form a joint venture / strategic alliance w/ another player with a similar interest Outsourcing
First Five Steps
Summarize question -> give back percentages Verify objectives -> what constitutes success, what are the clients expectations / are they realistic? are there underlying objectives? Ask clarifying questions -> get additional info, turn case into a conversation Label case / lay out structure (MECE) State hypothesis -> write letter H in the first page of notes
Pricing Investigate Product
V competitions? Substitutions / alternatives ? product in growth cycle? supply/demand?
Price based pricing Questions
What are people willing to pay for this product? If they are not willing to pay more than it costs, not worth making Profit margins vary by industries (groceries v drugs) What is the product worth to the buyer?
Entering a new market Does entering make sense?
Who are our competitors, what market share? How are our products different? What are our prices Substitutions? Barriers to entry? Barriers to exit? Risks?
Entering a new market
Why does the company want to enter this market? State of current / future market Does entry make good business sense? Entry strategies
Google and china
ceased most operations in 2010 about disagreements with gov about censorship; want to tap into adv revenues in emerging markets india becoming new battle ground for US tech
Advertising Landscapes
advertisers go through Agencies/ ad servers omnicom, WPP, publicis, IPG, Havas, Aegis marketing Partnerships (ken shoo, naaigans) Resellers go through media buying platforms -> demand side platform (way to sell things, like ken shoo/nanigans) -> ad networks (google, fb, etc)
The future
are players entering / leaving market? M&As? Barriers to entry / exit? Substitutions / alternatives?
Google station Google Fi Google Wifi
fast wifi for everyone at train stations, happening in NYC as well partnering with large venue, organizations / infrastructures reselling t-mobile / sprint service, allowing you to switch between wifi/two carriers depending on signal strength carrier is essentially invisible, user could be connected with any carrier. also get unused data credit back in dollars (10/gb), no commitments / contracts, secure data through encryption available in 135+ destinations own brand wifi router, smart features like OnHUb, enhanced range, linked network access points
Suppliers
how many? product availability? whats going on in their market? supply chain?
Why Google?
innovative company that is always pushing into new frontiers -> taking gambles that don't work sometimes, but ultimately beget products people didn't even know they needed industry disrupter culture -> everyone is passionate, a vocation mission -> technology as equalizing force, have family get information -> best way to create innovation is through multitude of though organize the world's information, make it universally accessible and useful => how this applies to my experience constant dissatisfaction is the driving force behind everything, great just isn't good enough focus on the user -> want to make an experience for people ,rather than making users a product. not just us users, but people who rely on google products to communicate and live can make money without doing evil, always want to be transparent because thats how real change, innovation occurs constant dissatisfaction is the driving force behind everything, great just isn't good enough shaping the world, how we communicate, think and interact -> constantly thinking of products and services that shape the world
What are you doing here? google
interest in job role at this particular orgnaiation job requirements products/ market dynamics how serious are you about joining organization
Youtube
launching TV service called unplugged to debut in 2017 (fox, CBS, 21st Century Fox, Walt disney), targeting low-cost option customers that cut the cord Famebit, connecting marketers with digital influencers: youtube preferred , bolstering branded content and engage audiences more red: premium subscriotipon service, access to exclusive content, advertising free streaming, offline video playbacks walled garden: media content created by other media companies plays in their fence -> complete control of data about clicks, views, demographers from client perspective, want more transparency youtube go: targeted towards indian users who are watching data costs: works with slowest internet connections, allows users to share videos between devices creators for change --> amplify voices of role models that tackle social issues with channel, working with NGOs to launch programs
Industry Analysis
life cycle stage? industry performance over last 1,2, 5, 10 years? company performance compared to industry major players/market share? industry changes? industry drivers? (brand, profits, size, economics, tech) margins / profitability?
Google products (mobile)
mobile maps for mobile search for mobile
MECE
mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive should not be any overlap in structure revenues v costs external factors v internal factors financial v non financial factors
AdWords
paid search through keywords enables you to create advertisers which will appear on relevant Google search pages and network of partner networks (AOL, Ask.com) based on cookies/keywords predefined by advertisers advertisers pay when users divert their browsing to seek more info 3.5 B search queries every single day PPC (primarily this) CPC CPA CPM Site target advertising for text/banner/ media constitutes 96% of Google's revenues can exclude specific IP addresses main competitors: yahoo search marketing, bing ads costs determined through bidding strategies, no minimum amount an organization needs to spend originally implements ontop of MySQL database 2 networks: search network (encompasses the entirety of Google as the search engine, w/ advertisers bidding on millions of keywords/ phrases) and display network (which offers visual ads like banners) spans 98% of WWB could be used for brand awareness the more relevant the ad is, the better experience the user is likely to have -> rewards reliance / quality above all other factors certain keywords may be more expensive, but cost depends more on quality / relevance (high CTR) PPC ads remain text based -> constrained by this continually implementing new ad formats / features large potential influx, targeting options, different advertising options, targeting those who already have an interest
Gmail
responsive design, emails designed for mobile/desktop will fit both inbox -> app for chrome, iOS, safari, android, firefox converts physical addresses, organize emails, increases productivity helps with workflow, code changes, project management, keeps track of events / automatically updates google calendar events seems like you forgot to attach a file -> using NLP to prevent mistakes security measures to support TLS encryption
Google search
search: built originally off of PageRank, can search in multiple languages. encrypted and expands query analysis 3+ billion search queries per day amp functionality, displaying static content automatically -> reliable performance, instant loading can asks questions in natural language, rather just just input keywords trends are good predictor, could be used as a leading indicator -> frequencies can be openly inquired search engine will be making a new, primary web index dedicated for mobile secondary, less up to date mobile, and a push for web developers to adopt a mobile friendly version of website special features activated by trigger words scores, conversion, weather, calculator, look ups, maps, public data, tracking, google goggles
Competitive Analysis Questions
similar products? product compare to the competition? competitors costs? competitors prices? substitutes available? supply / demand problem? competitive response?
Amazon Product Advertising API / Amazon web services
targets third party site owners, vendors, developers earn money by promoting amazon products, interface with customer shopping carts, sponsored listings provides cloud computing services that make up an on demand computing platform (compute, networking, management, analytics, content delivery)
Google Crisis Response Underwater cables
team within google, make critical info more accessible around natural disasters / crises -> locate missing persons, message board, real-time updates, show evacuation routes, visualize response efforts, donate money -> created crisis hu; refugees need translation help for basic needs/ informed investing with FB to lay ultrafast internet cable between LA and HK, service data centers better pushing aside telephone companies
Why tech?
technology shifts the world, how people live Rapidly restructuring how we live our lives, communicate, our social structures Drives industries, finding solutions for problems don't even think need fixing Make real social/industrial value Nobody will know what technology will look like in 20 years, same type of curiousness that led the explorers to the new world Work and learn from very intelligent / articulate people solve problems how does google do that? next billion users program ***project ballon **android software is cheaper *people who don't usually have a voice *next billion users
Google Doodles
temporary alteration of homepage, intended to celebrate events, holidays achievements, people violate long accepted tenet of brand management that a logo should be respected / correctly/ consistently used at all time Rather than reduce brand equity, constant engagement can be country specific, there can be regular themes criticism: not honoring d-day, memorial day, rosh hashanah, not enough women/people of other ethnicities doodle for google
Googles Mission
to organize the world's information, make it universally accessible and useful
Google chrome
web browser, open source (adobe flash player will be blocked in the future), has 62% worldwide usage share of web browsers as browser 50% market share across all platforms combined; intertwined in Chrome OS Has settings synchronization, browser security through safe browsing API Tab processes cannot interact with critical memory functions Malware blocking Incognito mode Do not Track (DNT) Extensions, need to give permission Customize them with themes Taking market share from IE new feature: allows users to download pages for offline viewing, useful for low data consumers -> new users are coming from via low cost smartphones, targeting potential new markets, saving data suggestions for websites uses less battery for websites people visit the most, seamless payments google cast is now fully integrated with Cast, share with others 1 billion users on mobile,
Why would you choose Google over Facebook?
working on the hardest problems, polished products the value of technology and its impact big company -> able to place big bets and try ambitious world changing things -> changing face of technology reach -> search and google have seeped into every part of life, changing how we think of things with projects like loon or calico or verily, positioning self to be at frontier and be in every part of life
