Updated by Google candidates
Product Strategy & Operations, Gemini Interview Experience
I probably did at least 10 solid 12 hour days of prep and kind of overprepped into oblivion, and then the interviews were so loosey goosey I barely got to show my thinking before they hired someone internal.
Interview process
I was honestly surprised to even get the Google and DeepMind interview, and the process ended up being much lighter and more ambiguous than I expected. After a very standard recruiter screen, I had two short calls: one with the hiring manager that was mostly background, interest in AI, and a light product or growth prompt, and one with a partner on a sister team that mixed behaviorals with a very open-ended "Gemini usage is down" case. I had prepped like crazy for a much tougher consulting-style case and a deeper data exercise, so I left feeling very neutral, not like I crushed it and not like I bombed. One frustrating part was that there was basically no time to ask my own questions, so I learned almost nothing from the interviewers about the real mandate of the role. In the end they told me I was very qualified and they enjoyed the conversations, but I got rejected before moving to the assignment round.
- Recruiter screen
- Phone interview
- Take-home project
Interview tips
I would honestly still over-prepare if I were to do this loop again so that I felt prepared going in. I covered the company, the product, the people, and the basic case and behavioral frameworks, and I do not regret that even though the actual interviews were lighter than I expected. The main thing I would tell a friend is to know your stuff, show fluency with product and data, and be ready for a pretty open-ended conversation rather than some perfect formal case. Also, after the interview, write down what you said and what you would change next time so it is out of your head and you can move on with your life.
Company culture
It felt like they were moving fast and not really optimizing for candidate clarity. I got almost no time to ask questions, the interviews were very short, and even the round that was framed as strategy and data heavy was much looser than described. They clearly cared about whether I could talk product, strategy, and data with fluency, but they were not running some super polished or rigorous case process. In hindsight, the fact that they ultimately went with someone internal explains a lot about why the process felt so neutral and low-signal.
Questions asked
Overview
It was a totally standard recruiter screen. I mostly got logistics, a little color on the role, and the rough shape of the process, and I honestly would not even count it as a real interview round.
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