Joining Google (or any great tech company)? Don’t believe management’s lies – 3 tips to really succeed.

Posted on Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Piaw Na, an ex-Googler, wrote an excellent post titled Tips for Noogler Engineers.  Piaw correctly points out that what’s great for Google isn’t necessarily what’s great for you or your career.  For instance:
“Interviewing. It absolutely [...]

The Interview Factory: Where Do Questions Come From and Who Picks Them?

Posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010

Every day, I hear one candidate ask another, “Have you interviewed with Company X?  What were you asked?”  This would be a perfectly reasonable question, if it weren’t for the fact that they were doing [...]

Ask Gayle: I left my job because I didn’t like my coworkers. What do I tell future employers?

Posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Hi Gayle,
I have a question. Basically I was moved to a group that was really bad in terms of people, nature of work and my career began to stagnate. I had a vacation planned and [...]

Ask Gayle: I am a low-level programmer. Can I get a job at Google?

Posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2010

Hi Gayle,
I am desperate about getting a software engineer job in only Google. My dilemma is that I have worked only in RTOS (e.g. WinCE) System Software Domain in all of my 6+ yrs of [...]

Ask Gayle: What can a student now do to prep for a programming position?

Posted on Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Hi Gayle,
I am an international student from India and I just finished my BS in EE with minor in computer science and will be moving to CMU for my MS in computer science this coming [...]

Free Drinks, Free Lunch, Free Everything: How much do company perks really matter?

Posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Microsoft was famous for its free all-you-can-drink sodas, until Google stepped up the game and offered free lunches (and dinners and breakfasts too). But, as a reader recently noted, do these perks really matter?
My [...]

Ask Gayle: My interviewer misled me. Can I argue?

Posted on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Dear Gayle,
I interviewed with a major tech company and I was asked a tough question. I started to think of a brute force solution and the interviewer said that brute force is fine.  I [...]

Debunking the Google Interview Myth

Posted on Monday, May 17th, 2010

For those of you who are interviewing with Google (or any major tech company), don’t stress about all of the rumors surrounding their interviews.  Read this for a summary of the what’s true – and [...]

Ask Gayle: What do delays mean?

Posted on Friday, May 14th, 2010

Gayle:
I interviewed with a company two weeks ago, and they haven’t notified me of a decision.  I even tried emailing the recruiter – no response.  Does this mean I’m rejected?
~ Sanjiv, New York
In one word: [...]

Cracking the Coding Interview – Now on Amazon!

Posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Cracking the Coding Interview is now on Amazon!  This book is packed with lots of great content, including:

150 Programming Interview Questions and Solutions
Five Proven Approaches to Solving Tough Algorithm Questions
Ten Mistakes Candidates Make — And [...]