[busterarm]

A buddy of mine interviewed for a fairly senior role at Google (SVP equivalent) and he had about 6 or 7 in-person interviews within a week or two before they went radio-silent. 6 months later they contacted him and asked him to come in for another round of interviews -- at which point he told them he was going to pass.

Edit: This was a half-decade or more ago.

[honkhonkpants]

The idea that randos are just interviewing to be SVPs at Google doesn't seem particularly likely to me.

[Rotten194]

Why do you think OP's friend is a "rando"?

[honkhonkpants]

Anybody who claims to be going for an executive position through front-door recruiting is a rando. Look at the SVPs at Google and look at how they got that job. Either they have been at Google since the dawn of man, or they came in through major acquisitions, or they were personally recruited by Larry Page.

[VLM]

I'm not sure if this is insightful, sarcastic, crazy, or most likely a mixture, but I have occasionally thought that the mighty GOOG is trolling us with their traditional hiring process and if you actually want to work there its infinitely easier to found or join a startup they'd find tasty and get yourself bought. Which is an interesting way to finance and report hiring bonuses, and the ultimate form of portfolio building as an interview technique.

Personally I am not willing to jump the hoops to get in conventionally and I don't actually want to work there, I know I can't tolerate what I'd have to do to get hired there, but I am pretty sure I could stomach what I'd have to do to get acquired, if I made it my full time goal.

This also fits into the financial offer. I don't live in SV and some years ago a Google recruiter tracked me down and unfortunately the general terms of the job position meant a staggering hit to the standard of living of my entire family.... I just can't abuse my wife and kids like they wanted me to. What they proposed was pretty brutal compared to our current standard of living and budget. However... if they bought my startup, and I dumped the money into Mountain View real estate, essentially giving me a free house, well, that's different... with no multimillion dollar mortgage I could afford to work there for the original offer...

Its an interesting solution to hiring when you're located in housing bubble central.

[busterarm]

He didn't go through front-door recruiting. They sought him out. He's had similar roles at major banks.

...and he still had to go through that process. Do 'mere mortals' have to do 5+ in-person interviews?

[ones_and_zeros]

I think their point was that for SVP type positions, especially at Google, if they want you you don't go through multiday interviews. They make a pitch and give you an offer. But even then that is unlikely.

I think what might be happening is some of the titles don't match between banks and tech. At a bank there are 1000s of "VPs" and so your friend may be at that level but really in Google and most tech companies that could be anything from a Senior Engineer/Team Lead/Director level. In tech, SVP is way way up there. An example is Marissa Mayer who only attained VP and never SVP before moving on to Yahoo.

[PaulHoule]

I've encountered so many VP's from Goldman Sachs and similar companies that I can't believe the title means very much.

[liquidcool]

To your point, this sounds a little like the recent post from someone who said they were being interviewed (at Google) for a Director role. When he posted the questions, it was revealed they were really interviewing him for an SRE position, and that Google often won't tell you what you're interviewing for.

[0xCMP]

It's done all the time. There are entire recruiting companies which specialize in executive roles from VPs to CEOs. I assume Google's impressive recruiting department can find a qualified SVP to recruit and interview.