Google Apprenticeship Interview Question
In this post, I will help you to understand how to prepare for your interview and what to expect during your interview.
To get ready for your interview, read through the job descriptions and make sure you have an understanding of what could be expected in the role. Also do some research on the role (Data Analytics / Digital Marketing / Information Technology / Project Management Apprenticeship) you are applying for.
When you meet with your interviewer, they’ll be assessing you based on four attributes using a mix of behavioural and hypothetical questions:
General Cognitive Ability: They ask open-ended questions to learn how you approach and solve problems. And there’s no one right answer—your ability to explain your thought process and how you use data to inform decisions is what’s most important.
Leadership: Be prepared to discuss how you have used your communication and decision-making skills to deploy others. This might be by stepping up to a leadership role at work or with an organization, or by helping a team succeed even when you weren’t officially the leader.
Role-related knowledge: They’re interested in how your individual strengths combine with your experience to drive impact. They don’t just look for how you can contribute today, but how you can grow into different roles—including ones that haven’t even been invented yet.
Googleyness: Share how you work individually and on a team, how you help others, how you navigate ambiguity, and how you push yourself to grow outside of your comfort zone.
What’s a behavioral question?
A behavioral question looks at how you’ve handled a specific challenge in the past to assess if you’ll be a good match for the role. Like :
- Communication
- Decisionmaking
- Initiative
- Organization
- Timemanagement
- Flexibility
- Leadership
- Problemsolving
Behavioral questions usually start with phrases such as “tell me about a time when” or “give me an example of” or “describe a decision you made.” Interviewers are looking for examples of what you have done and how you have done it. They may follow up with more probing questions such as, “what did you do then?” or “what was the result?” Using a behavioral interview technique like the STAR approach can help structure your answers.
Situation
Describe the situation you were in or the task you needed to accomplish.
Task
Explain the goal you were working toward.
Activity
Detail the specific steps you took and the role(s) you played.
Result
Describe your accomplishments and the overall outcome.
Examples of behavioral questions :
- Describe a specific problem you solved for an employer or team. How did you approach the problem? What role did others play? What was the outcome
- Describe two specific goals you set for yourself and how successful you were in meeting them. What factors led to your success?
- Tell me about a time when you failed to meet a deadline. What did you fail to do? What did you learn ?
What’s a hypothetical question?
While behavioral questions assess your past performance, hypothetical (also known as situational) questions evaluate how you would handle a challenge you may not have encountered yet.
Questions often begin with “Imagine that…” and are designed to assess your thought process rather than “right” or “wrong” solutions. They want to know how you would approach a typical problem scenario that is related to the role or that Googlers have faced in the past. A strong answer will illustrate or include:
- An understanding of the problem: Did you display a general understanding of the question asked by outlining what experiences and factors are relevant to solve the problem and what additional work needs to be done?
- Thoughtful problem solving: Are you gathering information in order to address specific factors or pulling from specific experience? Are you thinking about how to gather information or conduct research and how to use that information to solve the problem? Are you getting to the root cause?
- Potential solutions: Does your solution answer the initial question or solve the initial problem? Are you considering and appropriately weighing the pros and cons of your solution?
- Support for your solutions: Are you providing rationale for why a certain solution is best, despite previously stated pros and cons? Did you describe potential success metrics to support your solution?
- Strong communication: Are your responses structured and logical, do you balance brevity and detail?
Examples of hypothetical questions:
- Imagine you are in charge of organizing the grand opening of a new Google office in Bangalore, India. What steps would you take to plan this event?
- Imagine you are working on Gmail and a competitor starts charging a $5 monthly fee for their product. How would you assess this situation, and what recommendation would you make to your team?
