I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jun 2010
Interview
The initial interview consisted of a phone interview from the company recruiter. He asked basic questions off my resume which were not too difficult to answer. He said that if I made it to the next step that I would be expected to come in and have a one to one interview. I was warned that the interview would consist of (besides the normal questions on my past experience) brain teaser questions to test my thinking. I did get invited to the next interview in person and the interviewer was very nice, seemed to be extremely well versed on my background and asked an estimation question such as how many golf balls would fit into a bus sort of thing. My impression of the googleplex is that everyone is super intelligent, well education and searching for people who fit in.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
At any given moment, how many planes are in the air?
I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at Google (New York, NY) in Aug 2009
Interview
Google has very interesting opportunities, and detailed their position profiles well so you have a clear idea when you interview what the gig is about. However, they dont share any feedback ever, and the process lasted six months with 12 interviews in total. Their interview questions were thoughtful and meaty, and you have to know your stuff when you are interviewing with them. However, they dont build on the answers, and one has the impression they have a drop down menu memeorized in their heads of the questions to ask, and they write the answers down, but they are not necessarily considering the answer. Their office space in NY and CA is very cool, and they try hard to keep it that way. But while many believe Google is the holy grail, Google still needs to protect their brand, give feedback to candidates and significantly shorten the process.