Vault Careers shares tips from Google, but these tips apply to almost all interviews…

4 Skills You Need to Get a Job at Google

posted June 13, 2017

Do you break into a cold sweat at the thought of a job interview? You shouldn’t! As Google states on its web site about its interview process, “Why sweat the small stuff when you can change the world, challenge the status quo, and impact millions of peoples’ lives?”

Of course, there’s a difference between not stressing about an interview and not being well prepared. And if you want to succeed in the highly competitive tech industry, you must be very prepared.

As for Google, which many students believe to be the promised land when it comes to tech careers (and which ranks No. 1 in Vault’s Most Prestigious Internships ranking), its interview process often begins with an interview with a “Googler” (as Google employees are called) from a completely different department than the one you want to join. This Googler will try to determine if you would be a good fit overall for the company. Interviewers usually ask a combination of questions about your background and interests, and why you want to work at the company.

Applicants for software engineering or technical jobs should be ready, as part of the next step in the process, to answer high-level questions on data structures, algorithms, and related topics. For some positions, applicants must take tests in addition to going through interviews. Sometimes interviewers will also want to see you in action. Some sales workers report being asked to try to sell a stapler or other handy item to the interviewer. Software engineers will need to demonstrate their mastery of programming.

And for candidates applying for roles in all areas except engineering, Google says it wants to see four basic things from job applicants…

READ MORE to learn about these skills that are applicable in many other organizations even beyond Google