I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jun 2013
Interview
Sent in my resume through a friend and was contacted by a recruiter by email a couple of days later. I never spoke with the initial recruiter. She set up a phone screen with a product manager for 10 days in the future. The first phone screen was rescheduled the day before it was scheduled to happen because the interviewer had an emergency, and was moved to a later date with a different interviewer the same week.
The phone screen consisted of two major questions: one involving estimation (total storage required for all Gmail accounts) and customer retention (steps you would take to retain customers for a SaaS product).
A week later the recruiter invited me to their office for a full-day onsite interview, which was scheduled for 2 weeks in the future.
I spoke with 5 people on the day: 3 product managers, 1 product manager turned engineer (for the technical interview), and the Director of Product Management. Lots of estimation and design questions for the most part. The director was the only one who asked about my background. All interviewers were polite and seemed to answer my questions honestly. None of the questions I was asked were particularly difficult.
A week later the recruiter called me to say that they didn't think my background was strong enough.
You would have to do a hiring assessment first, then a recruiter screening follows. First round interview with the hiring manager. Majorly product sense and product improvement. The questions were not direct though.
Overall a lot of steps to the interview process. Talked to different people and had opportunities to ask questions. Many different stages which made it a lengthy process overall. Wasn't too bad.
resume screening, a recruiter call, and technical or role-specific interviews. Candidates complete coding, system design, or behavioral rounds. Onsite or virtual panels assess problem-solving, communication, and leadership. Feedback goes to a hiring committee, followed by team matching and final offer discussions.