I was contacted via employee referral for a Recruiting Coordinator role. I spoke with one person on the phone, then came in for a 2 hr onsite with the manager and a person on the team. They asked pretty standard personality and behavioral based questions. Here is why it stood out as a less than positive experience.
-10 minutes into the interview with the manager she asks my least favorite part of the job. Based on my response, which was not in the least bit a negative answer, she tells me, "I don't think you are going to be a fit for this position." Well, good to know, and this is why I withdrew my candidacy afterword, but it is a rather poor interview tactic to tell someone flat out that they won't like it before even asking other questions. Did she want me to get up and leave right there?
-My interview with the second person went very well but when I asked about the types of side projects and career development opportunities available he explained, "because I am a full time employee, I do side projects about 50% of the time, but as a contractor, you really only just schedule."
-Obviously the position wasn't going to be a fit, so shortly after the interviews, when invited back, I withdrew my candidacy. Best part of it all, I got an email 2 weeks later rejecting me for the role, even after I withdrew. Get it together Google!
Overall, I know Google is a great place to work but I was incredibly dissatisfied with the effort they put into treating their candidates with respect, contract or not.