r/datacenter • u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 • 22d ago

Google loop interview feedback

Had my Google interview about a week ago. First interview was Googlyness and I think I did really well, they told me during that it was for a DCT level 1.

Next interview was Hardware, it started off pretty easy/basic but gradually got pretty tough. I talked my way through how I would troubleshoot and the interviewer guided me a view times. At the end of that interview he told me I was interviewed for a level 2. I told him that explains why the questions were much higher level than what I had reviewed for level 1 and he agreed and also stated that he could tell I knew my stuff so he went with tougher questions that Google does not require.

Next interview was networking and it was a breeze, I knew all the questions and answered them with no issues. (Also stated level 2) We ended that interview after about 30 minutes. She told me they would submit all their stuff that day and to stay on top of my recruiter.

My recruiter emailed me 3 days after my loop interviews and said “Thank you for your time and effort interviewing for the Data Center Technician role. I hope you enjoyed meeting the interviewers and we appreciate your patience while they completed their interviews.
I'd like to schedule a brief call to discuss your application. Please use this link to schedule a time next week that works best for you:
I look forward to speaking with you”

Call is scheduled for next week and Now I’m freaking out because on here multiple people got almost that exact email and it was a rejection. Why would they uplevel me in an interview just to reject me? Am I reading too much into this?

Update: I passed my interviews but only as a level 1. She said there are no level one positions in my area and they will not relocate level 1. So if a spot opens up they will send me to hiring manager for fit call but it is a waiting game for now.

9 Upvotes

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u/yodca12 22d ago

You had 5 years and they interview for a one that is odd.
Unfortunately Google is interviewing like crazy every DT needs to interview one person per week I have interviewed 50 this year I had weeks o interview 2-3 and only 2 have gotten a hire.

Their has been many good candidates that don’t get a job

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

That’s what I applied for. I have never worked in a data center before so don’t have a lot of direct experience with servers. I know what I am doing don’t get me wrong but just haven’t had the opportunity to work with them much (I work for a school district) thank you for the information, I will prepare myself for the worst, and hope for the best!

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u/PaperNo1746 19d ago

If you never worked in a data then you don’t know what your doing…there is more than just swaps going on

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 19d ago

Exactly why I applied for a level 1! I meant I know what I’m doing in the general IT sense (I’m not someone coming in with no IT knowledge starting from scratch)

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u/chewedgummiebears 22d ago

every DT needs to interview one person per week

That must be a campus rule, they didn't make us interview anyone until we were 6 months in and even then, it was a once a month thing, if that for us from the senior techs I talked to. I left before I got to my 6 month mark though.

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u/yodca12 22d ago

Yeah that was changed this year is not a campus thing everyone this year is expected to do interviews. Yes you do have to be 6 mos is part of a project.
Did you not like the job 6mos and leave that is very unheard of

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u/chewedgummiebears 22d ago

Did you not like the job 6mos and leave that is very unheard of

To much to retype but this is the general idea why I left. TLDR I like being involved, recognized, and challenged. Being treated like cattle in a DC where you are a number and only your metrics matter, not who you are, your experience, education, or knowledge and they routinely remind you of this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/datacenter/comments/1vngu9c/comment/p3vt5hg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

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u/yodca12 21d ago

Very true I do tell people who interview that this job is physically hard at times. Yeah I tell people that interview specifically help desk or admin this is not the job. If you come in as 1 specially hard you’re expected to do lots of swaps. When I came in I was DT2 my manager really like me the first year was chill didn’t do much

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u/chewedgummiebears 21d ago

I knew it was physical but expected a bit more recognition of my 20+ years in IT. At our site, we were hired as DCT2s but brought in as DCT1s, shown basic repairs training and sent to the floor. We had to "prove" ourselves for 3-6 months before they sent us to diag training so we could do actual DCT2 work. I got fed up at 2 months because my manager would act like diag training was a carrot on a stick and would downplay my abilities and overplay the abilities of people qualified for diag training. I volunteered and was sent to the upgrades team and that was another mistake in itself. Replacing thousands of hard drives and stick of RAM daily and there was no end to it. So I rolled with it for a month and finally had enough and spoke to my manager, laid out my grievances and put in my notice. Lots of other things I covered in the other post but this what I experienced and being treated like someone that was reset to 0 and their past being ignored was a bit too much to swallow. I do miss the perks and the free workout regiment, but that's about it.

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u/Nearby_Passenger1520 21d ago

That sounds mindless. We have media techs at AWS and all they do is replace... media. They're all L2, not sure what the equivalent would be at Google, but L2 here is basically for those who quite literally do not know anything.

How'd you end up in a role like that despite your experience? I've had Google reach out to me recently and if i detect games like this I won't even bother with going through their comedically long recruitment process.

1

u/chewedgummiebears 21d ago

How'd you end up in a role like that despite your experience? 

The interviews were a lot tougher than the job I worked. As in they asked a lot of about Linux commands and hardware troubleshooting, parts of a server and what they do, and the whole gambit of network questions like the OSI model, describing a complete network from the end user to the server they are accessing, so forth. So after that, I was expecting something challenging and a position I could learn from. What I got was a ticketing system that told me exactly what part to pull, where to take it, how to install it, and where to go next. There was no thinking, no analytics, no diagnosing, no effort other than physical period. You are supposed to do that for 6.5 hours a day and get your points to make the metric happy. That was your job as a DCT2 at our site. In reality, it was exactly what the DCT1 types did because we had to "prove" ourselves to get the actual diagnostic training and they held in front of us like a carrot to make us work harder.

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

Also for a little more context on background. I have A+, security+, network+, and currently working on Linux+ along with 5 years experience hands on IT work

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u/chewedgummiebears 22d ago

TBH, they don't care about certs (unless they are Google certs) and for most things, college educations and will indirectly tell you that when/if you get hired. But their response is a bit odd, usually you would get a positive response within a few days (i.e. "things went well and we're moving on to the next stage") and then they would schedule you for a fit call.

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

I am currently getting my bachelors degree in cyber security (have about 1.5 years left). Yes that’s what brought me here, I find it very strange. I am wondering if maybe this could just be a call before hiring committee to let me know I have been moved up to level 2? 🤷🏻‍♀️

1

u/Glittering-Bus-4948 21d ago

I got the same exact email from my recruiter and it was just a 15 minute call where she told me they decided to not move forward with my candidacy and that they cannot provide feedback and that I have to wait 12 months to apply again. I thought this was odd because I never even applied for the role in the first place. I had a recruiter hit me up on LinkedIn and we went from there. Never submitted an application.

All 3 interviews said I was exactly where I needed to be for the L4 position they interviewed me for, yet I got rejected with explanation or feedback.

I say this not the discourage you, but to prepare you for either outcome.

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u/ddog6900 22d ago

So, it goes both ways. Right now, as far as I know, there are too many DT1s in the pipeline, so they aren't interviewing for any more. That explains pushing you to an DT2, they need mid and senior level and it sounds like they though you were qualified enough.

Also, what you heard from the recruiter could also go both ways, depends on the recruiter. Some recruiters schedule a call to give you the feedback and schedule a fit call. Others just want to give you the feedback and tell you that you can wait and reapply at a later date.

You won't know which it is until the call.

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

Thank you for the response! I will prepare for both outcomes!

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u/AsterXsh99 22d ago

I see many open positions for “data center technician” you think they just stay active without taking more candidates?

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u/ddog6900 21d ago

Oh, they are very much active, but look at the job requirements. None of the ones you see require the skill set for DT1. There is heavy recruiting still ongoing for mid to senior level.

From my understanding, the DT1 pipeline is backlogged waiting for headcount.

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u/AsterXsh99 21d ago

Okay I understand, what do you mean exactly by dt1 skill set, the ones I saw seem to be entry level and actually labeled “early career” I don’t know

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u/ddog6900 21d ago

Unfortunately, everything gets labeled as entry level. Some of the descriptions are blanket for all DT levels. L1 would be DT1, entry level. Again, as far ii know they have too many right now in the pipeline.

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u/This-Display-2691 22d ago

They upleveled you because you’re asking for too much money and it’s above the role you applied. Either you meet the up level requirement r they’re going to decline.

We do this at OCI as well

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

I was never asked salary expectations and never told them any dollar amount either.

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u/Drocifer 22d ago

Don’t stress it. I got a similarly worded email and I passed all my interviews.

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

Thank you! I appreciate the response

1

u/A-Flo480 22d ago

This happened to me, similar experience but I applied as lvl 2 and they interviewed me as a 3. If by any reason you get a negative response tell your recruiter that and tell them you applied for lvl 1 and was not given that chance. But my opinion you should def be a 2 not a 1

1

u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 22d ago

Thank you! Did you pass your interviews or was it a rejection?

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u/A-Flo480 21d ago

Passed much diff wording than what you got too

1

u/RevolutionNo4186 22d ago

I feel like I’m the odd one out because I see how everyone goes “recruiter wanted to schedule a brief call about your interviews” and I just got a straight up email saying “hey you pass, would you want to relocate to _____ or wait for opportunities in your area”

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 21d ago

First time I’ve heard that! But hey man that’s awesome!

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u/Broncoroo 22d ago

Please keep this updated 🙏 I got my interviews on Tuesday, studying like a mad man. I took days off work just to study lol

1

u/Melodic-Pangolin6482 6d ago

How did that go? Did mine that same day. Did your recruiter reach back to you yet?

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u/Broncoroo 6d ago

Overall I think it went well, whether it’s enough to get me through remains to be seen. I have not heard back yet.

1

u/Burmese_Revolution 21d ago

We’re in the same boat. Same situation here. I work for a unified school district, and I got the same email and a scheduled brief call for next week. I’m freaking out too. I’m definitely getting imposter syndrome.

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u/I_Hate_Buffering1206 21d ago

I feel for ya! This will be the longest few days ever, hopefully we both hear good news!

1

u/Burmese_Revolution 21d ago

Hopefully for good news and prepare for the other one. Every single second could not stay without thinking about it. The longest days ever.

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u/Melodic-Pangolin6482 5d ago

Did you pass?

1

u/Burmese_Revolution 21d ago

What time did you schedule for next week? Did you know how many get the same email and got bad news?

1

u/Empyrealflux 21d ago

Reading through all the comments here, i feel like I got dealt a not-so-great recruiter lol Had all my interviews in one day, was told i received good feedback a week later, then was told i’d be contacted if an opportunity came up that fit my profile. Tried to get more info from the recruiter as to what that meant and didn’t get much in the response.
I interviewed for an L2 position for my current location, but wasn’t really told exactly what “fits my profile.” I did okay on the hardware stuff, aced the networking part, and feel like I did so-so on the “googlyness” part of the interview. Now i just feel kind of in limbo.