How I Embarrassed Myself in My Interview with Google: The Thrilling Conclusion!

Readers of this blog will know that last Thursday, I completely embarrassed myself in the technical part of a phone interview with Google for a developer advocate position in either Mountain View or New York. The guy who interviewed me — himself a developer advocate —  loved my resume, and I think I did quite well in the non-technical part of the interview. However, when it came down to showing that I could program, I managed to do the complete opposite. In a semi-live coding exercise (“semi-live” meaning typing code into a Google doc rather than into something that could execute the code), I made some total n00b mistakes so bad that I wouldn’t have hired me.

Actual screen shot from my phone, with numbers blanked out.

Strangely enough, I missed a call from the person who arranged the interview a couple days later. She left a message, saying that she wanted to speak to me about the interview.

I tweeted this:

Got voicemail from Google: “Let’s talk about your interview”. This should be entertaining. (See http://t.co/f9pnEsULE3 for context.)

— Joey deVilla (@AccordionGuy) October 23, 2013

I called her, only to land in her voice mail. Over the next few days, the game of phone tag continued until she managed to catch me a few minutes ago at the time of this writing.

“I’m sorry, but it appears that we won’t be going forward with the interview process after all,” she said.

I knew this was coming and had already dealt with the disappointment and the blow to my pride. “I figured as much,” I replied. “It wasn’t my finest moment.”

“However,” she said very quickly, “and this is very unusual: it was suggested that you might make a good PGM. A program manager.”

That caught me by surprise. “Beg pardon?” I asked.

“It’s not as technical a role, and I’m not sure it’s something you’d be into, but it does require technical knowledge, and it also requires a people person. I can see if I can connect you with the right person to talk to, but your best bet is to apply online.”

“I have to consider that,” I said. “Thank you.”

In the end, I’ll gladly take any result that isn’t a complete loss and run with it. I can easily follow up and see what sorts of program manager positions they’re looking to fill, and in the meantime, I’m talking to a number of people about some very interesting opportunities.

And hey, if you think you could use a guy like me, check out my online resume: my LinkedIn profile! LinkedIn may be the only place where I’m one of the “one percent”…