I always wonder how Google manages to hire. I have a good friend there, but it was only because another role fell through that she ended up at Google; had the other company's HR department decided it was okay for a husband and wife to be working in the same department (different teams), she'd have gone there first.

For myself, Google's recruitment process was pretty laughable. I applied once in college for an internship, which was never responded to (fair enough), then had a recruiter reference it three years later when I was actually looking for another job, which I followed up on, but then had them drop off the radar (as seems pretty common) for a month, as I took a job elsewhere, and then later recruiters doing the same thing, referencing the time I applied 5-7 years earlier as 'expressing interest'. No, not interested.

It's just as well their interviews are geared for college students, because that seems to be the only type who would actually tolerate their hiring process (well, that and the type who doesn't actually need an interview, the famous 'oh, you have literally written the book on X, come work on X here' sort)