Getting the Interview was relatively simple. I knew a couple of well-connected people there. Went in for an interview with 4 product managers (1 lunch casual interview) and 1 technical lead. All the Product Manager interviews went well. I stumbled on the Technical interview which was no surprise. I don't have a Computer Science background and have never productized anything on the web. My focus is on mobile products. So I knew that it was a long shot. And it wasn't a surprise when the recruiter called a week later and informed me that I wouldn't get an offer because of my lack of software experience and knowledge about the Web in general. For the record, I informed them that I had these blatant holes in their general requirements prior to the interview and they insisted that I go through the typical process. The folks I knew there that referred me wanted me to join Google because of specific experience I had from a previous employer. Little grief over this - I'm not sure it would have been a good fit for me. I asked every interviewer whether Google was a Software company or a Product company. The unanimous response was Software. I'm a Product guy.