If you want to get hired at Google (Nasdaq GOOG), expect 1) 5 interviews with staff members "each candidate offered a job by Google went through 5.1 in-person interviews on average in June, down from 6.2 at the beginning of the year. (A veteran tech recruiter says five to eight interviews is probably about average for Silicon Valley.) Google is also considering requiring staff members who interview candidates to submit their assessments within a week of the interview; right now, there's no strict deadline." 2) to get interviewed or reviewed by Larry Page In Google's early years, Mr. Brin or co-founder Larry Page interviewed nearly all job candidates before they were officially hired. A former Google executive recounts how, on occasion, Mr. Brin would show up for candidates' job interviews in unconventional dress, from roller blades to a cow costume complete with rubber udders around Halloween. Even today, at least one of the co-founders reviews every job offer recommended by an internal hiring committee on a weekly basis, sometimes pushing back with questions about an individual's qualifications. 3) to have good college grades In Google's early years, Mr. Brin or co-founder Larry Page interviewed nearly all job candidates before they were officially hired. A former Google executive recounts how, on occasion, Mr. Brin would show up for candidates' job interviews in unconventional dress, from roller blades to a cow costume complete with rubber udders around Halloween. Even today, at least one of the co-founders reviews every job offer recommended by an internal hiring committee on a weekly basis, sometimes pushing back with questions about an individual's qualifications. 4) to wait indefinitely for a decision Recent candidates say the process can still drag on. "The process from a candidate's perspective is glacial," says one who was interviewed for a senior nonengineering position this year. After each of two in-person interviews, the candidate went more than a month without hearing from Google and finally accepted a job offer from another company. 5) to be promoted 4, 5, or 6 times (this means you're probably overqualified when you start out) In July, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told analysts the company was "able to now in fact increase the standards by which we select and hire new people." While Mr. Bock says it's hard to say specifically how Google has raised the bar, he adds that his own team is looking for people for human-resources jobs who "can be promoted four, five, six times" and that other departments also hire people who are overqualified for the specific position they're recruited for. Mr. Bock says that the company's brisk growth means that the scope of any position generally expands rapidly.