That depends on the culture of where you&#x27;re applying, and maybe what team is hiring you.<p>When I interviewed at Google after working for a small company for 13 years, it was my first &quot;newfangled&quot; tech interview.  I didn&#x27;t know anybody in the room.   And it was more than a formality.  I&#x27;m a fairly terrible interviewee, and although I got hired (finally, after a very long process), I was hired at least a level below where I should have been.   I blame my fuzzy memories of algorithms I haven&#x27;t had to implement in 20+ years.   I finally got promoted to the correct level nearly 2 years later.<p>Contrast this with Netflix, where I found the opening via my network.   I knew more than half the people who interviewed me, and the interview itself felt like it was basically a formality.    Days later they made an offer that I accepted.