My Google Interview Experience: A Journey of Learning & Growth

I am happy to share my interview experience with Google—a journey filled with challenges, learning, and personal growth.

The Process

I applied for the role without a referral and was excited to receive an email from a recruiter informing me that I was shortlisted.

The Interview Rounds

Round 1 (Screening: 11/11/24) I was given a problem that I initially solved using recursion. I coded it and analyzed the time complexity. I felt the interviewer was satisfied with my solution. I received a call saying I had advanced to the next round.

Round 2 (DSA + Googlyness: 15/11/24) The first problem involved prefix and suffix sums. After solving it, I was given another problem where I discussed multiple approaches and ended up solving it using Sliding Window, optimized it, and successfully coded the solution. During the Googlyness, the interviewer asked about the project I mentioned in my resume.

Round 3 (DSA + Googlyness: 5/12/24) After multiple reschedules, this round finally took place. I was given three sorted arrays; initially, I gave a two-pointer approach and a Sliding Window solution, and finally used binary search to provide the optimized solution. Next, I had a 15-minute "Googlyness" segment. Later, after the interview ended, I felt I missed an edge case in my solution.

Round 4 (DSA: 11/12/24) I tackled the given problem using a divide and conquer approach, and the interviewer was quite satisfied with my solution. I was confident about my performance.

Round 5 (Googlyness & Leadership Round: 23/12/24) A 15-20 minute discussion focused on evaluating how well I align with Google's work culture and values.

Unexpected Additional Round

After a few months, I received a call from HR informing me that an additional technical round was needed.

Round 6 (2D Cartesian Plane – DSA & Implementation: 21/03/25) This problem involved 2D geometry, and I managed to solve it. However, I took 10 extra minutes to complete the coding.

The Outcome

A few hours later, I got a call from HR informing me that I was not selected. While it was disappointing, I am grateful for the opportunity to go through this process, learn, and grow as a candidate.

Though I did not receive the offer, this experience has given me valuable insights into high-level technical interviews.

In order to prepare for my interview, I recall skipping my college fest and one of my primary family gatherings. Due to scheduling conflicts and the planning process, I was unable to attend a few other companies.

I would love to help others preparing for similar interviews—feel free to ask me any questions about my experience.

Data structures and algorithms questions in almost every interview.