The recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn and scheduled a TPS round. I was given a medium-difficulty question that tested my knowledge of data structures and linked it with an algorithm. After solving this with an optimal solution, my interviewer was very impressed, and my recruiter contacted me the very next day before the start of work. LOL.

The next stage was a virtual onsite with one behavioral round and three technical rounds. The behavioral ('Googlyness') round went very well. Although at first, the interviewer seemed standoffish, he later warmed up, and it soon became a conversation. He asked me about 10 questions. The interviewer was impressed, and the interview lasted longer than the allotted time; we even started gisting.

The next was technical coding, which was by far my best. I completed this in the allotted time with the optimal solution and communicated my thought process, while carrying the interviewer along. I even politely corrected my interviewer when I spotted a mistake in his question. He was astonished by my competence and even verbally told me I would excel in the rest. Funny thing, this was actually the hardest round of all, but the problem area was my strongest.

I became extremely confident. The dreaded Google technical interview seemed like a stroll in the park for me. All the praises had definitely gotten into my head.

Now, what's the saying? Pride comes before the...?

Here is where everything went downhill. I struggled with the penultimate interview. I was tested on my weakest data structure and needed the interviewer's help along the way to solve it. When asked a follow-up question, I couldn't even understand, let alone solve it. The interviewer was senior, and I am pretty sure his interview carried the most weight. I still had a good conversation afterward.

The final interview went okay-ish. I was given a medium-difficulty question. Once I asked some clarifying questions, I was able to provide a brute-force solution within minutes, which the interviewer liked.

When asked a follow-up on how I would improve this, I struggled and showed zero-to-no problem-solving or analytical skills. I again needed the interviewer's help to solve it. I still had a good conversation with him. He told me he had failed the Google interview the first time he took it too. I knew I'd flopped when he told me this, but I told him I came to have fun and learn.

My recruiter contacted me the next day, informing me that I am no longer under consideration for the role.

Congrats, you reached the end. Thanks for reading, so here's some advice:

Don't stress too much, my G. These interviews are kinda based on luck. If I had not been tested on my weakest data structure, this would have been a completely different story. Everything happens for a reason, and keep improving on your weaknesses.

Keep grinding LeetCode, but remember to appreciate how far you've come in your journey, and yeah, always remain humble.

I signed an NDA. To build my algorithmic thinking, I'm doing about 300 medium LeetCode questions, and that will be fine. I'm also practicing a ton of behavioral questions related to how I operate in a team.