After being contacted by the recruiter, my interview was scheduled for about three weeks later. I had two back-to-back interviews, each lasting approximately 50 minutes.

I will not disclose the specific questions, as I respect the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). However, generally, Google interviewers like to start with a question and progressively increase its difficulty as the interview proceeds.

The first interviewer was not as friendly; in fact, he was a little intimidating. The question he asked was one I hadn't even heard of, despite always over-preparing. In the first two minutes, I truly thought I was going to screw it up, as I had no clue where to start. But I started anyway and was surprised by my own performance. They are not looking for people who have crammed code line by line and can just write it perfectly. They are looking for people who can think and implement on the fly.

The second interviewer was pretty cool. When he asked his question, it initially seemed like a piece of cake. However, I was amazed to see how difficult he made it as the interview progressed. At a couple of points, he even told me that he would have been satisfied with just a verbal solution, given the limited time left to write code. But I told him I would write the code instead, which I did. Needless to say, he was very impressed by my enthusiasm throughout the interview.

I was contacted by the recruiter in less than four business days, informing me that I had qualified for the second round. After three weeks, I had a host-matching interview with a team, and I accepted the offer.

The best tip I ever received: Always review your code before you say, 'I am done.' Walk through your code, ensure you have covered all edge cases, and only then state that you are finished.

None were easy, but I won't disclose any because of the NDA.