Google

Software Engineer Interview Experience - Mountain View, California

October 1, 2008

Positive ExperienceGot Offer

Process

I had just finished a summer internship and was interviewed for a full-time position.

I had two separate interviews with other engineers. The interviews consisted of programming questions, logic and math puzzles, and a brief discussion of previous experience.

Questions

Imagine dropping a Rubik's Cube into a bucket of paint.

How many of the cubes will get paint on them?

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 748 interview experiences for the Google Software Engineer role in Mountain View, California.

Success Rate

20%

Pass Rate

Google's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Mountain View, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive64%

Neutral23%

Negative14%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Google's Software Engineer interview process in Mountain View, California.

Google Work Experiences

Excellent first company to join after college. It's the best launchpad for a career

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

January 5, 2016

Pros: Excellent first company to join after college. Best launchpad for career.

Cons: Promotions are based on politics. For management & HR: Many TLMs pick favorites and reduce opportunities for others by restricting project allocations. Encourage 6-month transfers to help employees find better and cohesive teams where they will happily remain and let others move. It will also let bad teams / TLs get smaller and atrophy, which is good for Google overall.

Excellent first company to join after college. It's the best launchpad for a career

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

January 5, 2016

Pros: Excellent first company to join after college. Best launchpad for career.

Cons: Promotions are based on politics. For management & HR: Many TLMs pick favorites and reduce opportunities for others by restricting project allocations. Encourage 6-month transfers to help employees find better and cohesive teams where they will happily remain and let others move. It will also let bad teams / TLs get smaller and atrophy, which is good for Google overall.

Amazing Culture, Great Food

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

September 19, 2022

Pros: Amazing work culture and food.

Cons: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Amazing Culture, Great Food

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

September 19, 2022

Pros: Amazing work culture and food.

Cons: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Good work environment, but it got boring

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

August 26, 2022

Pros: Great pay, cool campuses, and cool free food and coffee.

Cons: The open office plan gives me anxiety. It expects a massive amount of self-advocacy for every little thing. My peers' stats and ML backgrounds were lacking, and the work was not very stimulating. While DEI company benefits are quite good, some of the company's public actions caused some dissonance about their values, especially regarding LGBTQ and women's issues.

Good work environment, but it got boring

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

August 26, 2022

Pros: Great pay, cool campuses, and cool free food and coffee.

Cons: The open office plan gives me anxiety. It expects a massive amount of self-advocacy for every little thing. My peers' stats and ML backgrounds were lacking, and the work was not very stimulating. While DEI company benefits are quite good, some of the company's public actions caused some dissonance about their values, especially regarding LGBTQ and women's issues.

Excellent first company to join after college. It's the best launchpad for a career

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

January 5, 2016

Pros: Excellent first company to join after college. Best launchpad for career.

Cons: Promotions are based on politics. For management & HR: Many TLMs pick favorites and reduce opportunities for others by restricting project allocations. Encourage 6-month transfers to help employees find better and cohesive teams where they will happily remain and let others move. It will also let bad teams / TLs get smaller and atrophy, which is good for Google overall.

4.0
Excellent first company to join after college. It's the best launchpad for a career
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
January 5, 2016
Pros: Excellent first company to join after college. Best launchpad for career.
Cons: Promotions are based on politics. For management & HR: Many TLMs pick favorites and reduce opportunities for others by restricting project allocations. Encourage 6-month transfers to help employees find better and cohesive teams where they will happily remain and let others move. It will also let bad teams / TLs get smaller and atrophy, which is good for Google overall.

Amazing Culture, Great Food

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

September 19, 2022

Pros: Amazing work culture and food.

Cons: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

5.0
Amazing Culture, Great Food
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
September 19, 2022
Pros: Amazing work culture and food.
Cons: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Good work environment, but it got boring

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

August 26, 2022

Pros: Great pay, cool campuses, and cool free food and coffee.

Cons: The open office plan gives me anxiety. It expects a massive amount of self-advocacy for every little thing. My peers' stats and ML backgrounds were lacking, and the work was not very stimulating. While DEI company benefits are quite good, some of the company's public actions caused some dissonance about their values, especially regarding LGBTQ and women's issues.

4.0
Good work environment, but it got boring
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
August 26, 2022
Pros: Great pay, cool campuses, and cool free food and coffee.
Cons: The open office plan gives me anxiety. It expects a massive amount of self-advocacy for every little thing. My peers' stats and ML backgrounds were lacking, and the work was not very stimulating. While DEI company benefits are quite good, some of the company's public actions caused some dissonance about their values, especially regarding LGBTQ and women's issues.

Google Interview Questions

Two Sum

Find two numbers in a given array that add up to a specific target value, and return their indices. Essentially, you need to efficiently locate the pair that satisfies the sum requirement.

Palindrome Number

Determine whether an integer is a palindrome. That is, it reads the same forwards and backward.

Bit Manipulation

Add Two Numbers

You are given two linked lists, each representing a non-negative integer. Add the two numbers and return the sum as a linked list.

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