I will start by saying that Google's interview process was excellent, particularly with HR and scheduling. The recruiters were extremely professional and friendly.

I began with an online test featuring two questions of average difficulty. I did not encounter any tricky questions, such as recursion or graphs. After passing this test, about a week later, I was contacted to schedule a phone interview. However, a week before the scheduled phone interview, I was informed that there were no longer regular software engineer roles available and that I would have to choose between SETI or Site Reliability. I opted for SETI and was immediately scheduled for an onsite interview. I'm unsure why the phone interview was skipped, but it might have been due to my strong performance on the online test, the quality of my code, or my disclosure of interviewing with another company.

I had two weeks for intensive preparation. I highly recommend LeetCode. Consider purchasing the premium membership and practicing their most popular problems. At the very least, complete the Google Interview Preparation module in the explore tab. Focus on your weaknesses; in my case, these were dynamic programming, recursion, and graphs. Feel free to memorize concepts, but ensure you understand the problem-solving process for different types of questions. After LeetCode, review "Cracking the Coding Interview." Practice solving problems aloud, write pseudocode, and then review the solutions.

A pro tip: minimize stress. Don't pressure yourself excessively. The Google interview process involves numerous factors, and you might not receive an offer even if you excel in all questions. Your chances are already slim, so don't worsen them with stress. Go in, do your best, and enjoy the experience.

In my situation, all transportation was arranged. On the interview day, you check in at the main desk and are greeted by your first interviewer. Each interviewer, including the one for lunch, has your schedule.

Regarding interview questions, they are all based on LeetCode problems, sometimes with minor variations. Be prepared for a wide range of questions, as you could encounter anything from four string manipulation problems to four graph problems. Ensure you have a solid grasp of all topics, including DP, recursion, tree and graph traversal (both iterative and recursive implementations), and various data structures.

Note that one of the interviews will be with a SETI specialist, and this interview will include a focus on code testing. Make sure to refresh your knowledge on proper code testing methodologies.

At the end of the day, your final interviewer escorts you out. This was my experience, at least.

After the interview, each interviewer's feedback (which is comprehensive and detailed) is sent to your recruiter. The recruiter then compiles a packet and forwards it to the hiring committee. The committee convenes every one to two weeks. Before their meeting, committee members review the packets from the preceding weeks and assign a grade out of four. During the meeting, candidate scores are processed and presented to the entire committee. Data statistics, such as averages and medians, may be used for analysis. Typically, candidates below a certain score are not hired, while those with high scores have a strong likelihood of receiving an offer. Candidates in the middle range are most often not hired, though some may be invited for additional interviews in rare instances. (This information is based on my pre-interview research).

Overall, it was a smooth process. Please do not stress about it. Reaching the onsite interviews is a significant accomplishment. Google's process gave me the confidence to excel in another interview scheduled a week later, for which I ultimately received an offer. Best of luck!

LeetCode vs. Cracking the Coding Interview (CtCI).

Focus on LeetCode to iron out your weaknesses and CtCI to learn the best techniques for specific problems.