Google

Software Engineer (Internship) Interview Experience - Mountain View, California

October 1, 2018

Positive ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I was sent an online coding test with a practice problem and a personality quiz.

The person managing the applicants was nice enough to contact me to add some information.

It is not a really difficult interview. Doing some online coding problems and learning to code on the whiteboard will help a lot.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 39 interview experiences for the Google Software Engineer (Internship) role in Mountain View, California.

Success Rate

21%

Pass Rate

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

Experience Rating

Positive64%

Neutral31%

Negative5%

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

Google Work Experiences

Lack of coherent vision from leadership

Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

Pros: - Perks are still great, despite being reduced year by year. - WLB is relatively good compared to other FAANG.

Cons: - Extremely political process to do anything, including promo. - A lot of uninspiring leadership hires bring the culture from their old company here. - This is no longer the old Google you know.

Lack of coherent vision from leadership

Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

Pros: - Perks are still great, despite being reduced year by year. - WLB is relatively good compared to other FAANG.

Cons: - Extremely political process to do anything, including promo. - A lot of uninspiring leadership hires bring the culture from their old company here. - This is no longer the old Google you know.

A good place to start a career

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

Pros: Work is hard, and there's lots of it, so it's not what I'd call a "cushy" job. But if you're not lazy and have what it takes to pass the legendary interviews, you will likely do well. It still feels like the company is run by engineers, even though that's not really the case anymore. And yeah, there's free food (3 times a day), soda, a gym membership, and so on and so forth.

Cons: Management quality is clearly below what's required for a company of this size. It's incredibly difficult for someone senior to get up to speed to a degree where they'd feel comfortable.

A good place to start a career

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

Pros: Work is hard, and there's lots of it, so it's not what I'd call a "cushy" job. But if you're not lazy and have what it takes to pass the legendary interviews, you will likely do well. It still feels like the company is run by engineers, even though that's not really the case anymore. And yeah, there's free food (3 times a day), soda, a gym membership, and so on and so forth.

Cons: Management quality is clearly below what's required for a company of this size. It's incredibly difficult for someone senior to get up to speed to a degree where they'd feel comfortable.

Great Perks, Slow Growth

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

November 7, 2021

Pros: Great company, amazing perks, competitive salary.

Cons: Slow growth prospects for career

Great Perks, Slow Growth

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

November 7, 2021

Pros: Great company, amazing perks, competitive salary.

Cons: Slow growth prospects for career

Lack of coherent vision from leadership

Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

Pros: - Perks are still great, despite being reduced year by year. - WLB is relatively good compared to other FAANG.

Cons: - Extremely political process to do anything, including promo. - A lot of uninspiring leadership hires bring the culture from their old company here. - This is no longer the old Google you know.

3.0
Lack of coherent vision from leadership
Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
July 16, 2025
Pros: - Perks are still great, despite being reduced year by year. - WLB is relatively good compared to other FAANG.
Cons: - Extremely political process to do anything, including promo. - A lot of uninspiring leadership hires bring the culture from their old company here. - This is no longer the old Google you know.

A good place to start a career

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

Pros: Work is hard, and there's lots of it, so it's not what I'd call a "cushy" job. But if you're not lazy and have what it takes to pass the legendary interviews, you will likely do well. It still feels like the company is run by engineers, even though that's not really the case anymore. And yeah, there's free food (3 times a day), soda, a gym membership, and so on and so forth.

Cons: Management quality is clearly below what's required for a company of this size. It's incredibly difficult for someone senior to get up to speed to a degree where they'd feel comfortable.

4.0
A good place to start a career
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
March 6, 2013
Pros: Work is hard, and there's lots of it, so it's not what I'd call a "cushy" job. But if you're not lazy and have what it takes to pass the legendary interviews, you will likely do well. It still feels like the company is run by engineers, even though that's not really the case anymore. And yeah, there's free food (3 times a day), soda, a gym membership, and so on and so forth.
Cons: Management quality is clearly below what's required for a company of this size. It's incredibly difficult for someone senior to get up to speed to a degree where they'd feel comfortable.

Great Perks, Slow Growth

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mountain View, California, United States

November 7, 2021

Pros: Great company, amazing perks, competitive salary.

Cons: Slow growth prospects for career

5.0
Great Perks, Slow Growth
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mountain View, California, United States
November 7, 2021
Pros: Great company, amazing perks, competitive salary.
Cons: Slow growth prospects for career

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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