Glean | New Grad Interview Full Loop Experience
Summary
I recently completed a full interview loop for a new grad role at Glean, which included multiple technical screens, a math proof, a low-level design assignment, and a final LeetCode round. Unfortunately, I received a rejection due to not fully meeting expectations on the design assignment.
Full Experience
Hi Leetcode Community,
I wanted to share my interview experience with Glean for their new grad role. I was initially contacted by a recruiter after applying on their career site.
Round 1
My first round was a 1-hour technical screen with an engineer. It focused on LeetCode questions. I was asked: "Given m arrays of size n, how do you find the kth largest element?"
Round 2
I received positive feedback for the first round about two days after my interview. The next step was a 30-minute recruiter call, which covered typical HR questions like "why Glean?" and "why this specific role?".
Round 3
I heard back the very next day that I advanced to the next technical round. This was another 1-hour interview. The first 20 minutes were dedicated to a resume deep dive and discussing projects I had worked on. The remaining time was for a math proof question. I don't recall the exact wording, but I essentially had to prove why the median is the optimal value for balancing an array. This round involved no coding, just writing a proof.
Round 4 (Final Round)
It took about two weeks to get feedback that I made it to the final round. This round consisted of two back-to-back interviews.
Assignment Round
One part was a two-hour assignment round, which was a 5-part low-level design problem. The task was to code a table module from scratch. I started with the basics of adding rows and columns, then moved on to implementing joins. I ran out of time after completing the joins and thus wasn't able to attempt the subsequent parts.
LeetCode Round
The other part was a one-hour LeetCode round, featuring one medium and one hard problem. The first question was: "You're given a sorted array with one element that is out of place. Write a function that sorts the array." The second question was LeetCode 317.
Result
I received a rejection email the day after Round 4. I believe the expectation for the assignment round was to complete at least 4 out of 5 parts, as the feedback indicated I did not meet the expectations for that specific round.
Overall, it was a great experience. The engineers and recruiters were all friendly and responded in a timely manner. Glean is a super cool company, and I might consider applying there again in the future.
Interview Questions (5)
Given m arrays of size n, how do you find the kth largest element?
Prove why the median is the best value for balancing an array. This was a math proof question, with no coding involved.
A 5-part low-level design problem to code up a table module from scratch. I started with the basics of adding rows and columns, then moved on to joins.
You're given a sorted array with one element that is out of place. Write a function that sorts the array.
Preparation Tips
My preparation primarily involved consistent LeetCode practice for the algorithm-focused rounds. For the math proof and low-level design components, I leveraged my general computer science knowledge and experience gained from personal projects.