Google interview experience | L4 Software engineer | All rounds

I recently got the chance to interview with Google. I applied directly on the career portal, and a recruiter reached out to me, giving me 1 month to prepare.

Round 1: Screening Round 1

It started with a brief introduction, and then the panelist jumped to the question. I had already added a post for the same (linking to another LeetCode post). There was a slight miscommunication where the interviewer didn't explicitly ask for something, but it was expected from my end to further optimize the solution. The recruiter mentioned that the feedback was not negative, so I could have another round or reapply after the cooling period. I asked for another round. Feedback: Neither positive nor negative.

Round 2: Screening Round 2

This round focused on finding a vertical line to divide rectangles into equal areas. It was an open-ended question, and I was expected to clarify details by asking questions. It was challenging, but I eventually solved it using Binary Search, and the interviewer was happy. A few days later, the recruiter confirmed I had cleared the screening rounds and would proceed to onsite rounds. Feedback: Positive.

The onsite rounds were scheduled after 2 weeks.

Round 3: Onsite Round 1

After an introduction, the interviewer presented a problem: finding all subarrays forming a 'good' arithmetic sequence (common difference -1 or 1). I started with a brute-force solution, then optimized it to an O(n) solution, which satisfied the interviewer. I was also asked to write unit test use cases for the code. Feedback: Positive.

Round 4: Onsite Round 2

This round involved designing a job scheduler for N machines using given blocking APIs: countWords() and isTaskCompleted(). The goal was to optimize job completion time and minimize API calls. I used a round-robin mechanism with a queue to track available machines and a method to check job completion. The interviewer asked follow-up questions and tweaked the problem to assess my adaptability. Feedback: Positive.

Round 5: Onsite Round 3

I was asked to design a music playlist shuffler that returns a random song, ensuring no song is returned again for the next K plays. Initially, I proposed an O(n) time and O(n) space solution using a Queue. The interviewer pushed for optimization, and I came up with an O(1) time and O(K) space solution. I was also asked to write unit test cases. Feedback: Positive.

Round 6: Googlyness

This was a short behavioral round. I discussed my current role and answered team-based questions such as how I would build a team, manage an underperforming team, and resolve conflicts. Feedback: Positive (implied by proceeding).

After 1 week, the recruiter informed me that all feedback was in, and they wanted to proceed with team matching. This began the team matching phase.

Round 7: Team Matching

This started with a self-introduction, current role, responsibilities, and reasons for seeking a change. Then, a High-Level Design (HLD) problem was asked, focusing on my approach rather than detailed implementation. There were minor hiccups, but overall, the discussion went well. The manager briefed me on the team. Feedback: The manager was okay to proceed.

At this point, things took an unexpected turn. The recruiter called, stating an eligibility issue related to my years of experience. I had 2 years and 10 months, while the new strict criteria required 3 years. My expectations were shattered. I was asked if I would wait 2 months, during which the application would resume. I agreed.

After about 1.5 months, I received a call for another round.

Round 8: Extended Round

The interviewer started with an intro and then presented a design question, emphasizing the approach over implementation. I had to design a library to evaluate a boolean expression and determine if it could ever be TRUE. Expectations included user interaction (for non-coders), input format, library invocation, data structures (with complexity considerations), class/API declarations, the final evaluation logic (assuming helper APIs), and the algorithm's space/time complexity. I outlined the classes, APIs, and evaluation logic, proposing a 2^N approach for N variables. The discussion went well, and the interviewer seemed happy.

Subsequently, the process stalled again, and I was asked to wait. After another month, the recruiter called with the final verdict: the feedback on the Extended round didn't go well, and they couldn't proceed. The entire process took around 6 months. I had kept my focus solely on Google, which I now realize was a mistake. Despite my determination and confidence after the rounds, the outcome was not in my favor. I am now trying to move past this and hope to land a good offer soon. I initially planned to write this post only if I got selected, but it's important to share the journey; I won't give up and will come back stronger.