Google | L4 | Reject

My interview process for the L4 role at Google in India took place in August 2025. It started with a screening round, followed by several onsite rounds, including coding, system design, and a 'Googlyness' interview.

Screening Round

In the screening round, I was presented with two coding problems:

1. The first problem was Remove All Adjacent Duplicates In String. I implemented a single-pass solution using a vector, which seemed to work well, and I successfully dry ran my approach.
2. The second problem was Russian Doll Envelopes. I solved this using the Longest Increasing Subsequence (LIS) algorithm combined with a binary search approach, and also performed a dry run.

Based on the feedback I received, my performance in this round was perceived as 'Strong Hire' (SH).

Onsite Rounds

Round 1: Coding

The first onsite round was a coding challenge. The interviewer presented a problem that seemed to be a variant of a Google L3 level question. I struggled with this one, and the feedback indicated a 'Strong Hire' (SH) decision for this round, which I found surprising given my performance.

Round 2: Coding

This round also involved two coding problems:

1. The first was an ad-hoc probability question, which unfortunately I don't recall the specifics of. It was conceptually similar to Maximum Students Taking Exam but was an easier variant. I managed to solve it and completed a dry run successfully.
2. The second problem was Path With Maximum Probability, or something very similar. I wasn't able to devise an optimal solution or perform a complete dry run. I also didn't take the hints provided by the interviewer, which likely contributed to my 'Not Hire' (NH) feedback for this round.

Round 3: System Design

This round started quite unusually. The interviewer presented a rather abstract problem related to a rhyming scheme, which was very unclear to interpret. After a brief, somewhat circular discussion where I tried to clarify the problem, the interviewer decided to switch gears after only about seven minutes, stating that candidates often find that problem difficult. We then moved onto a standard system design problem, for which I felt my explanation and approach were quite good. Despite not solving the initial coding problem, the feedback for the design part was positive, although the overall round was marked as 'Not Hire' (NH).

Round 4: Googlyness

The final round was a 'Googlyness' interview. I felt this went reasonably well, and the feedback was either 'Hire' (H) or 'Strong Hire' (SH), though at that point, it probably didn't significantly impact the overall outcome.

Ultimately, I received a reject for the L4 position.