Google Phone Screen || L4 || 14 Mar 2025
Summary
I experienced a Google phone screen where I tackled a dynamic programming problem focused on finding the maximum nesting level for a given set of rectangles. After an initial brute-force attempt, I recognized the DP pattern, successfully implemented a memoized solution, and discussed its complexities.
Full Experience
I recently completed my Google phone screening interview for an L4 position. The interviewer presented me with an intriguing problem: I was given a list of rectangle dimensions, each as a [length, width] pair, and asked to determine the maximum possible nesting level. The concept of a 'level' was explained clearly: inserting a smaller rectangle into a larger one constitutes one level, and placing an even smaller rectangle inside that creates a second level, and so on. My first approach involved an iterative, brute-force solution with a couple of loops. However, during the dry run when the interviewer asked me to walk through an example, I immediately understood that this was a classic dynamic programming problem. I quickly pivoted, revised my code to incorporate memoization, and the interviewer seemed quite satisfied with my explanation of the time and space complexities of the optimized solution.
Interview Questions (1)
Given a list of pairs, where each pair [length, width] represents the dimensions of a rectangle. You need to find the maximum nesting level possible. A level is defined as follows: if you insert a small rectangle inside a large one, that counts as one level. If an even smaller rectangle is inserted inside the first small rectangle, it counts as level 2, and so forth.