Google SWE Internship Interview Experience
Summary
I interviewed for a Google SWE Internship, successfully navigating the initial HR chat and a technical round involving string manipulation. However, I was ultimately rejected after struggling with a complex variation of the 'Median of a Data Stream' problem during the second technical round.
Full Experience
Recently, i got the chance to interview at Google for their SWE Internship 2026.
The recruiter had reached out to me through mail saying that they would like to interview me for further processes.
First, i had a small chat with HR, it was a friendly discussion about what language i'm comfortable for the next round and explaining one of my projects. I noted that they wanted to verufy your leetcode account and remarked on the number of questions solved. 400+ seems to be a good number for them.
Technical Round-1: 45 mins, but cut short to around 35-40 mins due to interviewer's busy-schedule.
Due to google's policy, disclosing questions isnt allowed. But it was a medium level string-unordered-map question with some tweaks in a storing rotated order of string too. This round went good, she had asked me TC, SC, optimisations and edge cases. However understanding the question was slightly tricky.
I cleared this round!
Technical Round-2: 45 mins
It was similar to round-1 but the interviewer was a little stricter and the question was similar to median of a data-stream, but here the datastream consisted of all subarrays in order. (Not disclosing the exact question, the question was worded slightly more complicated and it took me time to understand what it meant). I took too much time to understand the question and find the approach as it was relatively tougher than the original problem. I was able to get the solution by the end and the code seemed to be perfect. I was really nervous during my interview and wasn't sure about my approach. I believe this is why i got rejected.
Verdict: rejected :(
But i learnt a lot in this process and I'm grateful for this opportunity as it came out of the blue! It was an amazing experience overall! Everything happens for a reason and I believe something better awaits! Key-takeaways: be confident in your approach and read the question very carefully! Just solving the question doesnt make you safe, you should be more confident and stern that what you're saying is right so that the interviewer doesnt cross question everything you're saying!
Interview Questions (2)
A medium level string-unordered-map question with some tweaks in storing rotated order of string. The interviewer also asked about Time Complexity, Space Complexity, optimizations, and edge cases. Understanding the question was slightly tricky.
Similar to the 'Median of a Data Stream' problem, but the data stream here consisted of all subarrays in order. The question was worded slightly more complicated, and it took me time to understand what it meant. I took too much time to understand the question and find the approach as it was relatively tougher than the original problem. I was able to get the solution by the end, and the code seemed to be perfect, but I was nervous and unsure about my approach.