Google Interview Workshop Recap: What to Expect and How to Prepare
- Helen Li
- Interview prep , Event recaps
- October 10, 2024
Table Of Contents
Allen and Jing, two software engineers at Google, recently hosted an insightful workshop aimed at demystifying Google’s interview process. The following highlights key takeaways from the session, including a detailed breakdown of the interview steps and useful tips to help you prepare effectively.
Process Breakdown By Role Types
SWE Internship
- Online coding assessment & survey
- Two technical interviews
- Project search
- Offer
STEP Internship (for first- and second-years)
- Two technical interviews
- Offer
- Project allocation
Full-Time
- Online coding assessment & survey
- Four virtual interviews: one behavioral, three technical
- Product area match & final approvals
- Offer
More About Each Task
Online Survey
- Can reference standard libraries and official documentation
- Make sure to do it by the deadline (typically 7 days)
Technical Interview
- 5 minute introduction + 35 minute coding question + 5 minute closing for you to ask your interviewer any questions
- Some time to take a break in between rounds
- Can ask for accomodations during the interview but try to do so before starting the task
- Languages: C/C++, Java, Python, Javascript, Go; allowed to ask for other languages
- Possible Topics
- Loops
- String manipulation
- Conditional logic
- Sort & Search
- Divide and conquer
- Dynamic programming memoization
- Greedy algorithms
- Recursion
- Big O
- Graph traversal
- Arrays
- Linked lists
- Sets
- Hashing
- Binary trees
- Heaps
- Graphs
- No brain teasers, puzzles, or trick questions
Interview Tips
General
- Keep your microphone on
- Can use paper to scribble down notes
- Speak out loud
- Be careful about what you’re sharing
- Be yourself - you will be more memorable and it will be easier to connect with your interviewer
- Come prepared with thoughtful questions for your interviewer
What Interviewers Consider
- How did you analyze the problem
- Did you miss any edge cases
- Did you solve the problem methodologically and logically
- Did you demonstrate a strong foundation in concepts
- Does the code work, was it testsed
- Is it clean and easy to maintain the code
- Were the ideas easily and well explained
DO
- Listen carefully, rephrase the given problem and ask clarifying questions
- Design a solution and think out loud the whole time
- Communicate the high level strategy
- Iterate by analyzing Big O runtime or space complexity
- Handle edge cases in design too
- Write actual code
- Test that code
- Discuss potential optimizations and expect follow-up questions
- Explain your thought process throughout the interview
AVOID
- Jumping directly into code
- Not talking about examples or testing
- Not writing real code
- Not understanding question or prematurely optimizing
