Current Experience: Senior Software Developer at Service based organization
Years of Experience: 2.8 years
Position: Software Engineer L3
Location: Bangalore, India
Interview Date: June, 2023

Application:

• In May 2023, the recruiter reached out to me.
• I have previously given interviews with Google and my profile was in their database. (First time applied in 2019 via referral)
• Despite positive onsite interview feedback, my application was impacted by a hiring freeze last year.
• Considering positive onsite interview feedback from last year, the recruiter informed me that the phone interview will be skipped this time.
• I requested a preparation period of 3 weeks, which the recruiter kindly accommodated.
• Four onsite interviews got scheduled on 14th, 15th, and 16th June 2023.

Interviews:
1st Onsite Interview - Coding (45 mins)
Topic - Depth-First Search, Breadth-First Search, Hash Table
Difficulty - Leetcode Medium
The interviewer explained the coding question, provided test cases, and I verbally discussed my approach. I successfully coded the solution and performed a dry run on test cases, correctly explaining the time complexity.
Two follow-up questions were asked, and I was expected to code the first one while providing the approach for the second. Overall, this round went well, and I rate it as a Strong Hire/Hire.

2nd Onsite Interview - Coding (45 mins)
Topic - Sliding Window, Hash Table, String
Difficulty - Leetcode Medium
The interview began with a warm-up question, and I quickly coded the solution.
I successfully handled the first follow-up question by explaining my approach and coding the solution.
For the second follow-up question, I initially suggested a brute force approach. However, after some thought, I was able to devise an optimal solution.
I gave the correct time complexity for all solutions.
The interviewer concluded the round by asking a question about adapting the solution for different input formats, which I was expected to answer verbally.
Overall, this round also went well, and I rate it as a Hire.

3rd Onsite Interview - Coding (45 mins)
Topic - Breadth-First Search, Heap (Priority Queue), Matrix, Array
Difficulty - Leetcode Hard
The interview began with a challenging question, and I struggled a bit before reaching the solution approach. With some hint from the interviewer, I successfully coded the solution and modified it after dry running on test cases. Initially, I got confused while giving the time complexity, but after rethinking, I provided the correct analysis.
Overall, this round was challenging, but I managed to handle it well. I rate it as a Lean Hire/Hire.

4th Onsite Interview - Googleyness/ leadership (45 mins)
This round focused on behavioral questions based on past experiences and hypothetical situations. I was well-prepared with answers using the STAR pattern (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for such questions, which made this round go smoothly. I rate it as a Strong Hire.

Post Interviews:

• The recruiter shared that feedback is positive and informed me that I would proceed to the team matching phase.
• To proceed, the recruiter requested additional details such as internal references from Googlers I have worked with, academic and professional history, promotional summary, and a summary of key achievements and awards.
• Shortly after, I had my first team match round, which went well. Approximately a week later, the recruiter informed me that my profile had been shortlisted by the hiring manager, and my profile will be passed to the Hiring Committee (HC) for further review.
• After a few days, I received the call from the recruiter with the great news that I had successfully passed the HC review. Subsequently, we had a compensation discussion call, which went smoothly.
• Finally, after approximately three days, I received the official offer letter from Google.