[NDA] Google | L3 | Bangalore | Feb 2020 [Reject]
Anonymous User
1184

I appeared at Google Bangalore a few days back, and was informed that I was no longer considered, about 10 days after my interview.

The onsites were scheduled about 2 months after my phone interview. I practiced about 200 LeetCode questions during this time.
Google paid for my flight tickets, my stay and food.

Round 1: We started with a very brief introduction. He gave me a very simple question. Added another part to it. I gave O(n) approach, he said can ou do better. I noticed that the O(n) is basically a formula, so was solving it and made some mistake. he saw it and told me to leave it. It is just solving formula. Added another part to question. Had little trouble finding a solution. Later I proposed an O(n^2) approach. He helped me find an O(n) solution, which was an optimisation in O(n^2) only. Asked me to code it. I made a few edge case errors. He told me that I was being slow. (I said I am not used to this keyboard. I type slowly too). Ended the interview 5 minutes late. Just after the interview, I felt I had done good, because I was able to code it. But in retrospect, this round highlighted many weaknesses.

Round 2: (Googlyness and Managerial Round) - Can't say how I did. Just gave my viewpoints on several problems, and how I will approach them.

15 minute coffee break

Round 3: Again a very brief introduction. Gave a BFS question, I explained it. Added another part. Was able to do it. Then added another part to which I gave an approach with high space complexity. We worked together to find another approach. Did it with two BFS. There was a side logic, without which question would pass only a few test cases, which he pointed out, and I changed my algorithm accordingly. Then asked me to code it. Did it, and he did not find any errors. 10 minutes were left, and we talked about his work areas. I felt that pointing out, was a major issue of concern.

1 hour lunch break

Round 4: Brief intoduction again. Gave me a problem. I proposed solutions to it. Discussed it. He then told me to code it. Pointed out a few very obvious errors, which I agreed and changed promptly. Added a part to question. First I proposed backtracking, and its time complexity. Moved to a DP solution. Agreed with my approach. Asked me to code it. Told me to check a line. It was basically the loop running equal to n or less than n for number of array elements. 10 minutes were left. Discussed his work. I consider this round to be the best.

Round 5: No introduction. Moved to a coding question. I gave an approach. She told me to code it. She found it working, however I pointed out an error, which she agreed, and I changed it. Then she gave me a completely different question. I had trouble arriving at a solution. Brainstormed for about 10 minutes. Then she gave me a hint, which solved the question in a minute. I coded it. She found it working. Ended the interview 1 or 2 minutes late.

Felt pretty good about the interviews. Interviewers are helpful, want you to solve the question, and want you to go home feeling good about yourself, which is clearly no way of telling that they felt good about your interview. The best thing about the interviews are that it doesn't look like they are interviewing you. It seems you are solving a problem together. I felt Round 3 and 5 were matters of concern, because of the hints. But in retrospection, Round 1 bombed the most. However, arriving at the best solution for each problem, and being able to code them, gave me hope.

I mailed my recruiter the next day, and she told me that she will keep me posted. About 10 days later, I received a phone call, confirming my fear of being rejected. The main reason was slow coding and making errors while coding. She said that I had good knowledge of data structures, and algorithms, but lack in coding department. A little disheartened, but I will keep LeetCoding to better my coding skills.

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