I recently had the opportunity to interview for a Software Engineer (SWE) position at Google in Waterloo, Canada.
I wanted to share my experience, primarily the lessons I learned throughout the process.

1. Online Assessment:

• The interview process began with an online assessment, which consisted of two coding problems.
• Problem 1: An easy greedy algorithm problem.
• Problem 2: A medium bit manipulation problem.
• I solved both the problems, and I got a follow-up mail from the recruiter.

2. Screening Call:

• After the online assessment, I had a screening call where the recruiter asked me basic questions about time complexity and data structures and algorithms (DSA). This was more theoretical and did not involve any coding problems.

3. Interview Rounds:

• My interviews were scheduled on a single day, consisting of four rounds:
• 1 Behavioral round ("Googliness").
• 3 Technical DSA rounds.
• I requested 4 weeks of preparation time.

4. Round 1: Behavioral Interview:

• The first round focused on behavioral questions. I felt that this round went well as I was able to convey my experiences and how they aligned with Google's values.

5. Round 2: Technical DSA Round (Medium Graph Question):

• In the second round, I was given with a medium difficulty graph question. Although I was able to solve it, there was no time for follow-up discussions.

6.Round 3: Technical DSA Round (Hard Interval Segment Question):

• The third round was particularly challenging. I encountered a hard question related to intervals and segments. I struggled to give an optimal approach, as the pattern was new to me. This round was particularly difficult, and I believe it had a significant impact on my candidacy.

7. Round 4: Technical DSA Round (Medium Trie Prefix Question):

• The final round involved a medium difficulty question related to tries and prefixes. I successfully solved this question and had an additional 10 minutes for follow-up discussions, where we discussed about more optimal approaches.

Outcome

I received a rejection email within 24 hours after the interviews. The HR mentioned that they could not provide specific feedback on which round I struggled with the most. However, I believe that the third DSA round played a critical role in the final decision.

Overall, I found the questions to be realistic and reflective of real-world problem-solving scenarios. I hadn’t seen any of these questions on platforms like LeetCode.

As this was my first experience interviewing with a FAANG company, I made some mistakes, such as incorrectly assuming the input and output for the questions.

Despite the rejection, I see this experience as a valuable learning opportunity. A month before the interviews, I only knew some basic Data structures and then, I committed to intensive preparation, solving over 300 questions on LeetCode, which greatly improved my confidence.

I will try again in six months, with a stronger foundation in DSA. I am determined to succeed next time!
Just wanted to share my interview experience. I hope it helps others in their preparation for similar opportunities.