💼 I Got an Offer from Google L4 – My Interview Journey & Learnings
Hey everyone! 👋
I recently received an offer for the L4 Software Engineer role at Google India, and I wanted to share my journey through the interview process. I have around 4–5 years of industry experience, and this post includes the types of questions I encountered, how I approached them, and what helped me prepare effectively.
🗓️ Interview Journey (Quick Recap)
- Started with a recruiter call in January 2025 to discuss role expectations and background.
- Had four technical interviews throughout February, each testing different aspects of problem-solving and code clarity.
- Attended the Googliness (behavioral) round in March, focused on teamwork and decision-making.
- Finally, I had a team matching call in early May, and received the offer shortly after 🎉
🔁 Interview Questions I Faced
Here are the kinds of problems I worked through during the process. The wording is paraphrased to avoid any policy concerns:
1. Encode and Decode a Directed Graph
I was asked to implement functionality to convert a directed graph (with int values and neighbor nodes) into a storable format and then reconstruct it.
This tested:
- Graph traversal (DFS/BFS)
- Cycle handling
- Maintaining node identity across serialization
2. Reach a Target Volume with N Jugs
Given multiple water jugs with different capacities, I had to determine whether it was possible to measure an exact amount using fill, empty, and pour operations.
This tested:
- Modeling complex state transitions
- Using BFS or DFS to explore all valid states
- Avoiding revisits using visited tracking
3. Alice and Bob Reach a Destination with Minimum Combined Cost
Two individuals start from different nodes in a weighted graph. The goal was to find a destination such that the sum of their travel costs was minimized.
This involved:
- Multi-source shortest path logic
- Combining cost paths
- Handling disconnected components
4. Merging Car Rental Intervals
Given a list of car rental bookings represented as time intervals, I was asked to merge overlapping bookings and return an optimized schedule.
This tested:
- Sorting logic and boundary conditions
- Clean iteration and merging
- Efficiency and correctness
💬 Googliness & Behavioral Round
This round focused on qualities like communication, ownership, problem-solving mindset, and collaboration. I was asked about how I’ve handled challenging scenarios, worked with teams, and contributed meaningfully beyond code.
✅ Final Thoughts
The process was structured, challenging, and rewarding. Each interview tested a different aspect of engineering ability—from problem solving and abstraction to communication and design thinking.
If you're preparing:
- Be consistent with your practice
- Focus on understanding patterns, not just solving problems
- Reflect on your past experiences for behavioral questions
- Prioritize clarity in communication and clean coding habits
Good luck to everyone preparing for interviews. Keep learning, and trust your progress 💪