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Google Interview Experiences
3935 interview stories from candidates at 857 companies: how each round went, what was asked and how it ended. Every company page links to practice questions in the same style.
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103 results
- Google Product Manager interview: cold early interview and silenceGoogle · Product Manager · HR Screen · Jul 2026Rejected
After an initial suitability call, I waited a couple of weeks for a first knowledge-based interview. Recruiter communication beforehand was supportive, but the interviewer came across as cold and professional, and I did not make it past that stage. In a separate early round, I had to drive the problem myself in a tight 30-minute window: identify constraints, explain an approach, propose solutions…
- Google Product Manager interview: practical-depth barGoogle · Product Manager · Jul 2026
The process felt long and hard from the outset. After the initial stages, the technical questions required real hands-on product experience. I could not have relied on generic product language to answer them confidently or accurately. The challenge was also organizing my thinking under pressure while remaining precise. Follow-up questions kept probing until I connected my reasoning to real-world…
- Google Software Engineer interviewGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
The process began with a background questionnaire and an online interview with DSA and behavioral rounds. The DSA question was practical rather than a typical LeetCode problem, and I handled it well. Later, the onsite questions were closer to LeetCode, a shift I had not studied enough for. A system-design mock also felt mismatched because its problem did not resemble what I saw later. Scheduling…
- Google Software Engineer Interview Experience: A one-hour two-problem OA and eliminatory DSA roundsGoogle · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Jul 2026
This was a fast onsite-style process centered heavily on DSA. I started with an OA containing two data-structures-and-algorithms problems to solve in about an hour. The time pressure made it intense, and I noticed there was no audio or video proctoring. Then I went into the interview portion for the onsite opportunity. The interviews focused only on DSA, with medium-to-hard LeetCode-style problem…
- Google Software Engineer Interview Experience: Median of two sorted arrays and autocomplete designGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026Offer
I expected the technical rounds to be tougher, but the interview felt much easier than I thought it would. The first main question was finding the median of two sorted arrays, and I got through it fairly quickly. Then the conversation moved to a system-design problem about building autocomplete for a search engine. The coding questions were written in a shared document rather than an editor where…
- Google Software Engineer interview for a PhD ML-focused role with spam-classifier designGoogle · Software Engineer · Jul 2026Rejected
I interviewed for a PhD SWE, ML-focused role, and the first real test came in the first interview round. It combined an ML domain section with behavioral questions. In the ML part, I was asked to design a spam classifier and write pseudocode for a bi-gram model. My recruiter had told me the domain round would connect to my projects, but the questions were more design-focused than I expected. When…
- Google Software Engineer interview with four final-loop sessionsGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
My first step was a relaxed recruiter conversation of about half an hour. We discussed my background, school or earlier experience, and what was ahead. Then I completed a 45-minute technical screening coding challenge where how I organized and explained my reasoning mattered as much as reaching an answer. The final loop had four 45-minute interviews, usually spread across one or two days so it wo…
- Google Software Engineer interview with four rounds and onsite C++ implementationGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
The process felt steady and not especially punishing. I started with a recruiter phone call and, about a week later, a technical screen. There were four interview rounds in total: two coding rounds, a behavioral round, and a system-design round. The coding was LeetCode-style medium algorithm and data-structure work, with the usual need to communicate clearly, get the code right, and think through…
- Google Software Engineer interview: algorithm rounds and delayed feedbackGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026Rejected
The process felt complicated and drawn out. After the early steps, I had a couple of algorithm-focused meetings with technical reviewers and an HR personal questionnaire. There were long gaps without updates, and I received no constructive feedback once it was over. Some early steps seemed smooth, but after submitting my materials I couldn't tell when they'd be reviewed or how long the decision w…
- Google Software Engineer interview: compact developer algorithm loopGoogle · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Jul 2026
I went through a full-loop format with an online assessment and a recruiter call before the technical rounds. Once I reached the developer loop, I had to solve medium-to-hard LeetCode-style problems, and it felt designed to test real problem solving from start to finish. The structure became intense and compact after the earlier screening steps. The interview was essentially developers only, with…
- Google Software Engineer interview: detailed feedback on same-day codingGoogle · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Jul 2026
After a recruiter pre-screen, I had a tightly scheduled interview day with limited breaks. It combined a structured technical conversation with a behavioral STAR-style interview, leaving enough time to reset but not enough for the day to feel casual. I then had two LeetCode-like coding interviews on the same day with another short gap. In each, I was expected to think through an approach, align o…
- Google Software Engineer interview: four scenario-heavy technical roundsGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
I expected a standard coding and behavioral loop, but Google put me through four technical deep dives that were much more scenario heavy. I presented a real customer issue, then completed a cognitive-analysis-style round that asked how I would begin thinking about large-scale infrastructure. The next technical discussions covered infrastructure or platform and AI-related problem solving. I was ex…
- Google Software Engineer interview: hardware panel and uneven technical difficultyGoogle · Software Engineer · Jul 2026
The interview focused on technical depth rather than only classic software problem solving. The panel was made up of hardware engineers, and the topics ranged across VLSI, analog work, and design engineering. It felt like a real technical discussion, and the interviewers seemed to engage with my answers instead of waiting for a memorized response. One question genuinely threw me off because it fe…
- Google Software Engineer interview: online coding and team matchingGoogle · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Jul 2026
After a recruiter chat, I completed the process online. The phone screen mixed behavioral discussion with a technical component, then a separate technical round asked me to solve two LeetCode-style questions in a language I chose from Python, C++, or Java. Behavioral questions also appeared alongside coding. Two later calls became somewhat harder but retained the same live DSA problem-solving for…
- Google Software Engineer interview: recruiter screen and four linear roundsGoogle · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Jul 2026
The process began with recruiter screening, where we covered my background, the role, and what the interview path would look like. After that, there were four rounds in a clear sequence. The first mixed a Googliness-style discussion with coding. The following rounds added two more coding interviews. Team matching only came into the picture after the coding rounds were done. The route felt linear:…
- Google Software Engineer interview: referral, six coding questions, and supportGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
A referral started my loop and moved me to a recruiter call sooner than I expected. The process then had three coding rounds, each with two LeetCode-style questions, a system-design interview, and a behavioral interview. The overall vibe sat in the middle: challenging but not cruel. In the coding rounds, I needed to solve cleanly, communicate clearly, and handle follow-ups instead of treating the…
- Google Software Engineer interview: unclear live DSA communicationGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
This interview was hard in a particular way. It was not only the complexity of the DSA questions, but also the interaction with the interviewer. I got directional array questions involving dynamic programming, though I could not clearly recall the full second part of the problem afterward. The interviewer did not speak clearly enough for me to ask clarifying questions effectively. I spent extra m…
- Google Software Engineer interview: varying difficulty and interviewer toneGoogle · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Jul 2026
One Google path started with an online assessment and then an interview if accepted. My question was LeetCode medium to hard, although I had heard that others received easier ones. My first interviewer was somewhat rude, which made it harder to stay comfortable and confident while working through the problem. I also encountered a recruiter-led path with a pre-interview stage followed by two short…
- Ran Out of Time on an Onsite Coding Round, Talked Through the Answer InsteadGoogle · Software Engineer · Onsite · Jul 2026In progress
Just finished my Google onsite. Something came up in one of the coding rounds, and I want to ask the folks and interviewers here on the forum how they'd read this: r2, first question: the piano-finger-movement problem (sliding window, similar to finding a monotonic interval / window coverage). First part: I wrote the code fast, dry-ran the interviewer's three test cases live plus a couple of edge…
- Referral, Team-Specific Loop and a Visible-People Array ProblemGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
Google's process looks like it has changed. I got a referral and interviewed for a specific team. The interview process was broken into 2 rounds: Round 1 a standard Leetcode problem on a text editor that doesn't compile behavioral Round 2 solutions design (similar to system design, but less ambiguous) a Leetcode problem The question I got in round 1 had two parts. Part 1: Given an array of height…
- Rejected, Then an R1 Invite Two Weeks LaterGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026Rejected
I got the referral from a friend for the SWE III role. Three days after I applied I was already rejected — but then two weeks later the recruiter suddenly sent me an R1 invite, so I went ahead and did the interview. Coding — no self-introduction, straight into the problem. The question was roughly: given a graph where every edge has a safety value, and a given safety threshold, find the minimum s…
- Software Engineer interview at Google: long formal loopGoogle · Software Engineer · Jul 2026
The process took roughly one to two months, then extended further through team matching. It began with CV screening and a technical coding phone interview, followed by an onsite loop with several 45-minute coding interviews, architecture discussions, and Googliness questions. After the interviews came a formal hiring-committee stage and team matching, with a proposal only if a team aligned. The m…
- Two Onsite Rounds, Team Matching in ProgressGoogle · Software Engineer · Senior+ · Onsite · Jul 2026In progress
Round 1 Coding (45 min): Job Processing Schedule with priority. Higher-priority jobs get processed first. Asked to implement a class with two APIs, addJob and getJob. Follow-up: add a delay to each job — for example, after job A is processed, it can't be processed again until at least 3 getJob API invocations have happened. BQ (45 min): Standard behavioral questions — the biggest challenge I ran…
- Google Backend Engineer interview: behavioral detail and impactGoogle · Backend Engineer · HR Screen · Jun 2026
I went through Google's behavioral and HR round for a Backend Engineer role, and it put surprising weight on the details. The conversation followed the familiar behavioral format: how I would respond, how clearly I could explain my thinking, and how I connected my experience to the kind of work Google cares about. I found that precision mattered more than simply sounding confident. I kept checkin…
- Google Business Analyst data interview with DSA and modeling pressureGoogle · Business Analyst · Technical Screen · Jun 2026Rejected
My first substantial technical step was data-heavy and more intense than I expected. The data interview included DSA and modeling questions, and the bar was reasoning under pressure, not just getting a final answer. One example looked like a simple arithmetic statement at first but was actually wrong, so I had to deal with that confusion while staying accurate. The interviewer continued with inte…
- Google Software Engineer interview: language-library technical roundGoogle · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jun 2026
A recruiter first reached out, then I had a scheduled technical round. Early on, the interviewer focused on a very specific library connected to the language I had chosen. I could not fully remember the details on the spot, and that threw me off. The process then expanded into several technical rounds: DSA interviews, a high-level design discussion, and a Googliness-style behavioral interview. Th…
- Sunnyvale Onsite, No Hire Despite Optimal SolutionsGoogle · Software Engineer · Onsite · Jun 2026Rejected
I got a bad feeling at the onsite from the start, and sure enough, in the end I got a no hire even though I got optimal solutions on both questions plus the follow-ups. The stated reason was lack of communication. I feel like I got screwed, because the whole time I clarified everything first and then talked while I wrote, and the phone screen had explicitly said my communication was outstanding.…
- L4 Onsite, Rejected After Falling Back to Brute ForceGoogle · Software Engineer · Onsite · May 2026Rejected
I interviewed for Google L4 a few months ago and got rejected after the onsite coding rounds. Sharing it here as a reference for anyone coming after me. R1: Merge two nodes (each node has three fields: name, value, children). The core rule is to use t1's node order but t2's node values. 1. In the merged node, name comes from t1 and value comes from t2. 2. Children with the same name are matched o…
- Easy Coding Question, Confusing Rename Follow-up, RejectedGoogle · Software Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Apr 2026Rejected
Coding: convert snake_case to camelCase (e.g. foo_bar -> fooBar). The input is guaranteed to be valid snake_case (no leading underscore, no trailing underscore, no double underscore). The coding part was easy, I banged it out in under twenty lines within a few minutes, though I did spend a bit of time clarifying what counted as valid snake_case input since I wasn't totally sure what the interview…
- Failed Onsite Coding on a No-Feedback Maze That Needed BFS Over Belief StatesGoogle · Software Engineer · Onsite · Apr 2026Rejected
The final feedback was that my coding wasn't good enough. It was a BFS problem, and I didn't think of that at first. You're given a maze: # is a wall, . is an open path, E is the exit. The only commands are up / down / left / right, and each one moves you one cell. Key rules: If you hit a wall you stay where you are (that's not a failure, you just stay in place). Execution gives no feedback at al…
