Google SWE Intern Interview Experience
Hey there tech enthusiasts! I recently went through a whirlwind of interviews for the Software Engineer Intern position (Off-Campus) at Google, and I thought I’d share my experience with you.
Round 1: HR — Introductory (approx 15 mins)
In this round, I had a friendly chat with an HR representative who gave detailed description about the role I was applying for — position, responsibilities, and possible work locations. I was also asked about my preferred programming languages and tech stack, as well as the projects I had worked on.
Round 2: Technical-1 (45 mins)
The real challenge kicked off here. I was asked about my past internship experience at Cadence Design Systems and a specific project I undertook there.
Then came the coding challenge, a twist on the classic LeetCode “version numbers” (link) problem. After coding the solution, I had to analyze its time and space complexity. But wait, there’s more! I was asked to optimize the code further and imagine the best possible time and space complexity for the optimal approach.
There was a follow-up question, where the problem was tweaked, and I had to brainstorm a new approach with its space and time complexity in mind. I tackled various examples and scenarios to crack this round. Overall, I feel I did good in this round and would rate it between “Hire” to “Strong Hire”
After an hour I received a mail that I have qualified to the Technical Round-2 which was scheduled the next day itself!
Round 3: Technical-2 (45 mins)
This round was all about a fiery problem — literally! Imagine a scenario where fire spreads at a certain rate, and brave firemen need to save houses before the fire engulfs them. It was a dynamic programming problem that required quick thinking and strategic coding. I answered follow-up questions and explained my approach, and finally, I coded my solution. However, I felt that I could have done much better in this round. I was called for another Technical Round few days later.
Round 4: Technical-3 (45 mins)
Surprisingly, the last round turned out to be the easiest. I was faced with a problem related to arrays. First, I explained the brute force approach involving sorting, along with its space and time complexity. The interviewer challenged me to enhance it, so I eliminated sorting and improved space complexity. Pushing further, I utilized a min-heap/priority queue to implement a solution using the sliding window approach. I delved into the time and space complexity of these methods and even dry-ran through a test case for each. In the end, I had to write code snippets for both the initial and optimized approaches. I felt I did great in this round and would rate it a “Strong Hire”!
What’s Next?
As of now, I’m eagerly waiting for the results. Attending 3 technical rounds was an enriching experience and challenged me to think on my feet! Stay tuned for more updates. Fingers crossed, and until next time, happy coding! 🚀