I applied through university. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Feb 2013
Interview
Was contacted through career fair for a phone interview. Had to code on Google Doc which was in sync. The problem was pretty straightforward, but the main thing the interviewer was looking for was how I would design the data structures required and how I would approach the problem.
Even while answering, I knew I wasn't doing well, out of nervousness etc.
The interviewer wasn't particularly friendly...That didn't help either.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you ensure a server is working properly?
The interview was way more challenging than I anticipated, especially the technical rounds. I was thrown off by the depth of the DSA questions. One standout was a coding question about finding the median of two sorted arrays, which I recognized instantly — it was the same problem I had worked through on PracHub. The behavioral questions felt less intense, but the overall vibe was stressful. Ultimately, I didn’t receive an offer. It was a tough experience, but I'm grateful for what I learned along the way.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given two sorted arrays of size m and n, find the median of the combined sorted array in O(log(min(m,n))) time.
The interviewer was very nice, one interviewer didn't show up so I rescheduled it. When I didn't come up with the best solution, the interveiwer was very patient and give me hint as many as possible
1 screening round + 3 onsite round
All rounds were focused on DSA that included topics like strings, linked list, heap and dynamic programming. Screening round had 2 questions on qualifying which I was eligible for onsite and Googliness rounds. The whole process took nearlying 2.5 months
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