Google
Location: Bay Area, CA
Phone interview 1 (Coding) :
Q1 - HashMap counting problem that involves string.
Q2 - BFS/DFS graph. Interviewer threw in an unexpected requirement. I didn't finish coding.
Recruiter called 1 week later and asked for another phone interview.
Phone interview 2 (Coding) :
Q1 - HashMap involving common characters between 2 string.
Q2 - Guess some string combination. I suggested a brute force solution then time was up.
This round could have been better.
Few days later, recruiter said my results was good enough to move onsite.
Round 1 (Coding):
Q1 - Graph traversal
Q2 - Graph traversal with memorization
This round went well.
Round 2 (System Design):
Design some google product. The interviewer was on this team, so he was an expert of the question.
Interviewer tried to break my design by firing many questions at me. I easily defended my design.
This round went well.
Round 3 (Coding):
Q1 - Grid traversal using BFS.
Q2 - An edge case was added. I couldn't finish coding on time
I could have done better this round.
Round 4 (Coding):
Q1 - Sorting object question. Interviewer added many weird requirements, by weird I mean I didn't know how to code them. After 35 minutes of trying to understand the question, I finally started coding. During the next 10 minutes I wrote a couple line of code before I was stuck again.
This was my worst round.
Round 5 (Behavior):
Standard Behavior questions
After 20 minutes, interviewer and I talked about our hobbies.
What I learned from Google experience
Google will push you to your limits, whether coding or design. None of their questions are from leetcode.
Post interview
After 2 days - Recruiter emailed me saying "feedback is positive" and my package is going to Hiring Committee
After 6 days - Recruiter called me about Hiring Committee approval. Team matching will be next.
Preparation Strategy
Coding
1 year prep plan using Leetcode premium.
For 8 month I spent 1 hour a day working thru Leetcode all time frequency list. I would picked a random problem from the list. Some problems would carry over to multiple days since I did not look at solution. After getting 100% TC pass, I would compare my answer with discussing section.
3 month before applying, I did around 25 mock interviews with friends who were also software engineers.
1 week before each onsite, I sorted by company tag.
I never participated in a weekly contest, but seems since many have participated.
LC stats during 1 year preparation
327 total
Easy - 33%
Medium - 59%
Hard - 8%
System Design
3 month prep
I review my company architecture, whether it was drawings, diagram, or documentation. This helped me at work and system design interviews.
I also browsed thru internet for videos and articles about real world system design.
Conclusion
Good luck everyone and keep practicing.