Google

Role: SWE New Grad

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: Applied July 2024; OA Oct 1, 2024; Interviews Oct 31, 2024; Team Match Feb 28 - Mar 10, 2025.

Interview Type: New Grad

Result: Selected (Joined Google)

Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Rounds: Online Assessment, 3 Interview Rounds (1 Behavioral, 2 Technical), Team Match Calls

Topics Asked: Behavioral questions, Dynamic Programming, Backtracking, Time and Space Complexity, Resume-based questions, Team projects, Culture

Experience:

A new grad shared their Google SWE interview experience on Reddit, having applied in July 2024 without a referral.

Online Assessment: Completed on October 1, 2024.

Round 1 (Behavioral Interview): This round consisted of standard behavioral questions, with nothing particularly unusual.

Round 2 (Technical - DP): On October 31, 2024, the candidate faced a Dynamic Programming (DP) problem. Despite initially fumbling due to stress, the friendly interviewer guided the process. The candidate asked clarification questions, created their own test case, explained the approach, and coded the solution. After a dry run, the interviewer provided a different test case, requiring a minor adjustment. A follow-up question was also solved in the last minute, followed by a discussion on time and space complexity.

Round 3 (Technical - Backtracking): This round featured a hard backtracking problem. Initially misidentified as a math problem, the interviewer's modifications clarified it as backtracking. The candidate was prompted to devise a test case and its output, which aided in logic building. After 20 minutes of discussion, coding began. The candidate noted that asking more questions about the input format could have saved time. The problem was solved in the last minute, though the time complexity discussion was not perfect.

Team Match Phase: Following the interviews, the candidate entered a team match phase that lasted for four months. From February 28, 2025, to March 10, 2025, four team match calls were received from Boulder, involving discussions about the resume, team projects, and culture.

Result: The candidate successfully joined Google.