My Google Internship Interview Experience
This is about my Google Internship interview experience (SDE Summer Intern 2020 North America). I made it to the final round but wasn’t selected. I learned a lot from the entire interview process and I hope that you find something useful and learn something from this little experience of mine. So here goes nothing.
The Interview Process
The Google Internship interview generally consists of 3 rounds - 1 online coding round and 2 phone interviews (I had 3 but I will come to that later). After you clear these rounds, you have to get approved by the Hiring Committee and lastly, you get into the host matching round (This is as far as I made it). And if you get a ‘match’ with any of the teams at Google, you finally get an offer. I know this is a lot so I will break it down for you.
This information is based on my interview experience and it may not be the same for another candidate as the process is prone to changes.
The Referral
I was actively looking for an internship during Summer 2020. So, I contacted many full-time employees for a referral. Luckily, I got a reply on October 7th, 2019, saying "referring you to Google". Yes, I received an invitation for a referral. And as per the rules, the referral was valid for a month and I could submit for a maximum of 3 roles.
The Application
As soon as I got the referral, I hasted to apply for the internship but as fate would have it, there were no Internships available at Google India. So, I applied for 3 Places {Sydney, Canada, and North America} and each for the position of a Software Engineering Intern.
Applying didn't take long. They only asked for general information like my basic info, Resume (obviously), links to online handles (Personal website, GitHub, LinkedIn, etc.), and a transcript (the official/unofficial updated mark sheet). All the information is available on google careers page.
My hopes were not exactly high because first of all, It’s Google! And secondly, that too as a foreign intern. However, on November 20th, 2019 I received a mail - "[Action Required] Google Application". Next steps for your Google application:
- A coding Exercise – Online Coding round
- Snapshot survey - basic information on your interest
The Preparation
As soon as I got the referral, I started practicing a lot of coding questions. When I got the mail, I doubled my practice and grind LeetCode (Top interview questions) and GeeksForGeeks (Must do questions). I practiced some of the major topics like Trees, DP, Graphs, String, Hashing etc.
(I was also searching and reading interview experience to get familiar with the whole process)
The online Coding Round
It wasn't difficult, it was way easier than I expected. (However, I have heard about people who got comparatively tougher questions). I can't tell you the exact questions but both the problems were based on string manipulation and involved the use of hashing.
On Dec 11, 2019, I got a follow-up mail, I made it to the next round. I had to give 2 phone interviews one after another.
I filled up all the details carefully, There is a form called Questionnaire. Its is nothing but a form for more details on interest, skills, experience. But the Questionnaire was important.
Phone Interviews
On Dec 17, 2019, I had my Interviews. I was thrilled, and needless to say, I spent a good half of the mid-term thinking about the interview and how I was going to prepare for it.
Both the interviews were one after the other with 15 mins cool-down time and 45 mins each.
I remember feeling really nervous in the days leading up to my interview, not only because Google was a dream of mine (as it is for many), but also because this would have been my first technical interview ever, and I honestly didn't completely know what to expect.
1st Phone Interview
I cannot share the interview information but it was an introduction followed by technical questions. I thought it would be difficult to catch up on the interviewer's accent but watching a lot of TV series helped [smiley].
The problem was very open-ended i.e there could be many possible solutions [i used set, but could be done using tree/graph/hashing], I stumbled a bit at the starting with the problem but finally came up with a decent working code and also suggested an optimization but no time was left to code that.
In the end, I asked her a few questions about the working experience at Google. Finally, she said "I am looking forward to working with you at google" and the interview ended.
2nd Phone Interview
To be true those last words gave my confidence a boost and I was totally ready to knock off the 2nd interview.
It went kind of the same as the 1st interview but I came up with the best possible solution at the first go, and implemented it and also was able to write the pseudo-code for the follow-up question. Question was based on string manipulation and pattern matching.
I sent a follow-up mail, and the wait begins again...
Now the hiring committee had to approve my application. On Dec 20, 2019, I received a mail "Google Follow up". I thought this is it!!!!. But no, mail says "We would like to conduct one additional phone interview to collect some more data points on your technical background."
And then again the whole scheduling process starts. Finally, the next phone interview was scheduled for Jan 8, 2020.
3rd Phone Interview
The 3rd interviewer was with a very experienced guy, he had been working at Google for 11+ years. I was a bit nervous after knowing that, but he was very supportive. This time the question was nothing like I expected (It was a little tough). I struggled a lot to find the solution and along the way, the interviewer helped me. I felt like in the end we both came up to a solution together. Although I was a little tense as it didn't go well compared to the first two interviews, the interviewer said he was happy with the solution and had a good interview. The question was similar to LRU cache. He also asked me to use assert for test code.
The wait begins again...
On Jan 22, 2020, I received a mail - "Good News from Google!”
Meanwhile, I had a meeting with the recruiter, for detailing all the next steps to be taken.
The Host Matching round
What is the Host Matching round? - In this round, there is a pool of applications and a pool of teams with available positions. The teams look for the applications that are fit for their team and do a small introduction interview (sometimes a little technical depending on team lead), and inform the recruiter if they wanna move forward with the particular candidate or not. The same is asked to you if you wanna work with this team. If yes. you got the internship, a few paperwork, and the next thing you are flying to the google office wearing a Noogler cap.
My experience on Host Matching round
I went through anything related to the Host Matching round available on the internet, read most of the reviews (Joined discord and Reddit groups), articles, and contacted anyone I could.
But the truth is, you can't do anything to improve your chances to get a match. Only thing you could do is to update your questionnaire to the best.
I sent a few follow up emails to the recruiter (don't do it too frequently). But all I got was we are looking for a match for you. It was almost nearly 2 months of waiting. And the wait is finally over, On Mar 19, 2020, I received a mail -
"Update from google":
I heard for Indian application, if you made it to host matching round, you will get picked for sure.
Thanks!!!