Google Mountain View Interview Experience

“I will never forget the day I received my offer letter. It’s a dream come true.” Landing a job in Arista Networks would ideally be a dream opportunity for many but for Krunal Patel from BITS Pilani – Goa it was just the beginning. We at TopTalent spoke to Krunal about the Google Interview Process, how he managed to crack it and what are his suggestions for aspirants looking to achieve something similar.

TopTalent: Can you tell us about the interview process?

Google conducted APAC test for 2015 graduating students in Asia pacific regions. I was 8th overall and 2nd in India after Divanshu. I was called for interviews at the Google Bangalore office after that. I had 4 interviews in total and all of them were based on data structures and algorithms. A few basic questions were also asked from OS.

TopTalent: Can you give us a brief account of what you felt was the toughest interview?

According to me all the interviews were of similar difficulty level. They were testing different domains in Algorithms and Data structures. The last interview was relatively at a bit higher difficulty level.

TopTalent: What was your preparation strategy?

I revised all my computer science CDCs before the placement season started. Lecture slides were good enough for that. I prepared for the GATE exam in the beginning of the year and it saved a lot of time for me during placement season. In my last 4 years my goal was to learn as many new technologies as possible. I gained introductory knowledge in web designing, Machine learning, Network Science, Application development etc. Apart from that I regularly practiced on codechef and topcoder to improve my programming and problem solving skills. I also thoroughly revised my projects which were mentioned in my resume before the interviews.

TopTalent: What kind of skills do you think helped you getting this job?

Mainly programming skills. I like participating in various programming contest and it improved my knowledge in algorithms as well as my programming skills. For eg. I learned to spend more time in designing the solution than in coding. Special thanks to my friend N Hari Prasad (Google Hyd) who guided me all the time.

TopTalent: What resources did you consult? Where did you practice problems from?

For my computer science subjects I mainly used my textbooks and lecture slides. For Algorithms I used Cormen and various tutorials on internet.

TopTalent: How was Competitive Programming in the interview?

By participating in such competitions and practicing in topcoder, I improved in terms of speed , Accuracy , Efficiency , and problem solving approaches. All of them plays crucial role in interviews where we are asked to design and code the solution for an unseen problem

TopTalent: Were grades a factor in you getting selected?

Google asked for my grade sheet after all the interviews were over. Hence it was part of their review process. Good grades always make a better impression.

TopTalent: What’s your advice to students who are aiming for similar placement offers as yours?

1) Writing code after you solve a question or learn a new data structure or algorithm is equally important. Make a habit to write neat and readable code as that helps your entire team. Make sure you get your code reviewed. In case of programming puzzles, see the setter’s solution.

2) Attend your classes regularly.

3) Find your passion and never give up on it. Rest all follows.

4) Keep yourself updated with new technologies.

All Practice Problems for Google !