Phone Screen Round (Elimination Round)
Questions: Greedy algorithm-based medium-level problem.
Candidate's Approach
- Explained the brute-force solution first.
- Verified with the interviewer if coding the brute force was necessary.
- Presented and implemented the optimized solution.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 1 (DSA Focused)
Questions: Based on HashMaps, Sorting.
Details:
- After a quick 2-minute introduction, the interviewer directly presented a tricky problem involving Hashmaps and Sorting.
- Explored multiple approaches, including priority queues, sorting, and sets, but couldn’t finalize or code the solution in the allotted 45 minutes in expected time and space complexity.
- The interviewer was largely silent and didn’t provide much feedback during the session.
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 2 (DSA Focused)
Questions: Problem involved Matrix operations and Mathematics. Only the matrix was provided on the platform; the question was explained verbally.
Details:
- Took 37 minutes to complete the initial solution.
- Discussed follow-up approaches verbally (DP, BFS, and more Math-based methods) but didn’t have enough time to code them.
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Round 3 (Googleyness & Leadership)
Questions: 6-7 situational and managerial-type questions, along with follow-ups.
Details:
- After a 5-minute introduction, the interviewer asked situational and managerial-type questions.
- Some questions were unexpected, requiring quick thinking and adaptability.
Candidate's Approach
No approach provided.
Interviewer's Feedback
No feedback provided.
Final Outcome
On 23rd December, I received a rejection email from the recruiter.
Takeaways
- Being approached by Google was an incredible opportunity. But I didn’t quite grasp it.
- In hindsight, I could have prepared more effectively, especially for time management and verbal communication.
- I wish I had put efforts in the right direction.