Google SWE Intern interview on 2 rounds of interviews, mainly examining the algorithmic design part of the study, focusing on data structures and algorithmic fundamentals, including dynamic programming, graph algorithms, tree operations, sorted search.
The main focus is on data structures and algorithm fundamentals, including dynamic programming, graph algorithms, tree operations, sorting and searching, and other classic problems. Common topics are maximum subarray and, LRU cache implementation, binary tree LCA, serialization deserialization, etc., need to master the time-space complexity analysis.Google interview with its own text editor, no Google Doc; suggest that mock students with text editor practice.
Google SWE Intern VO Round 1
Question: Google Company has a bunch of requests for conference room booking records, each record has start_time and end_time. return the minimum number of rooms needed.
Clarify the question
- Does the time interval start at start or end?
- If it is half-open interval
[start, end):end == next.startCan reuse the same room. - If it is closed interval
[start, end]:end == next.startConsidered conflicting, need new room. (You need to ask for this upfront during the interview, if not specified, it usually defaults to a half-open room.)
- If it is half-open interval
- Is the input likely to be empty? Is there a
start == endsession? - Does the time have an upper bound/is it an integer?
- Has the input been ascending by
start_time?
Ideas
Meetings are processed by start time, with a small root stacked with the "earliest end time of the room being occupied" for each new meeting:
- If the top-of-stack end time
<=the new session start time, it means a room is free - pop it and reuse it; - Otherwise a new room needs to be opened - directly pressing the end of the new meeting into the pile.
Use a variable to record the maximum size the heap has ever reached, i.e. the number of rooms required.
Complexity: time complexity O(Nlog N), space complexity: O(N).
Google SWE Intern VO Round 2
This round of interview includes BQ session and two coding questions. The interviewer is an American guy, very nice, simple pleasantries directly into the main topic, the overall rhythm is quite comfortable, the following briefly share.
BQ
- Tell me about an example of a time when you learned something important from a failed project?
- What would you do if you and your colleagues disagreed on a technical solution?
- Describe a time when you took the initiative to help team members improve their technical skills?
Coding
Topic: Variable Range Sum This question requires the design of a data structure that can not only query the sum of a certain range of the array, but also support updating the value of an element.
Idea: It is most appropriate to use a line segment tree to solve the problem. Construct the array into a binary tree structure, and each node stores the sum of its child nodes, so that both query and update can be completed in O(log n) time.
Follow up:
- In addition to line segment trees, can you think of other methods? Please compare their pros and cons.
- If this array is quite large and needs to be updated frequently, what memory and performance bottlenecks might your segment tree implementation have? How to optimize?
FAQ — Google SWE Intern Interview Frequently Asked Questions
1. How many rounds of Google SWE Intern interviews are there in total?
Google SWE Intern's technical interviews generally have two rounds of technical interviews (each round is about 45 minutes) that mainly examines algorithms and data structures. Most candidates can complete the process in two rounds. If the feedback in a certain round is unclear, a tiebreaker (third round) is sometimes added for supplementary evaluation.
2. Does the interview only test algorithms? Will there be behavioral/program issues?
According to the interview memories of different internship candidates:
- The vast majority of SWE Intern interviews are purely technical and algorithmic, and do not necessarily ask behavioral questions.
- Some interviewers may briefly ask one or two simple project/communication-related questions in the second round, but they won’t delve as deeply into the behavioral aspects as they would for a full-time position.
3. How difficult are typical questions in interviews? Will you be sad about LeetCode Hard?
Not completely fixed, candidate feedback varies greatly:
Some people say that the topic is biased LeetCode medium to medium-hard Level (picture/tree/DP, etc.)
Others have the more difficult "get close to Hard" problem.
In general, Google pays more attention to your thought process, clarification of problem conditions in advance, and time and space complexity analysis.
4. What is the specific process for coding interviews?
The general sequence is as follows:
- Interviewer brief introduction
- Enter the Coding question (medium difficulty DSA question)
- You should firstAsk about boundary conditions and input and output assumptions
- Explain your ideas and complexity analysis
- Write complete code
- At least one more Follow-up OrImprove/optimize issues
- You can ask questions before the end (about the team/internship project, etc.)
5. What knowledge points does the technical inspection mainly focus on?
According to the official description and interview experience, the core is as follows:
Algorithms and data structures:
- Tree/Graph/Linked List/Array
- Heap / Two pointers / Sliding window
- Recursion / DP / Sorting/Search
- Hash table/Set
- Complexity analysis
(These contents are the focus of SWE Intern interview)
6. Do I need to prepare for a systems design interview?
For SWE Intern For positions, system design is generally not the focus, and the focus is mainly on algorithm and code implementation. However, for higher grades or specific positions, simple design ideas (such as API design) may also be asked.
7. Do I need to code on a screen share Google Doc?
Similar to full-time SWE interviews, Google interviews typicallyShare a Google DocCode exchanges are conducted, but there are also feedback from internship candidates that they use Text editor (plain text environment). It helps to get used to writing code without IDE assistance in advance.
8. If I don't pass in two rounds, is there still a chance?
Yes:
- If the technical feedback is good or bad, sometimes it will be rescheduled. Third round interview (tiebreaker)
- Google will combine all interview feedback to decide whether to offer or project match
This means that a poor answer to a single question will not immediately disqualify you.
9. How long will it take for me to receive the results after my interview?
The overall process at Google (from application to offer decisions) typically takes a few weeks. Exact times vary depending on the team and the progress of the process. The middle may include background review, project match stage, etc.
10. Any preparation suggestions?
- Do more data structure & algorithm question exercises (focus on linked lists/trees/graphs/DP)
- Practice clearly describing ideas and asking clarifying questions
- Practice in a mock interview without IDE environment
- Understand basic behavioral questions before the interview (“Tell me about a time…”)
Logic and communication exercises are equally important in the preparation process.
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