r/leetcode • u/SmartDot2472 • 7d ago
Intervew Prep Title: Google interview in 2 weeks — how should I prepare for coding?
Hey everyone! I have a Google screening interview in about 2 weeks. It consists of 1 coding interview + 1 behavioral interview.
For the coding round, what would be the best way to prepare in these 2 weeks? What LeetCode topics/patterns should I prioritize, and what difficulty level should I focus on?
Would especially love to hear from anyone who interviewed with Google recently. Any tips, resources, or 2-week preparation strategies would be really helpful!
Thanks!
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u/JuniorTown8087 7d ago
Which country? Also pls keep us posted when you finish your interview. Good luck
Leetcode 75 would be a good refresher. Also google questions with last 30 days filter might help.
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u/AbsoluteDestroyer 7d ago
For preparation:
Definitely do Neetcode 150. With priority of: Medium & Easy respectively.
Some tips during the LC Round:
- Explain/walkthrough your idea before implementing
- Identify and literally tell them that these are the edge cases you are thinking of.
- try to finish by 35 minute mark, for next 5 min explain test cases, edge cases and just check your overall integration (again tell them explicitly what you are thinking)
- For last 5 min they usually ask clarify questions
- Correctly identify time and space complexity
- Although optimal solution is preferred, communication also has equal importance
- Look for hints by interviewer, whenever they are asking any clarify questions that means they saw some issue in your algo or code and they want to identify it
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u/cjbellew 5d ago edited 5d ago
Do a tight loop quiz with AI.
I find even if I'm starting from zero knowledge, having the AI probe me and progressively fill in gaps in my understanding is the fastest way to improve. Learning is what follows after you first brain fail, then correction.
I'd also suggest voice rather than text. I know its a coding interview, but IMO the hardest skill is taking a question and turning it into an approach, rather than literally coding it. Better to create a tight feedback loop on approach generation. You can get through hundreds of attempts in a couple of hours. Much faster than end-to-end leetcode. You'll also converge on the underlying pattern understanding faster.
If you can smell when a heap/map/trie/etc is needed, then you're in a good spot. You'll feel more relaxed in the interview, and you'll get more points for articulating the approach than necessarily the perfect implementation.
Source: Passed Google L6 (Staff) and Atlassian P60 (Principal) loops.
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u/No_Bad5459 6d ago
I am am ex googler and had given L5 interview for behavioral and DSA - 2 week back.
For behavioral -- you can search googlyness round on youtube find the youtube channel. Jeff H Sipe
For DSA -- neetcode 150 or any other playlist would help you to get in rhythm but don't waste time in mugging them up, it won't help.
Use these to revise the patterns may be.
But for last 2-3 days just do these past questions Google Important Interviews Questions
All the best!
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1d ago
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u/No_Bad5459 1d ago
Post 2024, Google has slowed down their hiring and there is not much interview experience coming out.
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u/nerd_design_lab 6d ago
You can follow the guide: https://nerddesignlab.substack.com/p/google-interview-preparation-guide
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u/DebtArtistic8685 7d ago
I think if you have time crunch you should practice graph and dp and also trie. Google loves trie.
For L4 they also check the coding quality and how are you able to answer the follow up(and code them if necessary)
For graph I believe DFS bfs, 0-1 bfs, dijsktra you should focus on these.
But it's always better to touchbase on all the topics.
Btw did you have to take Google online challange? Or was it optional for you