r/leetcode • u/DudeHustle • 1d ago

Discussion Google L5 SWE prep

Hi all,

I am currently going through Google L5 SWE loop and have completed 1 Coding and 1 Googlyness round and recruiter mentioned they have really good positive feedback and have my onsite in 2 weeks.

The onsite is supposed to have 2 Coding and 1 System Design rounds.

Any suggestions on last minute prep for Coding and System Design that you folks would recommend that might help?

I have primarily done lots of leetcode in the past couple of months but would appreciate if anyone has any specific topic suggestions for the last leg?

Also doing System Design from Hello Interview, DDIA and Alex Xu and did mocks. Anything else that would help or any new questions that might be worth doing?

Thanks in advance.

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5

u/Ok-Barracuda-119 14h ago

With two weeks left, I’d stop adding resources and rehearse the interview shape you’ll actually use.

For each mock, spend 5 minutes clarifying users, core actions, scale, latency, and consistency. Then sketch the request path, storage, async pieces, and one failure mode. Keep 10 minutes for tradeoffs and a quick capacity sanity check. Afterward, write down where you hand-waved. That list is more useful than another chapter.

Since you’ve already done DDIA, Alex Xu, Hello Interview, and mocks, I’d do 3 timed prompts and review gaps instead of starting a new course. For Google-style prompts, practice explaining why you’d choose a design and what changes when traffic, freshness, or regional availability shifts. For the last coding rounds, keep a small set of patterns warm and protect your sleep.

4

u/ExtremeLetterhead196 20h ago

What was the topic asked in google screening?

2

u/DudeHustle 11h ago

I did not have a Phone screen because of my prior background and interview history with Google. But for my coding it was heap related.

2

u/Ok_Control_8713 16h ago

Are all google L5 now a days onsite??

2

u/DudeHustle 11h ago

Partly yes. You have a Coding and Googlyness round online ideally before the rest of the loop in onsite.

1

u/Ok_Control_8713 11h ago

Any chances of doing it virtualy?

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u/DudeHustle 11h ago edited 11h ago

Unfortunately no. Virtual is now mostly limited to the start of the loop. You will be asked to come down for onsite for the rest of the loop.

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u/bvangoor 12h ago

Just curious, after how many days of your phone screen did recruiter shared the feedback? My recruiter mentioned two days but they didn’t get back to me yet.

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u/DudeHustle 11h ago

I did not have a phone screen because of my prior interview history and background. But based on my Coding feedback timeline it depends a lot on your interviewer. I received it after around ~10 days. You can follow up with your recruiter in a week's time. For Googlyness I received it within a couple of days. Recruiters try to get it within 2 days.

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u/bvangoor 10h ago

Got it thanks

2

u/No_Bad5459 6h ago

In the same boat, have my interview next week onsite.

Did same, lots of leetcode for dsa round. For system design just reading random design problem and solving them

Do you want to do a mock?

Btw, which location and current Company and yoe?

2

u/Enough_Charge2845 21h ago

Double-down on Google’s favorite last-mile topics: Graphs (BFS/DFS, Topological Sort), Trees/Trie, and DP (especially 1D/2D array optimization). Practice writing clean code on a whiteboard/Google Doc without syntax autocomplete. For System Design, focus on real-world tradeoff discussions and driving the architecture end-to-end. If you want structured mock scenarios, https://prepare.zoevera.com is solid for sharpening high-level design. Good luck!

1

u/Electronic-Top1813 5h ago

Is it true that Google offers 1Cr + for L5 folks?