C Leadership Principles / Behavioral
Unlike previous rounds, this one is purely non-technical. The company expects to know more about the candidate in his/her own words. Behavioral questions can be related to.
- Candidates Personality
- Previous projects and work experience
- Steps taken during challenging situations
- Response to Positive & Negative Feedback, etc.
The key here is to remain transparent and just be yourself.
I will highlight a section mentioned in CTCI on S.A.R. . The idea is to identify impactful discussion points by classifying stories based on previous work. To know a bit more about this check soft skills sheet.
Uncovering The Real Goal
I hold the following opinions: getting coding interviews is harder than learning to code. Doing well at the interviews is often just as hard as getting the interviews. Behavioral interviews are hard if you dont have solid experience but your competition does.
When I made the switch I had zero coding background. Later, when I set my sights on Big Tech, I knew Id be competing with PhDs, people whod been coding since their teens , and folks who’d achieved a lot more technically than I had in my one brief years experience as a developer.And I had the added challenge of applying for big tech from outside the United States.
So I had to develop a plan that went well beyond just learning to code.
First, let me explain why I concluded that learning to code is the easy part, even though Id tried and failed to learn to code 4 times, between 2012 and 2018.
This insight came to me in late 2018, when my startup was struggling. I had lost tens of thousands of dollars building my startup. I had no income for over 2 years.
And I decided to pull out over $40K from my mortgage. Why? I got into a top-rated bootcamp in San Francisco.
I left my family behind, and relocated to the US. I was meant to be there for over 14 weeks, but I withdrew from this top-rated bootcamp in week 1, and returned to Australia.
From my experience on the hiring side in 3 other industries and 4 countries, I knew this was a mistake.
Learning to code is just a form of literacy. And literacy is not skill.
Coding And Learning Platforms
LeetCode, InterviewBit, and GFG were my leading go-to platforms for coding practice. Before the interviews, I solved around 320 LeetCode, 80 InterviewBit, and 30 GFG questions.
Medium difficulty problems are essential as most of your interview questions will fall under this category. Solving these will immensely improve your speed and problem-solving ability.
Its important to start with a mix of Easy and Medium level question at an early stage. Begin with Hard problems once you gain an adequate level of confidence. Dont get demotivated if you are unable to solve the Hard ones. These problems can take a longer time to practice and perfect. Whenever I felt overwhelmed, I came back to an Easy for a motivation boost.
Maintain a growth mindset. Every problem you are unable to solve is an opportunity to learn something new.
I did not wholly rely on a single resource for learning. Each resource provided me newer insights. I kept a journal, always aggregating and expanding my knowledge along the way.
Last but not least BaseCS articles by Vaidehi Joshi. She writes intuitive & straightforward explanations on several DSA topics.
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Technical Topics For Google Embedded Systems Software Engineer Interview Prep
Remember that Google is looking for embedded systems engineers who can assess a problem and apply their knowledge for an effective and efficient resolution.Ã
To be able to answer the questions during the embedded system engineer interview confidently, a strong grasp of the technical concepts is non-negotiable. Based on the interview experiences of our alumni, we’ve put together a list of concepts you should know like the back of your hand. See below:
- Design patterns and embedded system design patterns
- C and C++ programming
- Wireless connectivity
- Unified modeling language
Phase : How I Chose My Learning Resources
I know everyone thinks there is a secret magic bullet out there. Some blog, video, resource, tutorial, podcast, PDF cheatsheetsomethingthat will unlock the entire secret and make us instantly learn things.
Nope.
Ill bang on about this till the day I die information is a commodity.
Learning is hard, but its made much harder because there is too much free information.
We all fall into the trap of thinking there is some missing piece of information. There isnt.
Why? Because no matter where you live, what language you speak, what color your eyes, skin, or hair are, what gender you identify with all resources are going to teach you things that work. Theyre all the same at a very fundamental level.
They have to be, because thats how computers work.If you and I write an identical function in JavaScript or Python or Java, we are going to get identical results. Thats how computers work theyre deterministicalgorithms.
But life is most decidedly not deterministic. Identical effort, grades, skill, intelligence will not produce identical results.
Again, I had to teach myself tolearn. I had to teach myself to shift my attention away from resources/blogs/websites/courses and put my attention on building solid mental models, identifying relevant skills, drilling down on concepts rather than code implementations, applying what I already knew in new ways, reasoning, problem solving, and communicating my reasoning while I reasoned.
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Coding & Algorithm Interview
Google software engineers solve some of the most difficult problems the company faces with code. It’s therefore essential that they have strong problem solving skills. This is the part of the interview where you want to show that you think in a structured way and write code that’s accurate, bug-free, and fast.
Here are the most common question types asked in Google coding interviews and their frequency. Please note the list below excludes system design and behavioral questions, which we’ll cover later in this article.
Below, we’ve listed common examples used at Google for each of these different question types. To make these questions easier to study, we’ve modified the phrasing to match the closest problem on Leetcode or another resource, and we’ve linked to a free solution.
Finally, we recommend reading our guide on how to answer coding interview questions to understand more about the step-by-step approach you should use to solve these questions.
Example coding questions asked at Google
1. Graphs / Trees
2. Arrays / Strings
3. Dynamic Programming
4. Recursion
5. Geometry / Math
Learn About Google’s Culture
Most candidates fail to do this. But before investing tens of hours preparing for an interview at Google, you should take some time to make sure it’s actually the right company for you.
Google is prestigious and it’s therefore tempting to assume that you should apply, without considering things more carefully. But, it’s important to remember that the prestige of a job won’t make you happy in your day-to-day work. It’s the type of work and the people you work with that will.
If you know engineers who work at Google or used to work there it’s a good idea to talk to them to understand what the culture is like. In addition, we would recommend reading the following resources:
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Sample Questions For Google Embedded Systems Software Engineer Interview Prep
Hereââ¬â¢s a list of questions you can use for your embedded system engineer interview prep. Please remember that this is only an indicative list to give you a sense of what to expect:
Technical questions:
- How to avoid memory fragmentation when targeting embedded devices?
- What are the different ways of reducing power consumption in an embedded system?
- Whatââ¬â¢s the difference between a process and a thread?
- What are common issues in handling interrupts?
- What is a semaphore? What are the different types?
- Can semaphores be used for interrupt context in Linux Kernel?
- How is the keyword “Volatile” used?
- What is the meaning of the keyword “const”?
- What is a watchdog timer?
- What are the important metrics of real-time software?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a real-time operating system on a mid-range microcontroller?
- Why are C and C++ still popular and widely used in embedded systems?
- What are the benefits of using C/C++ vs. higher-level languages?
- How does one code an infinite loop in C?
- What is the difference between using an inline function and a macro?
Behavioral questions:
Soft Skills You Need For The Embedded Systems Engineer Interview
Even with adequate preparation, answering questions during your interview can be nerve-wracking. Thatââ¬â¢s why you should dedicate a large part of your Google Embedded Systems Engineer interview prep towards mastering the right approach to answer the technical and behavioral questions.Ã
All embedded systems engineers who make it past all the grueling interview rounds have a few traits in common:
- They demonstrate to the interviewer that they possess the necessary knowledge
- They break down the question and answer it in a systematic fashion
Also Check: What To Wear For A Zoom Interview
Pick A Programming Language
With your resume done, the next step of your software engineering interview journey is a simple one and won’t take long – decide on a programming language. Unless you’re interviewing for a specialist position like mobile or front end where there are domain-specific languages, you should be free to use any language you want for the algorithmic coding interviews.
Most of the time, you’d already have one in mind – pick the one you use the most and you’re the most comfortable with. The most common programming languages used for coding interviews are Python, Java, C++, and JavaScript. I wouldn’t recommend learning an entirely new language just for coding interviews as it takes a while to become proficient enough in a language to wield it comfortably in an interview setting, which is already stressful enough on its own. My personal programming language of choice is Python because of how terse it is and the functions/data structures the standard library provides.
Read more on programming languages for coding interviews: Picking a programming language
Pass The Hiring Committee Reviews
Congratulations! Youve passed the toughest on-site interview rounds. At this point, some candidates move directly to the hiring committee but some candidates go through the team-matching phase.
In the team-matching phase, youll meet prospective managers to discuss the team youd be joining and the type of work you would do. If a team wants you, theyll tell your recruiter and it will be added to your portfolio, which will then be submitted to the hiring committee.
Once that is done, your performance will be evaluated by a hiring committee, consisting of several Googlers who review a candidates performance throughout the entirety of the interview process.
In the day or two leading up to the hiring committee meeting, the reviewers read the candidates packet and make a recommendation on whether or not to hire the candidate. At the meeting the reviewers discuss their feedback and if all members agree an offer will be extended.
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Google Behavioral Questions: General
First up are the general behavioral questions that may come up for any role. Here your interviewer is looking for an overall view of your past experiences and what you will be like as an employee at Google. Youll see that regardless of the role, Google is curious about your resume, your motivations, and why you want to work for them specifically.
These are good questions for you to demonstrate your Googleyness by showing such qualities as comfort with ambiguity or a bias for action. They want to see that youve learned from past mistakes and that youve done your research on Google itself.
Practice demonstrating those values using the questions below.
Example behavioral questions asked at Google: General
Create A Project Portfolio
âCreate a portfolio of projects youâve worked on note your most important projects and achievements.Elaborate on them utilizing the STAR format to give interviewers sufficient context and information about your projects.A strong project portfolio will add immense value to your profile and boost your chances of landing an offer.
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Tip : Implicitly Show Your Googleyness
To prepare your stories, compare your past experiences with Google traits, along with personal values youre most proud of, and select the stories best reflecting those traits and values. You want to show that your values and experiences perfectly match what recruiters look for.
So what are these famous Google traits? Above all, Google places emphasis on kindness, empathy, and humility in their people. Successful candidates also excel in these criteria: learning ability, teamwork, communication skills, leadership.
- Learning ability: Google not only values excellent cognitive abilities, but also problem-solving ability, curiosity, and ability to learn.
- Teamwork: Working at Google demands that youre a great team player. Merely being an independent, hard-working employee isnt going to cut it youve got to work, think, and succeed in teams.
- Communication skills: succeeding in teams also requires excellent communication skills, and this holds true not only for Google but many companies.
- Leadership: Google defines leadership as the willingness to step into a difficult problem and step out when their expertise is not needed. One person is not always going to be the right leader for everything Google does work will be handled in small-sized teams consisting of people with different skill sets.
My Preparation Journey For Google Interviews
Every Software Engineer aspires to create an impact with his/her technical prowess. The Tech giants of this world are an amazing workplace for techies to deliver experiences reaching billions of users.
In my recent interview experiences, I attended multiple rounds and received offers from Google and Amazon. Over the past few years, the online community has helped me tremendously in preparation. With this post, I will share everything about my prep journey and contribute back my learnings. 🙂
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How To Nail Your Next Tech Interview
The Google interview questions for software engineers are focused on three topics, viz., algorithms, data structures, and distributed system design. Practicing solving Google software engineer interview questions on these topics will help you ace Googleâs tech interview and land an attractive offer.
The acceptance rate at the company is a meager 2%. This clearly reflects can be. Cracking the coding interview requires the right prep strategy, including knowledge of the top Google interview questions for software engineers.
If you are preparing for a tech interview, check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation e-book to get interview-ready!
Having trained over 11,000 software engineers, we know what it takes to crack the toughest tech interviews. Our alums consistently land offers from FAANG+ companies. The highest ever offer received by an IK alum is a whopping $1.267 Million!
At IK, you get the unique opportunity to learn from expert instructors who are hiring managers and tech leads at Google, Facebook, Apple, and other top Silicon Valley tech companies.
Want to nail your next tech interview? Sign up for our FREE Webinar.
In this article, weâll cover various aspects of, including common Google interview questions for software engineers.
Coding Interview Study Plan
The recommended time period to set aside for coding interview preparation is 3 months for a more holistic preparation. I shared my 3 month study plan here, which provides a list of coding interview topics with resources and practice questions that you should work through in order of priority every week. I will also be adding content on recommended 1 month and 1 week study plans soon.
If you have less than 3 months to prepare, you can generate your own study plans using the Grind 75 tool which generates recommended study plans for coding interviews based on the time you have left. The algorithm behind it includes a ranking of questions by priority and also a balance between breadth and depth of topics covered.
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Pass The Executive Reviews And Get The Offer
After the hiring committees meeting, the offer list awaits final reviews from an executive. Thats right, at Google, one of the top executives looks at all offers made by the hiring committees before they are extended to candidates.
Often, a Compensation Committee will determine the appropriate total compensation for the offer. Once the results are on the table, your recruiter will contact you, break the exciting news, and explain the details of the offer.
Google Software Engineer Interview Preparation
Every Software Engineer has a dream to become an engineer at Google. There are many valid reasons to prove this. The work culture, the atmosphere, and the freedom that Google provides to its employees are to the next level. Lets know Google Software Engineer Interview Preparation.
We can not ignore the high salary that google offers. Thus, becoming a software engineer at Google became the priority of many engineers.
So, this article is going to tell how a candidate should prepare for Google interviews.
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What Happens Behind The Scenes
If things go well at your onsite interviews here is what the final steps of the process look like:
- Interviewers submit feedback
- Senior leader and compensation committee review
- Final executive review
- You get an offer
After your onsite, your interviewers will all submit their feedback, usually within two to three days. This feedback will then be reviewed by a hiring committee, along with your resume, internal referrals, and any past work you have submitted. At this stage, the hiring committee will make a recommendation on whether Google should hire you or not.
The hiring committee recommendation will be reviewed and validated by a senior manager and a compensation committee who will decide how much money you are offered. Finally, as youre interviewing for a senior role, a senior Google executive will review a summary of your candidacy and compensation before the offer is sent to you.
As you’ve probably gathered by now, Google goes to great lengths to avoid hiring the wrong candidates. This hiring process with multiple levels of validations helps them scale their teams while maintaining a high caliber of employees. But it also means that the typical process can spread over multiple months.
