How did you get into Google?

Amazon
whnxd

Go to company page Amazon

whnxd
Jan 19, 2021 220 Comments

What's "the" thing you did to crack Google interview?

I'm f***ing tired of continuous fire culture all through my career. Need a break from it.

It's like having fire on my ass!

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TOP 220 Comments
  • Google
    TOky11

    Go to company page Google

    TOky11
    I stopped caring after failing twice. I had a third try scheduled and I blew all my weekends away snowboarding instead of studying. I had no hope of passing and I went in with the attitude that I was there to have a free lunch. Turns out that detachment from outcome was exactly what I needed to get hired. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Jan 20, 2021 8
  • Google
    QuertyB

    Go to company page Google

    QuertyB
    Decades of passionately honing my craft. Didn't realize Google was a big deal until offer time. Now I wish I looked into big tech 15 years ago.
    Jan 19, 2021 3
    • Google
      wukH80

      Go to company page Google

      wukH80
      Yahoo 😂
      Jan 20, 2021
    • New / IT
      new2Google

      New IT

      BIO
      ~20 YOE (networking, security, collaboration, application optimization, etc), and now on the cloud side. been mostly in design/architect/presales
      new2Google
      haha. I had the same reaction when the recruiter told me the est. TC pkg. it blew away what the high# that I was going to start my negotiation with :)
      Oct 6, 2021
  • Google
    TBG412

    Go to company page Google

    TBG412
    Took the Google recruiter's call after years of ghosting them. Got hyped up about Google reading silly Blind posts, prepared for leetcode (atleast mastering the CS was worth it) Threw away my Rockstar Apple job!! Accepted what at the time was a decent 40% hike in TC, felt really good about going to Google. Post Apple stock inflation, I am under 60% last I checked (maybe more) and stuck in a terrible job.

    Traded in Badass Comp Architecture, Control Systems, Power and Performance optimized Runtime for C++ Abseil where the focus is on how to make everything a callback after following 25 C++ idioms pasted on Toilet walls. And of course systems running gazzilion threadpools with no notion of Feedback loops or Control Systems (aka Amateur Hour 101)

    Traded in Apple's Focal (aka impact and product driven) that I had mastered over the years for Google's Perf (aka get L+2 to write a nice peer review) Don't even get me started on doc writing, the total value added by most docs is very little.

    Somebody take me back in time so I can hang up on that damn recruiter and continue on with my life ...
    Jan 19, 2021 6
    • New
      0Control

      New

      PRE
      Amazon, Facebook, Google
      0Control
      Bro. If you were good at Apple then just rejoin. You should have rejoined in an year. Don’t understand your logic here
      Jan 20, 2021
    • @lrYK24 sounds like concepts from electrical engineering applied to threading. Too nooby to know how those go hand & hand
      Feb 2
  • Google
    coginaML

    Go to company page Google

    coginaML
    I literally read CTCI on the flight to my interview. Beyond that ~15 LC questions in the week before, with 30 total all time LC questions. Beyond that a very intense data structures class where you had to code on paper with no references. I did 15 practice tests, 7 problems each, per test to prepare. 6 total tests. So about 500 LC style questions on pen and paper? Lol. Best DS class ever, they modeled it for interviews it appears. Interview was easy. Also I had another FAANG offer so I didn’t care that much.
    Jan 20, 2021 7
    • Please share
      Mar 11, 2021
    • Amazon
      BeffJizos

      Go to company page Amazon

      BeffJizos
      Lol. Stop looking for a “solution”. It’s a standard DS & A class. You should have already learned the material, you’re all engineers after all. Go re-study it if need be and do practice problems (maybe on paper). The fact that you’re looking for a “solution” (as if taking this class will magically solve your problem) is the real issue. You won’t be spoon-fed into your favorite company
      Mar 16, 2021
  • Google / Eng
    6Feet6Inch

    Go to company page Google Eng

    6Feet6Inch
    I have wrote this on several such similar posts but here’s the real talk which the introverts here won’t tell you.

    Getting into any big company with tough interviews involves more luck than most people realize or like to admit. In the SW world we are taught to claim every victory as ours, but telling this from experience (multiple FAANGs on my resume), interviewing is a big game of luck, I can’t stress this enough. There are people with 700+ LCs who didn’t get into Google while there are people who never did any LC and got in. I personally know 3 rockstar engineers who would take rings around most L6/7 engineers at G/FB, who were rejected by these companies. On the other hand I also know 4-5 folks who got into Google, had never done a single LC in their life and even bombed a couple of rounds.
    Jan 20, 2021 2
    • Google
      boredyet

      Go to company page Google

      boredyet
      Can confirm. They care a lot about being to articulate your thoughts, and not ignoring feedback/hints.
      Jan 20, 2021
    • Ubisoft
      Yril38

      Go to company page Ubisoft

      Yril38
      To be honest there's a lot to be said for being relaxed and chatty and developing a bit of a repartee with an interviewer generally, a lot of minor mistakes will be overlooked if the interviewer likes you
      Mar 16, 2021