What mistakes are bad in a SWE Google onsite?
Just completed their onsite and I just can't sleep. Someone help me. Every round I was able to get a working solution, no huge road blocks. Which mistakes are huge red flags versus small ones? Does completing the first question but only talking about the second one cause a lower score? I forgot some edge cases like what if input is empty or popping from an empty stack on two questions? But the main average case works and I completed 4 questions in the same session? Was never told that there was an error but attempted to test the code. What happens when the questions has two approaches. I coded the longer approach and it works but there is an easier approach which is much faster to implement?
(a) Edge cases are taken pretty seriously so you'd have got a lower score on that one. (b) completing the first question while only talking about the second one is completely fine as long as the first question wasn't a warm-up question.
I got the problem right but forgot edge cases. Rejected
How much LC did you solve for prep?
Almost 200.
Do you think that amount prepared you well enough? I'm around 260 hoping to hit 350 before interviews. Hoping I will be ready
I'm just curious, how much time do you spend on average for a leetcode medium/hard question.
Easy level: 1 min plan and 2-5 mins to code and 1-2 mins to test Medium: 5-10 mins talk and plan 10-15 mins to code 5 mins to test. Hard: 10 mins to plan and 20 mins to code, 5-10 test Totally on average: Easy takes like 5-10 mins. Mediums are about 20-25 mins. Hard take like 30-40 mins
Awesome, those are good numbers
What's done is done, leave it all behind! Getting an offer from another company should be next if you want to continue to derisk.
What's your current TC?
Google interviewer here. Frankly, it's a dice-roll. Even smart people have only 60-70% chance of impressing any given interviewer. Do the probability, with 7 interviews in 1 day, you have roughly 5% chance of getting an offer. This is no joke I have interviewed ~30 people for positions at Google, I recommended about 10, and I don't think a single person got a job offer. Google hiring is a joke, and it's a big waste of Googler's time. To get the offer, you have to get lucky, AND you have to be underpaid at your current job, otherwise you will be measured against PhDs who built UNIX, stroustroup, guido, etc., and you won't measure up.
Chill man ! Take a day off, watch some Netflix , spend some time with SO. You are understandably stressed but please understand that Blinders can only speculate based on the incomplete info you have provided. Such speculations won't really be of any actual comfort to you.
Yeah I'm trying. I'm just a stressful person when it comes to this stuff. Spent too much of my own time prepping.
Agreed. Many years later you will find all this type of stress is nothing compared with all the other challenges down the road