My Google Interview Experience (ex-Google software engineer remembers)

[@clem]

A few have asked how long the entire process lasted (start to finish), so here it is, in full detail: All dates are from 2017. - January 25th: emailed recruiter (see video about this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/faq8pKGBaZhneq8 ) - January 30th: call with recruiter - February 13th: onsite interviews (described in this video) - February 16th: "Hire" decision received (woohoo!) - February 17th to March 19th: a full month of sad waiting 😢 - March 20th & March 27th: chats with two Google managers, as part of the team-matching phase - April 3rd: compensation package given and official offer received - April 4th: offer signed - May 1st: first day at Google

[@SajeelCodes]

February 17th to March 19th Lol

[@navinmittal4809]

Hi @Clement, at what stage does the recruiter tell you the compensation package?

[@clem]

@@navinmittal4809 Edited the pinned comment to reflect that!

[@maximtheconqueror]

@@clem I am proud of you. This time you put "Ex-Google".

[@sneha_d_mystery_princess]

Wow so April 3rd the Victory Day.... 😀

[@indiansoftwareengineer4899]

what I like most about your personality is 1.No formal CS-Degree, 2.the first interview, directly passed, and it's Google....... I can imagine, how much you have done, "Breathing Code"!!!! nice channel, great knowledge.

[@jonathanvillegas6870]

He has a Masters degree in Math.... that helped him out too.

[@sohamsen7892]

@@jonathanvillegas6870 True. However, he had never written a single line of code six months prior to that except for some HTML which he tried, and as he says he didn't like doing it much back then. And, he did apply for other companies too and got rejected, notably from Two Sigma where he was really close to getting an offer. Also, he learned to code in Python in 10 days for his Two Sigma interview since he wasn't allowed to use JavaScript.

[@ketsiambaku5253]

It was not his first interview. He mentioned that he was rejected by Lyft and 2sigma

[@all_the_good_names_are_gon68]

Summary: - This is concerning solely software engineering (no other facet of software development like front-end engineering, backend, machine learning, etc.), entry level position. - For Clement's experience, the technical phone interviews were miraculously skipped, so this concerns solely his experience in on-site coding interviews at Google which were scheduled for Monday, Feb 13th, 2017. They took place from 10 am to 3:15 am and they were 5 back-to-back interviews conducted by 5 different interviewers and one lunch interview in the NYC office. - The experience was so different from that of Facebook's. - 10:15 is when the first interview started and there was an option offered between working on a laptop (the more recommended option) or on a whiteboard. However, you can use both (in which you brainstorm onto the latter and execute the final result onto the former). - There was however first a chat concerning the 'top' project listed on Clement's resume. Tip: put at the top of your resume the project(s) you're most proud of. - The second interview went well, same for the third interview. - The lunch interview went well as well. - The fourth interview was particularly difficult (tip: treat the interview as if you're working with your co-worker on a problem where *you* are leading) - The fifth interview was nothing special. - Afterwards, Clement had a few words with the recruiter. - Two days later, Clement got feedback back from the recruiter which was also gonna be sent to the hiring committee. - On Thursday, Clement got notified by his recruiter via email that his feedback is complete and that they should arrange a call to discuss it. After an hour and a half they did so. - Although Clement was told that he did get a 'hire decision' from the hiring committee, he knew that this wasn't ultimately hired yet. This is where you have to go through the 'team matching process' where you're paired with a bunch of managers of various teams and you get to see which team is a good fit for you and vice versa by conversing with each via a call. - You can however get unlucky sometimes when no team has room to hire any more people (and hence no discussion will be taking place). That was Clement's situation. In such case, he had to wait 2.5 months to finally be able to talk to two managers and eventually got managed to one of them. The recruiters helped in that. - After that, you get into a VP/VSP signoff. This is when the VP and VSP review your packets and sign them off. In rare cases you can get rejected even at this stage.

[@mattupham]

I didn't realize they let you use a laptop and a whiteboard together, that's awesome! Great tips for working with your interviewer on the interview problem. That definitely gives them a much better sense of how you work (compared to if you sat silently while coding during the interview)

[@clem]

Exactly!

[@SajeelCodes]

Staring at code for a 60 minutes is fun

[@thekewlwaffle]

All your recent videos regarding your background and mission to Google have been incredibly inspiring and insightful! Thanks for sharing, you're a boss.

[@clem]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@Azariven]

I really like the idea how you treat the interview as two co-worker working together and you're leading the position. and the umph

[@teymyneytor]

Excellent Video! Forgive me for the intrusion, I would love your thoughts. Have you researched - Schallingora Information Investigation Scheme (Sure I saw it on Google)? It is a smashing exclusive product for learning what you need to say to get hired in a job interview minus the normal expense. Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my friend at very last got cool results with it.

[@atift5465]

This is awesome! Cant imagine how anxeitic those 2 months of waiting to get on a team would have been

[@clem]

*Very* nerve-racking.

[@clem]

What other Google-related topics should this Ex-Google Software Engineer 😎cover in future videos?

[@SajeelCodes]

Tell us how to park your bike in the parking of Google lol

[@Boose2nd]

Clément Mihailescu how long did the entire process take? From onsite to offer?

[@clem]

@@candresdev Good idea; will do!

[@clem]

@@SajeelCodes Scooters in NYC!

[@clem]

@@Boose2nd I just posted (and pinned) a comment answering this. You can see it at the top of the comment section.

[@_-6912]

Clem! You make me feel that I too can do it. I always dream of Google but felt not ready all the time. I started my prep. hoping to land in Google in the months coming! You make me feel there is still Google hope!

[@shreyanshsingh2627]

Carry on with the fun elements in the videos .. I really laughed at some points and am pretty positive most of the viewers did too ..

[@clem]

Very glad I could provide some laughs; will do!

[@ChristMaiizil001]

Very insprational Clement. I'm still struggling to get my foot into one of the big tech's internships. Your video is very encouraging. Please keep us updated. Thanks

[@malabikasen2401]

I love how you speak Clement. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@sneha_d_mystery_princess]

12:12 I think you were smooth and crisp in your coding in all the 5 rounds so only all the recruiters had no doubt in giving their feedback... just within 2 days... they all in one go gave you a Green signal...

[@BlueTreeCode]

The vid was very helpful, man! I literally felt anxious listening to your story, though! That was definitely a stressful waiting process. I can imagine your relief after getting that offer!

[@SajeelCodes]

It wasn't a story. Its a success

[@clem]

Glad it was helpful! And yes, to be honest, I don't think I actually conveyed quite how stressful it was for me in this video 😅

[@pn1895-txn]

Wow, you're really keeping yourself busy by cranking out all of these videos 😎. I actually know a friend that works at the Google NY office and the first time he told me about the scooters I had to ask him to repeat it again just to make sure I heard correctly lol.

[@clem]

Gotta put in the work! 😛And yes, most people working at more "normal" companies tend to be in awe when they see the scooters in person!

[@dethswurl117]

Haha I love how you're adding more comedic elements in your videos (Just do it) Thanks for this so much though, it was super helpful for me as I have an interview scheduled with them for later this month 💀. Hoping for the best

[@clem]

Glad you're enjoying them! And best of luck with the interviews; just...do it!

[@tempregex8520]

@clement you are an inspiring personality for all people like me who are still grinding

[@clem]

Thank you! #NeverStopGrinding

[@pallavijorapur5598]

Hi clement can you please also post coding questions that were asked during all the rounds if possible. Also keep posting such videos it definitely helps for people like us who are aiming for big companies!!

[@ducthinh2412]

Great video and super inspirational again, Clement! Can you make a video detailing the steps you took to prepare for these interviews?

[@clem]

Thank you! And it's coming soon; I've actually got quite a few videos planned on this topic.

[@SajeelCodes]

He will say he went to joma and techlead's interview class lol

[@loading4386]

Awesome video! I recently passed the Fall Internship interviews for Google and didn't get any interviews during the Team Matching stage. So yeah.. just because you get a hire decision from the Hiring Committee, you still don't have an offer.

[@hassansfilms]

I just submitted my coding sample and snapshot survey yesterday. How was the phone screening interview? And which office are you applying for?

[@sol5179]

Ha Clément! I really smashed that like button this time.

[@HBTwoodworking]

I am a hiring manager with a large corporation. The number of interviews at my company depends on the level of interest. The more interest we have in a candidate, the larger the numbers of interviews. It is a filtering process. We have fewer finalists after each wave of interviews. The final wave typically has three candidates from which we make the decision on who’s best for the job. We don’t have the “manager matching” process, but it can still take 30 to 60 days to get the offer letter in the hands of the hire. Many people do get very discouraged and some take other positions in the meantime, which is a loss to us.

[@roshankumarchatei9713]

Hey Clément Mihailescu I am from India (I live in India). Is it possible get a job in Google(North America) ??

[@princelauvot]

That your journey video within a period of 6 months awesome man cool experience...

[@clem]

Thanks!

[@AndresFH7233]

I'm currently at the team matching phase, I'm pretty anxious about it. And coming from another country makes me more anxious.

[@chai1817]

Those fist bump cuts deserve 10 likes. Curious to know if you ever encountered interviews as an entry level engineer where you were asked questions not in the job desc, or questions more suited for senior engineers?

[@clem]

*At least* 10! 😉 And yes, at Two Sigma I had a System Design interview, which I found very inappropriate for an entry-level candidate with no prior work experience in tech.

[@SajeelCodes]

Find fist bump cuts at 7:30

[@Alfram]

Hey clement great video as always, what would be your advice to review data structures and algorithms. Is there any particular youtube playlist/book you go back to? I bought CTCI and will be doing daily hackerrank to prepare for big N interviews in the next month and a half.

[@clem]

I would sincerely just recommend AlgoExpert (www.algoexpert.io)

[@Alfram]

@@clem haha I guess I walked right into that one.

[@clem]

@@Alfram Yes you did 😛

[@virtualmindwave]

hi Clément! when you mentioned the projects that we should emphasize at the top, is it okay to put there a pet project rather than a real life project? cause to me, my pet projects would be the ones that I'm proud and possibly the more technically challenging, then of course put some busines project below it?

[@clem]

Totally! Ultimately, pet projects *are* real projects. In other words, your project doesn't have to be a real business with customer to be worthy of being put on your resume.

[@xmhnab8737]

Legends say he's still doing the ummmm

[@piyush12121]

Hey @Clément, Do you think you solved all of the questions and coded them up completely?

[@clem]

It's a bit of a blur now, but I think I had coded out at least a first pass at each question, and for a couple of them I definitely managed to come up with and implement some optimizations.

[@thecodingjournal4726]

I am just waiting for the mail with the date 💎❤

[@callirgos01]

When my recruiter got hc feedback. I got a missed call. She left a message saying in a very discouraging tone...m "I got the feedback. Let me know when you can talk". This was a Friday end of day. Called back left a message. Had to wait THE WHOLE WEEKEND thinking such is life ... Finally called Monday morning. Recruiter said I passed hc. It was crazy.

[@clem]

Amazing (I can only imagine how stressful that must have been). Congratulations!

[@AwSoMeFactOry]

Saw all your videos related to getting a job in google, very interesting. I'm majoring in computer science and learning how to make a game (via unity and unreal engine) as side project. If anyone else is reading, do you think its nice to add game project for resume?

[@VersatileAnthem]

just did that 😂🤣.But why you left the Google like CS dojo ?

[@SagarPatil-ye5gh]

What about the support & DevOps jobs? I am working in Kubernetes & RedHat Openshift. How do I get a job in Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook & Apple?

[@thecodingjournal4726]

Always love yoyr vids clem

[@OtakRajCodes]

Thanks, this vid was very helpful .

[@clem]

Super glad it was!

[@aldogutierrezalcala3047]

I just had my interview a couple of days ago and I am nervous about the results, I felt good but who knows what happens. Probably I would need to worry about other things!

[@youpremium175]

What was the conversation in Team matching calls like?

[@jamshirgoorabian505]

I smashed the like button like... "MM"

[@newlearnings9871]

One thing I can assume is that we don't need a cs degree to get into faang companies. More power to you gem👍👍

[@shnerdz]

Hi Clement, I think you background is very non-traditional, what were the main differences between a boot camp-grad, non-cs grad and a cs grad? What areas did you feel like you had a lack of knowledge in?

[@venkateshTD]

Interesting hiring process. Can it happen that you do not find a match with any teams which can lead to a reject?

[@2RosarioVampire]

Yes. The interview process unless you apply to a highly specialized role is only an interview of "you met the bar". You have not received an offer until you get a team match.

[@developandplay]

To be honest compared to other Tech companies Google seems to make the entire process way too complicated.

[@harispapadopoulos4295]

7:45 😂 Those vids keep getting better and better Just a question. Although as you said you haven’t done any phone interviews at google, how would you compare those to the on-site ones ?

[@clem]

😎😎😎 and phone interviews are typically very similar to onsite ones, except that they're conducted over the phone. As an interviewee, I find them more stressful and less enjoyable because I prefer being able to see my interviewer's body language.

[@thierrykassy1338]

How different was the Facebook interview?

[@dev-skills]

Please also share about your experience Facebook interviews.

[@dylanl9532]

Well I just got the onsite interview email for I think L4 SWE at google.

[@alexjamarco]

Hi Clément. That's quite a story! Congratz man! One question though: What did you do between January and May (when you started working at Google)? Have you worked on some other projects, were you unemployed? What did you do?

[@haraprasadsenapati6662]

Do you have a trial for algoexpert.io in case ? Want to try once

[@eyesopen6110]

google will assess a candidate based on a single puzzle question from one "interviewer", disregarding everything else. How does that make any sense?

[@FahadAli-ot5kn]

tnk u so much give us such type of video

[@hamzamalik3730]

Sir please upload how can we apply to google if we live in another country because there are many countries that don't give students the proper counselling to apply to jobs in US etc. Hope that you will guide us how and where to apply in detail to get into jobs internationally and what are the requirements. Looking forward to to see you guiding the students and others

[@SajeelCodes]

You can apply for a Google job easily by applying online through their website, uploading your resume and cover letter and waiting for an on-site interview or may be a call interview first

[@jw7665]

How much was the offer from google? Or are you still not allowed to say?

[@notamemer93]

Did you also prepare for System Design interviews? Were you asked any question related to it?

[@_rushikesh_ganesh]

Hii ,i am fresher i completed my bachelor's if I want apply for Google which is appropriate entry level post which I was apply for role of software engineer ?

[@clem]

Any "Software Engineer" role on the Google Careers website should be fine; just make sure it doesn't specifically ask for 5+ years of experience.

[@_rushikesh_ganesh]

@@clem thanks for reply

[@SajeelCodes]

"Junior software developer" may be. You can start from an internship like me if you can.

[@_rushikesh_ganesh]

@@SajeelCodes i think it's for 2nd year or 3rd year students but not for graduate

[@SajeelCodes]

@@_rushikesh_ganesh may be you don't watch " *Gyasi Linge* "

[@hrushikeshsawant9997]

For getting placed at Google will I need a degree or they want only skills not degree????

[@Boose2nd]

How long did the entire process take? From onsite to offer?

[@SajeelCodes]

Read the first comment. The pinned comment

[@hereweare644]

Is there an aptitude round in the interview?

[@jrose2082]

mf card trick got me. verbally said “how tf did he do dat”

[@nirmalkumarravi9869]

7:30

[@SajeelCodes]

What's special there? Lol

[@SajeelCodes]

Last year, I failed to get internship at google. Ah! Google!

[@junwooabbei487]

I'll work hard till be like u 😁

[@SajeelCodes]

You can't be like him even if you work the hardest. He is above the sea level in which we live

[@junwooabbei487]

Nothing is impossible amigo ;), if he did it ,I'll do it too

[@SajeelCodes]

@@junwooabbei487 just be consistent, persistent and patient. And you will do

[@ridhwaans]

wow how do you do those card tricks?

[@clem]

Magic 😎

[@SajeelCodes]

He has been a magician since his childhood. Magic is the main reason why google accepted him for a job lmao

[@jieminzhang5678]

awesome editing lol

[@puneeth7153]

Bro can you please send me your resume format that might help me to please please 🙏😊😊😊

[@aliosaSB]

Hello Is your origin from Romania ? Mihailescu is a name from Romania.

[@TheFatherOfGod87]

I‘d shit myself before the interview. In the interview I‘d shit myself again. Finally at home without seeing the Google Office ever again I‘d take a shit knowing that is where I belong.

[@davidlie-tjauw5021]

+1 about the Google scooters 🕺

[@clem]

^ That's one of my former Google interns! 🕺🕺

[@SajeelCodes]

+1 about the google parking

[@developandplay]

Just a few hours until I have mine.

[@clem]

Oh wow, good luck!

[@psl101]

How did it go?

[@developandplay]

@@psl101 Passed it. Unfortunately Google didn't match me with any project in 3 months. Therefore I decided to do another internship at Amazon...At least I was still in the loop and didn't have to prepare all that much for Amazon interviews. Overall Googles hiring process is probably the most frustrating and slow experience out of all big tech companies.

[@developandplay]

@@psl101 Oh and even though Clement likes to sell his product I think about 50-100 hours of leetcode and cracking the coding interview should be sufficient. I never spent anything on my preperation. That being said I don't think it's a bad product...Just that it might not be necessary...

[@codeblooded6760]

Freshers dont have behavioural interview?

[@dannypham3824]

What's your opinion on leetcode premium Clement?

[@clem]

I've never used it, but I'll likely make a video comparing the pros and cons of AlgoExpert and LeetCode, respectively, soon.

[@jdaz5462]

Yep, and you went through all that and then just quit after a short time. Way to go.

[@brianmlambo3306]

Let this be the last google story Clement lol

[@vikas20013]

Run this video at 0.25x speed on 0:05 second to understand the card trick 😂

[@lawlietnear8374]

I think you have a good CV you kill twosigma bord by one Stone by ace google

[@neptunemike]

why did you leave Google. it says ex-Google software engineer?

[@clem]

I made a video exactly on that topic! You can check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYvNiISDpalmqNE

[@BiancaAguglia]

This was a great video. Your enthusiasm and the details you put into your stories make them come alive. 😊 I was thinking: it would be nice if you could talk to other people in software related jobs and see how their interview process was. (Of course, if you managed to talk to some data scientists also, I won't complain. 😊)

[@KingSimba07]

is this guys biggest accomplishment being googles Ex?

[@jimraynor3767]

The fist video of yours I stumbled upon where you interviewed the guy that was good at cartesian problem solving was kind of interesting. Since then, your videos have been popping up on my feed constantly even though I have 0 interest in them. Google, please quit feeding this bullshit to me.

[@clem]

The KZbin algorithm is trying to tell you something!

[@radwaneberredai6622]

what 's the project should i working on to get an internship at google ???

[@Opportunity631]

I just lived 2-3 months of torture inside of me during these 17 minutes 😅🙋🏼‍♂mm!

[@FahadAli-ot5kn]

Can i connect with u via social media like fb,instagram

[@chiragchatwani9124]

Do you remember any of the questions. I know its long time but you recently cracked facebook please if you can share questions

[@Stella-se1lg]

Ummm 👍

[@TKollaKid]

A lot of interviewers really suck though - they just sit there and stare at you, stone-faced. You can't always use that "treat it like a co-worker" technique.

[@thehackerman00]

ikr

[@walterwhite6499]

Hi Clement, a very good gist. How about a video sharing your then(2017) resume. Also, how can fresh graduates land the interviews at Big N.

[@clem]

Great ideas; I'll probably do something comparing my resume then to my resume now.

[@SajeelCodes]

I'll be waiting for this video because I'm interested in

[@questionyourauthorityfigur2222]

Haha I upmhh your video!

[@ianchui]

"MMMMM"!

[@onuberonly7846]

YOu said alot but nothing subtantive...still many gaps...very utra light on details maybe thats by design (overly)!

[@yogiyogi1149]

Hey bro u hav to calm down while talking Please think upon d sugestion

[@johnstamopolis5257]

This guy seems way too excited to be a highly paid cubicle drone at a soulless corporation.....

[@bigray712]

seems better than being a minimum wage paid drone working at an Amazon warehouse. Nothing wrong with being a well paid drone for 5-10 years and doing your own thing at the end.

[@clem]

😂

[@xPussySlayerx69420]

where do i sign up?

[@ayeniszwan]

unwucky lmao

[@tamrefrank]

watch this at 1.75 speed...Thank me later...hahaha

[@agnesakne4409]

you got in cuz ur white bro