
Ask HN: I have an interview with Google in a week.  What should I prepare? - tempThrowAwayG
I have an interview scheduled with Google in a week&#x27;s time.  It&#x27;s for a Developer position.  I have 7 years of experience mostly with Java, Scala and Ruby.  I am shitting bricks as I am a Google fanboy and this opportunity is my Atlantis.<p>How should I prepare in a week and go about it?<p>Feel free to ask any questions you may have.<p>Throw Away account because I am not taking any chances.
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askafriend
Sorry to say that if you haven't been prepping with various Algorithms, Data
Structures, and Systems Design questions every single day for weeks, maybe
months ahead of time - you're probably screwed unless you get lucky.

You're doing the equivalent of going in cold for the SAT if you're just now
asking for this advice...

~~~
slackingoff2017
Pretty sad what you have to do to have a chance at getting a job these days.
Is there any proof that this gets better employees? I haven't seen a shred of
real scientific evidence. Is it anything more than corporate hazing?

You have to think that for each person hired probably 100 others spent months
of their life preparing for the interview. What a massive waste of human
effort.

~~~
askafriend
This isn't just any job. This is a $250-450k per year job for an engineer
working on multi-billion-user scale systems/products at one of the most
successful companies in the world.

Everybody and their mother wants to work at companies like Google, Facebook,
Netflix, or similar. So while the preparation and interview processes can be
brutal, they filter out all the people who aren't 100% serious or committed.
There are many talented people that get rejected from Google routinely and
that's fine - Google can't employ them all. They will be fine.

I don't see people gawking at MIT's admission standards. MIT turns down
ridiculously talented and accomplished students all the time.

That being said, with enough grit, preparation, and patience, getting a job at
Google isn't that crazy assuming you're good at what you do and you're willing
to put in the time. It's probably far far more of a crapshoot to get into MIT.

Again, I'm not saying I agree with the way things are but I'm trying to help
put them in context for you. Not every job pays $250-450k and not every job is
Google.

~~~
zerr
> I don't see people gawking at MIT's admission standards. MIT turns down
> ridiculously talented and accomplished students all the time.

Well, MIT or any other university has a limited number of free seats which is
not true for Google I believe - I don't think they have a problem with the
desk space for engineers, also considering their open space hell, or at least
the desk space (limit) is not the reason of not hiring someone, I hope :)

~~~
askafriend
Fair point. There's nothing that indicates that they're having any trouble
filling seats though. Maybe they could hire faster but I don't think hiring is
the bottleneck for their business. They probably would rather go slowly and
carefully at their size anyway. I also don't really see any reason why they're
not in a great hiring position as an employer already - especially compared to
their industry peers.

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DmitryOlshansky
Just relax and sleep well.

Always worked better for me compared to times when I spent the last days
furiously trying to learn all the stuff.

There are very few things you can learn thorougly at the last moment and it’s
not worth it usually.

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bjourne
Is it a phone or on-site interview? If it is a phone interview, then keep in
mind that they call up thousands of people every year and only a small percent
of all candidates pass through.

One thing I know from experience is that overconfidence is a big no no. For
example, if you claim that you are an amazing Python developers, then they
will probe you with questions not even Guido van Rossum could answer. It's
better to only claim that you are fairly good because then they will ask you
easier questions.

------
fahimulhaq
You would probably need more than a week if you need to revise Data Structures
& Algorithms, practice problems on the whiteboard and learn about system
design basics.

This Quora answer has a lot of resources.

[https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-learn-
algorith...](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-learn-algorithms-I-
want-to-prepare-for-a-Google-interview-and-I-am-willing-to-spend-all-of-my-
free-time-learning)

------
c0110
Did the recruiter give you a list of materials to review? You need to practice
whiteboard coding in a timed setting as well. Leetcode is a good place to
practice online, but a whiteboard is even better. If you need interview
practice, you can also try mock interviews (they tend to cost money).

Good luck!

~~~
tempThrowAwayG
Thanks c0110.

The recruiter asked to review basics of Algos, DS, Space and Time complexity
and System design concepts.

~~~
c0110
The Quora link another poster submitted is a good starting place.

* Steve Yegge's advice (often cited when people ask how to prepare for Google interviews): [https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-goo...](https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-google.html)

* Buy "Cracking the Coding Interview" and go through as many problems in it. It also gives a good rundown of Algos, DS, Space & Time complexity.

* If you've never done a Google (or other big company) interview before, you could also consider looking on YouTube to see some example interviews (e.g. how people approach a problem, how they talk it out with the interviewer, etc.)

If you don't end up nailing the interview, it's really ok. You can try again
in a year. :) There are people who've done 2 or 3 tries at interviews before
they get in.

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tempThrowAwayG
Great thanks.

Bought Cracking the Coding interview already. Read the blog as well. Now
watching YouTube videos.

Is the cool off period 1 year at Google? Seems long.

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krapans
Most of the time for big companies it's 1 year.

