Google · Software engineer · New grad · L3 / L4
The 45 minute coding phone screen, in a bare shared doc. One medium problem, explained before it is written, then follow-ups.
Google’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.
Built from what Google publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
The four attributes and the hiring committee
SWE loop shape and stage names
How Google tells candidates to structure answers
Why the hiring committee exists and why interviewers write evidence rather than verdicts. An insider account of the structure, though published in 2015, so treat specifics as historical and the structure as current.
Google's own recommended data-structures and algorithms scope for coding interviews
The loop structure and round counts by level, the 45 minute Google-Doc coding format, and the Strong-No-Hire to Strong-Hire scale
Coding-round format and the rubric dimensions (communication, problem-solving, coding, testing), community-maintained and permissively licensed
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.
The leadership and Googleyness slots of an L3 loop. Judged on evidence a committee who never met you can read.
The intern behavioral slot. Heavier on curiosity, humility and how you work with people than on scope.
The RRK slot, spoken not coded. Whether your claimed depth is real when someone digs into it.
The 30 minute recruiter call that opens a Google loop. Background, motivation and level fit, not technical.
An onsite 45 minute coding round. Harder, deeper follow-ups, and the optimality bar is real.
The L5+ system design round. Drive it: requirements, architecture, tradeoffs, and what breaks at scale.