Google Software Engineer Early Career Interview Questions [2024]

Preparing for Google software engineer early career interview questions can be challenging as the tech giant carefully selects top candidates from a vast pool of applicants. Even though the competition is tough, it is possible to succeed in the interview process and become a part of Google's software engineering team.

If you are in the initial years of your career aiming to secure a position at this tech giant, then you will need a solid preparation strategy. Focusing on the right Google software engineer early career interview questions can give you an edge over other candidates. To make the interview prep journey smoother, we have prepared a list of essential topics and questions that will guide you in acing the interview. 

In this article, we will cover some Google early career interview questions. We will explain the process used by Google to hire software engineers, in addition to some essential topics to cover to boost your interview preparations. 

Sample Google Early-Career Software Engineer Interview Questions

Here are some examples of the Google entry-level software engineer interview questions you can expect:

Coding Questions for Google SWE Early Career Interview

• How would you write a code that prints the first non-repeated character from a given string with minimum complexity?
• Given a square 2D matrix containing X’s and O’s. Find the largest square containing X but not O.
• Write a function to reverse a string using recursion.
• Given an array, how would you find the longest consecutive subsequence?
• Write a function to remove an element from a hashed linked list.
• With the help of a code, how would you go about demonstrating the best data structure to implement an autocomplete feature
• Find the largest palindrome in the given string.
• Given two binary numbers in the form of strings and in reverse. Find their sum.
• Write a code to check if the parentheses are balanced in the given string.

System Design Questions for Google New Grad Interview

• Design Google Docs.
• How would you design Google's database for web indexing?
• What approach would you take when designing a task scheduling system?
• How would you design Google Home (voice assistant)
• Design a ticketing platform.

Behavioral Questions for Google Early Career Interview Questions

• Why do you want to work at google?
• What’s your favorite Google product, and why?
• Elaborate on a project you completed successfully.
• Talk about a time you had to resolve a conflict in a team.
• Why did you take up programming?

As a Googler, you’ll be expected to solve some complex daily problems. So as you prepare for your Google early-career software engineer interview questions, focus extra hard on your coding skills. Time yourself and practice as much as possible. And don’t forget to read our Google Interview Guide. All the best!

Google Software Engineer Early Career Interview Process

Whether you’re an entry-level software engineer or a new graduate, the Google software engineer early career interview process spans around eight weeks and includes several stages:

Online Assessment

For early career engineers, the process starts with a 90-minute coding test featuring two questions on data structures and algorithms. To progress, you'll need to demonstrate strong problem-solving skills.

Technical Screen

The online assessment is followed by a video interview with a Google hiring manager. This Google new grad interview is highly technical, focusing on coding without autocomplete or syntax hints. Practice in environments like Google Docs to prepare.

On-site Interviews

Next, you'll complete around 4-6 interviews testing your coding and system design skills. Google software engineer early career interview questions often center on coding, with lower complexity for system design for early-career roles.

Topics to Cover for Google Early-Career Software Engineer Interview Questions

When preparing Google early-career software engineer interview questions, you’ll need to cover these topics:

Coding Topics for Google SWE Early Career Interview

Get ready to face questions primarily on data structures and algorithms. You’ll need to solve them on a whiteboard or Chromebooks. Your topic checklist for these rounds should include:

1. Dynamic Programming
2. Algorithms
3. Data Structures
4. Recursion
5. TRIE
6. Graph Theory, BFS, DFS

Also read: 12 Things to Do the Night before Your Google Onsite Coding Interview

System Design Topics for Google Early Career Interview Questions

Even though entry-level software engineers may not have to face in-depth system design questions, this can differ as per the team's requirements and the role you’re applying for. So prepare questions based on these topics:

1. Concurrency
2. Estimation
3. Scalability
4. Real-world performance
5. Networking
6. Abstraction
7. Reliability

Behavioral Topics for Google New Grad Interview

You’ll be asked questions to determine whether you have the “Googleyness” factor. The interviewers will assess whether you’re a cultural fit in these rounds. This factor is judged on the following criteria:

1. Fun-loving
2. Intellectual humility
3. Conscientiousness
4. Comfort with ambiguity
5. Courageous or interesting life decision

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Google Early-Career Software Engineer Interview Questions FAQs

Q1. How to ace a Google software engineer interview?

Start by brushing up on your fundamentals (data structures and algorithms) and move on to coding. Practice regularly and research the role as thoroughly as possible to gauge the questions you can expect and make a prep strategy accordingly.

Q2. What are the Google software engineer interview questions?

When preparing Google early-career software engineer interview questions, cover these topics — recursion, trees and graphs, dynamic programming, hash tables and queues, arrays, strings, and so on.

Q3. How hard is it to get into Google as a software engineer?

As is made clear by the company’s acceptance rate (less than 1%), it is pretty clear that Google hires only the best. To crack the Google software engineer interview, you’ll need to practice thoroughly and regularly and develop a great strategy.

Q4. What are the different rounds of Google interviews?

The Google interviews can be divided into five segments: recruiter screen, phone screenings, on-site interviews, hiring committee reviews, and executive reviews.

Q5. How much does a Google early-career software engineer?

According to Levels.fyi, the base salary of an entry-level software engineer at Google is $133,000 per year on average.

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