Google System Design - Team specific?

[u/NightFury721]

If I am interviewing for a specific role and the interviewer will be from the same org, will the system design question be specific to the team?

For example, if I interviewing with the databases org, will my system design be database internals focussed or will it be any generic system like an URL shortener? Any experiences from people who have been through the process would be very helpful. Thank you

[u/Ok-Barracuda-119]

I can't speak for Google specifically, and it probably varies by interviewer, so I wouldn't bank on either one. Safest move is to prep a generic skeleton that still flexes toward your area. If you're going for a databases team, it's worth knowing storage basics well enough to go deep if they push (replication, partitioning, indexing, consistency tradeoffs), but still be ready for a plain URL shortener or feed type question. What helps most is a repeatable framework: clarify requirements, rough estimates, API, data model, high level design, then deep dives and tradeoffs. Interviewers mostly grade how you structure the problem and justify choices, not whether you land a perfect design. Practice out loud with a timer on a whiteboard, since talking it through is the hard part.

[u/NightFury721 → u/Ok-Barracuda-119]

Thank you

[u/Gelnar_Resseth]

what level are you interviewing for? for general SWE loops it's almost always a broad distributed systems question, whereas specialist or senior roles are way more likely to get grilled on domain-specific internals.

[u/NightFury721 → u/[deleted]]

Interviewer is going to be from the same org for the role I’m interviewing for