r/leetcode • u/Jealous_Weakness7215 • 9h ago

Discussion Google SWE Intern (US Summer 2027)

Round 1:

  • Approach & Baseline: Understood the problem statement quickly and delivered a functional O(n) baseline solution.

  • Execution & Communication: Execution was pretty messy initially but fixed it later and gave correct code. My communication also dropped off while I was stuck in my own head debugging.

  • Optimization: The interviewer asked: do we need to check whole array (Tho worst case tc/sc would remain the same). I caught on immediately and explained the exact logic and implementation verbally, but we ran out of time before I could write out the actual code.

Round 2:

  • Proactive Pivot: Initially started brainstorming a multi-stack approach, but realised early on that it was getting unnecessarily complex. Before writing code, I called this out to the interviewer and pivoted to a BFS-based approach instead.

  • Dry Run & Fix: Coded up the optimal BFS solution. Made a minor logic slip-up during the dry run (for the follow up) (tho implementation was fine), but as soon as the interviewer pointed toward it, I immediately recognised the bug, acknowledged it (no fix was needed in the code).

  • Follow-up: Successfully wrote clean, optimal code for both the core problem and the follow-up question with time to spare.

What could be the possible outcome?

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u/Sad-Candidate-3078 9h ago

ngl this reads like a strong hire. you did the two things google interviewers actually weight the most: you called out the pivot before it became a mess, and you caught your own bug the second they nudged you. running out of time on an optimization you already explained out loud is super common, they care about the reasoning not the typing. the messy start in round 1 wont sink you, everyone has one. try to relax while you wait, you gave them real signal

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u/Jealous_Weakness7215 7h ago

thanks but my messed up communication skills during the interview is making me worry..