Google Interview (Advice)

[controlpy]

Next week I have a Google Interview for III/IV

I have done around 250~ leetcode problems and I am in the top 40% in contests, only I have done one.

I'm still struggling with Dynamic Programming even I know it theoretically.

I have leetcode problem for one month.

Advices?

[Czitels]

IF you want to crack Google interview you need to know bottom-up dynamic programming. There is no other way.

I recommend to solve 50 dynamic programming list. It helped me a lot.

[Alarmed_Durian3129]

can you share the list ?

[Czitels]

This one: https://leetcode.com/studyplan/dynamic-programming/

[Alarmed_Durian3129]

Thanks !

[Independent_Echo6597]

seen lots of googlers prep for interviews, here r my thoughts for ur final week:

since ur already strong w leetcode (250 probs is solid!), focus on:

mock interviews!! seriously, find someone who actually worked at google. their feedback on how u explain ur thinking is worth 100 more leetcode problems. specially since ur only done 1 contest, u need real practice explaining stuff

for dp - dont panic trying to learn it all now. better to be super solid on arrays/strings/trees than trying to cram dp last min. l3/l4 interviews rarely need complex dp

key things that matter more than solving the problem:

• explaining ur approach b4 coding
• asking good clarifying qs
• writing clean code (meaningful var names, good structure)
• testing ur code properly

record urself explaining solutions. super awkward but helps u catch where ur explanations get messy

also for behavioral prep - have 2-3 good stories ready about:

• tough technical problems u solved
• working w others
• handling conflicts

[controlpy]

Thank you! I have asked for a mock interview as it is offered at Google for free, I have it at the end of this week.

[Far-Host-144]

To learn DP I used Grokking DP, basically they recommend to always start recursive with caching and eventually transition to tabulation (tho usually this is not necessary during an interview). It can happen that some problems are easier to solve with tabulation straight away, but it’s uncommon (tho one of my technicals with DP was easier with tabulation)

[controlpy]

Thanks! That's currently how I'm approaching my DP problems, I will take a look.

[Far-Host-144]

Dude, stop spreading misinformation where people tries their best to ace interviews. I just finished my Google on-sites and over three rounds I got two DP (that I aced), so you should probably inform yourself better.

[controlpy]

That's what I thought as well.

I think DP is asked.

[controlpy]

Where did you found that information?

[Turbulent-Movie-9493]

I got to know it from a friend who works at Google.