The Google phone interview was probably the most memorable part of my job search. It lasted about 45 minutes, and the pace was intense from the start—just a quick greeting, and then straight into the problem within the first couple of minutes. The questions are usually medium to hard, the kind you might’ve seen on LeetCode, but with a twist. Everything is done in Google Docs, so there’s no syntax highlighting, no auto-complete—pretty different from coding in an IDE. I practiced in a plain text environment before the interview, just to get used to writing clean code while also clearly communicating my thought process.
The question I got was a mix of string manipulation and hash maps. It wasn’t something I’d solved before, but I didn’t rush into coding. I spent a couple of minutes explaining my approach, then talked through the logic as I implemented it step by step. The interviewer paid close attention and asked follow-up questions when I paused or tried to optimize something, things like whether I could reduce the time complexity or how the code would handle edge cases. Looking back, I realized these weren’t meant to trip me up—they were really trying to understand how I approach problems from an engineering perspective.
As a non-native English speaker, I made an effort to speak a bit more slowly and use a structured explanation: overall plan first, then which data structures I’d use, and finally how I’d write the code. It wasn’t perfect under pressure, but keeping my thoughts organized and walking the interviewer through them clearly was what mattered. As long as your grammar isn’t completely off, language usually isn’t a deciding factor.
For preparation, I focused on Google-style questions and practiced mock interviews with friends, especially writing code directly in Google Docs. On the interview day, I set everything up 10 minutes early—checked my internet, closed unnecessary apps, and made sure I was in a calm headspace. Even though I felt there was room for improvement afterward, getting the email for the next round felt incredibly rewarding.
Looking back, I think the phone interview at Google is less about having the perfect solution and more about showing how you think, communicate, and problem-solve. If you prepare well, stay calm, and focus on being clear and methodical, it’s a very fair shot—even at a place as competitive as Google.
Release time:2025-06-12
