Software Engineer L3
Selected Hard
- Experience
- 2 years
- Location
- Bengaluru
- Shared by
- Anonymous
Overview
A software engineer with two years at a startup describes a Google India L3 process that ended with negative feedback and advice to reapply after a year. It began with a recruiter call and a team-fit conversation, then a month of preparation, then a phone round, three onsite coding rounds and a Googliness round. The coding rounds went well on the first problems but slipped on scale, follow-ups and optimal complexity.
Interview rounds
-
1
Recruiter and Profile Call
Questions on past experience and current projects to check how well the profile fits open roles. -
2
Coding Round 1
Two medium-hard problems on arrays, sliding window and hash maps, where the second extended the first using a linked list. The interviewer also asked how a hash map works internally. The candidate felt this round went well. -
3
Coding Round 2
A modified rate-limiter design problem solved with three hash maps. The candidate missed handling infinite request streams and asynchronous API calls, and there was a 15-minute discussion on how to test the APIs. -
4
Coding Round 3
A hard ad-hoc array problem. The interviewer wanted a linear solution. The candidate started at O(N squared), got hints, reached O(N log N), and did not hit the target.
Tips and takeaways
Be ready for scale follow-ups such as infinite input streams and asynchronous API calls. Know how hash maps work internally. When an interviewer wants the optimal complexity, keep pushing toward it and use hints productively rather than stopping at a working solution.
