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Interview tips from Google Software Engineers

Really the big focus of this interview is going to be technical skills.

Most interviewers are going to run a few warm-up questions, one main question that's going to take the bulk of the time, so you can imagine a 30- to 35-minute interactive question.

The questions themselves aren't going to have the answer presented to you directly.

And then you can build on top of anything you have to do inside the actual interview.

From my experience, all the interviewers from Google are extremely nice, so they are very supportive and helpful.

Even though the first solution you come up with might not be the best, they will guide you through and give you enough hints, so eventually you can get the best solution.

You definitely need to think out loud.

First, ask clarification questions.

Second, call out assumptions.

Third, you need to explain your thoughts clearly before jumping into coding.

It's like: What are your edge cases? Define those first.

Is anything going to be null?

What kind of inputs are you getting? So you can make sure that, you know, your system won't break halfway through.

That's really easy to mess up.

The biggest piece of advice on how to do well at a software engineering interview is to not try to do well at the interview, but how do you do well as a software engineer in general, right?

And that comes with practice, and it comes with knowing your code.

So you really have to do what you have to do to make sure that when you do get on site, you crush it.

I'd recommend the Google Tech Dev Guide to make sure that your fundamentals are going to be strong for the interview.

Make sure that you're really good at at least one language, because you're only going to get to pick one when you do the interview.

Prepare yourself. Get used to coding on a whiteboard.

The difference between coding on a whiteboard and coding in an editor is that you don't have any helpful tools to guide you through to finish the syntax.

So it's easy to just practice writing some code on a piece of paper where you don't have that type of tool.

I think there's a misconception that you need to be, like, you know, the best engineer ever to work at Google.

You know, you don't need to be an expert at algorithms; you just need to be good at them.

You don't need to know some really high-level complex data structures; you just need to know all the basic ones really well.

You kind of think of Google as this, like, super software-engineer-producing entity, but then you realize it's people that have also been through your same process, right?

They practiced, they worked, they developed to be who they were today.

Of course Google likes to hire smart people, but don't underestimate yourself — you can do it.

Interview tips from Google Software Engineers |نصائح المقابلة||جوجل|البرمجيات|مهندسو البرمجيات Interview-Tipps von Google Software-Ingenieuren Consejos de los ingenieros de software de Google para las entrevistas Conseils d'entretien des ingénieurs logiciels de Google Consigli per i colloqui dagli ingegneri software di Google グーグルソフトウェアエンジニアによる面接のヒント Dicas de entrevista dos engenheiros de software da Google Советы по прохождению собеседования от инженеров-программистов Google Google Yazılım Mühendislerinden mülakat ipuçları Google 软件工程师的面试技巧

Really the big focus of this interview is going to be technical skills. |||||||||||المهارات التقنية| En realidad, esta entrevista se centrará en las competencias técnicas.

Most interviewers are going to run a few warm-up questions, one main question that's going to take the bulk of the time, so you can imagine a 30- to 35-minute interactive question. |||||||||||||||||||основную часть|||||||||||| |المقابلين|||||||تمهيدية||||رئيسي|||||||معظم|||||||||||تفاعلي| La mayoría de los entrevistadores van a hacer unas cuantas preguntas de calentamiento, una pregunta principal que va a ocupar la mayor parte del tiempo, así que puedes imaginarte una pregunta interactiva de 30 a 35 minutos.

The questions themselves aren't going to have the answer presented to you directly. |||||||||مقدمة لك|||بشكل مباشر Las preguntas en sí no van a tener la respuesta que se te presenta directamente.

You really have to understand what the question is asking and have an understanding of different data structures and algorithms to be like, OK, I can mix and match this together a little bit to make this happen. أنت|||||||||||||فهم|||البيانات|الهياكل البيانية||الخوارزميات|||||||مزج||تطابق||||||||| Realmente tienes que entender lo que se te pregunta y comprender las diferentes estructuras de datos y algoritmos para poder decir: "Vale, puedo mezclar y combinar esto un poco para conseguirlo".

And then you can build on top of anything you have to do inside the actual interview. |||||||||||||||الفعلية| Y luego puedes construir sobre cualquier cosa que tengas que hacer dentro de la entrevista real.

From my experience, all the interviewers from Google are extremely nice, so they are very supportive and helpful. |||||||||للغاية||||||داعم|| Por mi experiencia, todos los entrevistadores de Google son extremadamente amables, por lo que te apoyan y ayudan mucho.

Even though the first solution you come up with might not be the best, they will guide you through and give you enough hints, so eventually you can get the best solution. حتى لو|رغم أن|||الحل الأمثل||||||||||||يرشدونك|||||||تلميحات||في النهاية|||||| Aunque la primera solución que se te ocurra no sea la mejor, te guiarán y te darán suficientes pistas, para que al final consigas la mejor solución.

You definitely need to think out loud. ||||||بصوت عالٍ Definitivamente necesitas pensar en voz alta.

First, ask clarification questions. ||توضيح| En primer lugar, haz preguntas aclaratorias.

Second, call out assumptions. |||الافتراضات En segundo lugar, señale los supuestos.

Third, you need to explain your thoughts clearly before jumping into coding. ثالثًا|||||||||القفز إلى||البرمجة En tercer lugar, tienes que explicar tus ideas con claridad antes de lanzarte a codificar.

It's like: What are your edge cases? Es como: ¿Cuáles son tus casos extremos? Define those first.

Is anything going to be null? |||||هل سيكون شيء معدوم؟ ¿Se va a anular algo?

What kind of inputs are you getting? |||مدخلات البيانات||| ¿Qué tipo de datos recibe? So you can make sure that, you know, your system won't break halfway through. ||||||||||||منتصف الطريق| Así que usted puede asegurarse de que, ya sabes, su sistema no se romperá a mitad de camino.

Definitely speak out loud so that your interviewer knows where your mind is on certain things, and that's when they can give you hints every now and again, like, "Oh, maybe don't use a HashSet; a HashMap might be a little better." ||||||||يعرف|||||||||||||||تلميحات|||||||||||مجموعة تجزئة||خريطة تجزئة||||| Definitivamente habla en voz alta para que tu entrevistador sepa dónde tienes la cabeza en ciertas cosas, y ahí es cuando te pueden dar pistas de vez en cuando, como, "Oh, tal vez no uses un HashSet; un HashMap podría ser un poco mejor".

I think a lot people come into it with the misconception that for every problem you're given, you must find the algorithmically optimal solution, but it's better to find some solution than none at all. ||||||||||سوء فهم||||||مُعطى||يجب أن|||خوارزميًا|الأمثل||||||||||على الإطلاق|| Creo que mucha gente se mete en esto con la idea equivocada de que para cada problema que se te plantea debes encontrar la solución algorítmicamente óptima, pero es mejor encontrar alguna solución que ninguna.

That's really easy to mess up. ||||يُفسِد| Es muy fácil meter la pata.

The biggest piece of advice on how to do well at a software engineering interview is to not try to do well at the interview, but how do you do well as a software engineer in general, right? ||||نصيحة كبرى|||||||||الهندسة البرمجية|||||||||||||||||||||مهندس برمجيات||بشكل عام|

And that comes with practice, and it comes with knowing your code. ||||الممارسة|||||معرفة||رمز البرمجة

So you really have to do what you have to do to make sure that when you do get on site, you crush it. ||||||||||||||||||||||تتفوق فيها| Así que tienes que hacer lo que tengas que hacer para asegurarte de que cuando llegas al sitio, lo machacas.

I'd recommend the Google Tech Dev Guide to make sure that your fundamentals are going to be strong for the interview. |أوصي بـ|||التقنية|التطوير التقني|||||||أساسياتك||||||||

Make sure that you're really good at at least one language, because you're only going to get to pick one when you do the interview. ||||||||||||||||||تختار||||||

Prepare yourself. جهز نفسك| Get used to coding on a whiteboard. ||||||السبورة البيضاء Acostúmbrate a codificar en una pizarra.

The difference between coding on a whiteboard and coding in an editor is that you don't have any helpful tools to guide you through to finish the syntax. |||||||||||محرر النصوص||||||||أدوات مساعدة||||||إكمال||بناء الجملة

So it's easy to just practice writing some code on a piece of paper where you don't have that type of tool.

I think there's a misconception that you need to be, like, you know, the best engineer ever to work at Google. Creo que existe la idea errónea de que para trabajar en Google hay que ser el mejor ingeniero de la historia.

You know, you don't need to be an expert at algorithms; you just need to be good at them.

You don't need to know some really high-level complex data structures; you just need to know all the basic ones really well. |||||||||معقدة||||||||||||| ||||||||||||one must||||||||||

You kind of think of Google as this, like, super software-engineer-producing entity, but then you realize it's people that have also been through your same process, right? |||||||||||||كيان منتج للمهندسين||||تدرك||||||||||عملية| Uno piensa en Google como una entidad que produce software, pero luego se da cuenta de que son personas que también han pasado por el mismo proceso, ¿verdad?

They practiced, they worked, they developed to be who they were today. |تدرّبوا|||||||||| Practicaron, trabajaron y se desarrollaron para ser quienes son hoy.

Of course Google likes to hire smart people, but don't underestimate yourself — you can do it. |||يحب||توظيف|||||تقلل من شأن|||||