Status: 6.5 years of experience | Education: Tier 3 College
Current Role: L62 at Microsoft
Location: Bengaluru, India
Timeline: April–May 2024
My Google Journey
In April–May 2024, I went through Google’s onsite interview loop for an L5 position.
Interestingly, this wasn’t my first time. Back in June–July 2022, I had received a HIRE decision from the hiring committee (HC) but chose not to proceed with team matching since I was down-leveled to L3.
This time, my recruiter invited me directly for the onsite loop — no screening round. There were five rounds in total: three DSA, one System Design, and one Googleyness round.
Onsite 1: DSA (45 mins)
A HashMap-based easy–medium problem with follow-ups on concurrency.
I solved it within 20–25 minutes and had a great discussion afterward.
Self-assessment: Hire
Result: Hire ✅ — Recruiter later confirmed very positive feedback and comments.
Onsite 2: DSA (45 mins)
A Backtracking problem, a variant of Permutation II.
Although I completed the code, I struggled to clearly explain the logic and made several small mistakes while talking through it.
Self-assessment: Lean No Hire / No Hire
Result: Hire ✅ — Surprisingly, the interviewer gave good feedback and appreciated my follow-up discussions.
Onsite 3: DSA (45 mins)
Two queue-based questions — the second one was an extension with added constraints (medium–hard).
I implemented it using a special BST (could also be solved with a priority queue).
This was my best round in terms of performance.
Self-assessment: Strong Hire
Result: Lean Hire 🤝 — The feedback was solid on all aspects, though the final rating was Lean Hire.
Onsite 4: System Design (1 hour)
A design problem related to an internal system called Data Nexus, focusing on enterprise integration.
I felt confident and satisfied with my performance.
Self-assessment: Hire / Strong Hire
Result: Hire ✅ — Recruiter said this was my best performance overall.
Onsite 5: Googleyness (45 mins)
A typical behavioral round with several “Tell me about a time…” questions.
I had probably over-prepared, but it went smoothly.
Self-assessment: Hire / Lean Hire
Result: Lean Hire 🤝
Final Result
My recruiter submitted my profile to the Hiring Committee (HC) with 3–4 strong recommendations.
Overall feedback summary: Hire, Hire, Lean Hire, Hire, Lean Hire.
However, HC placed my application on hold, citing a “Need for SOS to address coding concerns,” likely due to the second DSA round. In hindsight, I should have refactored my solution properly after explaining the logic.
Team Matching
This phase turned out to be the longest and most intense.
Over 4–5 months, I went through 15+ team fit calls across 8 different teams.
- Rejected: 2 teams
- Rejected by HMs: 2 teams
- On hold: 2 teams (possibly internal hires)
- Role change: 1 team closed L5 and opened L6
- Finally: 1 team moved forward with me 🎯
The Big Moment
The last hiring manager sponsored my SOS, and I matched with a Google Core org team — exactly the project and full-stack role I wanted.
After nearly two years and over 50+ interviews with Googlers, I finally received the call I’d been waiting for in October 2024:
🎉 “Congratulations! You got into Google.”
I received a generous offer — and I happily accepted.