I just got the Google STEP internship and I wanted to make a post about my stats, interview process, and prep because I definitely felt like I wanted a comprehensive guide/review on how the process works when I was applying.

Stats:

When I applied, my resume wasn't this stellar, amazing, top of the line, piece of art (and it definitely isn't now), so I wasn't expecting much when I applied. I had about 3 projects - one of which is an academic project that I wish would disappear. I just became a TA as well, so I put that on there too. I DID NOT have a reference. I'm a sophomore btw :)

Timeline:

Applications opened on September 30 and I applied on October 2. I didn't hear anything until November 21, where I got an email telling me to fill out a project questionnaire. I think the general consensus is that if you get the questionnaire, you'll probably get invited to an interview. Then on December 20, I got an email inviting me to interview.

Interview Prep:

I felt super anxious when I got the invite because I never practiced leetcode a day in my life and this was gonna be my very first technical interview so I definitely had some catching up to do. Luckily, winter break was around the corner so I used my winter break to prep. I did about 60 questions - so around 60 hours of studying for three weeks until my interview. Make sure to study arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, etc. All the basics from your typical intro to data structures course. Your recruiter should give you a slide deck that tells you all the things you should prep for.

Interviews:

My first interview went kinda bad - I wasn't able to finish the coding on time. Felt it was about a leetcode medium. I was about half-way done and then my interviewer had to call time. On the other hand, my second interview went pretty well. I was able to finish 15 minutes early and I was able to chat with my interviewer for the next 15 minutes. This time, it felt like a leetcode easy. I think I really connected with the second interviewer and had a lot of fun collaborating with them during the interview.

After Interviews Timeline:

I got an email 3 business days later, telling me that Google was still considering my application and a decision was going to be made shortly. 1 day later, I got an offer! Personally, I felt like I got an offer because of my second interview. But who knows, maybe my first interviewer also had a good opinion of me!

Interview Takeaways:

Even though I couldn't complete one of the questions, I focused on clearly communicating my thought process throughout the interview. I ensured that I explained what I was doing, why I was doing it, and what I planned to do next. I think this seemed to make a positive impression, as both interviewers were able to follow my reasoning and engage with my solution. From this experience and through research, I realized that communication is just as important as coding skills during interviews. You need to be able to articulate your thinking in a clear and structured way, even if you're feeling stuck or struggling with a problem. Practicing mock interviews helped me improve this skill significantly, and I believe it played a key role in the outcome of my application.

Don't feel discouraged if you aren't able to finish coding your solution! Make sure you're communicating and practice that by doing mock interviews. Also make sure you don't sound like a robot during your interviews lol. No one, interviewers especially, wants to have a conversation that is cold and mundane. Make sure you have an actual conversation and try to connect with them (during the end questions portion not the actual coding part).

That's kind of all I had to say. It turned out to very long....super sorry about that! Feel free to ask any questions :)