Upcoming Google interview (SWE3)

# Preparing for Your Upcoming Google SWE3 Interview

Hello fellow leetcoders!

As many of you know, securing an interview with Google is a significant milestone in any software engineer's career. With my phone screen round coming up in just ten days, I find myself both excited and a bit anxious. While I have been practicing on LeetCode for a while now, I still don't feel fully confident in my preparation. That's why I'm reaching out to this incredible community for advice on how to best prepare for my Google interview.

### Should I Focus on LeetCode Tagged Google Problems?

Absolutely! Focusing on LeetCode problems specifically tagged for Google can be a great strategy. These problems often reflect the types of questions that candidates have encountered in past interviews, giving you a clearer idea of what to expect. 

- **Breadth of Knowledge**: Make sure to cover a wide range of topics such as arrays, strings, trees, graphs, and dynamic programming. Google interviews tend to focus on data structures and algorithms, so it's crucial to solidify your understanding of these concepts.
  
- **Practice with a Purpose**: When solving these problems, don't just aim to get the right answer. Focus on writing clean, efficient code and explaining your thought process clearly. This will help you during the actual interview, where communication is key.

### Explore Other Resources

While LeetCode is a fantastic platform, diversifying your study resources can enhance your preparation:

1. **Books**: Consider reading "Cracking the Coding Interview" by Gayle Laakmann McDowell, which offers insights into the interview process and includes a plethora of practice questions.
  
2. **Mock Interviews**: Engaging in mock interviews with peers or using platforms like Pramp or Interviewing.io can be invaluable. These simulate the interview environment and help you get comfortable with real-time coding and problem-solving.

3. **System Design**: Although the phone screen typically focuses on coding, having a basic understanding of system design can be beneficial, especially if it comes up later in the interview process.

### Top Comment Insight

One valuable piece of advice from the community was to get a LeetCode Premium subscription and focus on solving the last six months of questions. This is a great idea as it ensures you're practicing the most relevant and recent problems that Google has been using in their interviews. 

### Final Thoughts

Remember, preparation is key, but so is maintaining a positive mindset. While it's completely normal to feel a bit anxious, trust in the work you've put in and stay focused on your goals.

If anyone has additional tips, resources, or strategies that have worked for them in their Google interviews, please share! Let’s help each other succeed!

Good luck to all who are preparing for their interviews!

#google #interview #phonescreen