I went through a Google-style, DSA-heavy loop that became much harder at the onsite level and ended in rejection.
I passed the recruiter or phone screen, where the bar felt lower and the focus was role fit and coding ability. I then completed multiple DSA and coding interviews in a standard LeetCode-style format, with follow-ups about optimizing or implementing similar solutions.
At the onsite, the coding questions became more difficult. In one case, I could not independently reach an optimal approach, and I did not advance. I was able to book a separate practice test with another Google engineer, but that practice task was substantially different and less useful.
My takeaway was that the onsite DSA bar and the expectation of independent optimization were the real differentiators.
Location: Zürich. Overall feedback: Negative. Offer status: No offer.
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