Where to Study for a Google Interview: A Short Resource List

Pick one source for each job, not five sources for the same job. A Google interview needs four things covered: coding patterns, timed practice, system design, and speaking out loud.

Most candidates collect material instead of finishing any of it. A single patterns course finished beats three courses started.

Google publishes Interview Warmup itself. It asks spoken interview questions and writes down your answer so you can read it back. It is a general practice tool, not a coding judge.

Start with patterns

A pattern is a solution shape that fits many questions, such as two pointers or a sliding window. Learning ten patterns replaces memorising hundreds of problems.

Grokking the Coding Interview is organised this way. Work through one pattern, then solve five problems in that pattern on your problem site before moving on.

If arrays, trees or graphs are still slow for you, start earlier with Grokking Data Structures for Coding Interviews.

Then add volume, with a timer

Volume only helps after the patterns are in place. Otherwise you are solving the same question many times in different clothes.

Set a timer of 35 minutes per problem. Stop when it rings, read the solution, then write the solution again yourself the next day.

Tag every problem you failed. Repeat those, and only those, once a week.

System design, if you are past entry level

New graduates rarely get a design question. From the mid level upward it is one of the onsite sessions.

Grokking the System Design Interview gives a structure you can follow under time pressure. If the basics are new, cover them first in Grokking System Design Fundamentals.

The senior version of this round is described in what a Google L5 system design interview covers.

Mock interviews are not optional

Coding alone and coding while a stranger watches are different skills. The second one is what the interview grades.

Do one mock interview a week from the month before your onsite. A peer who asks you a question you have not seen is enough.

If you want structured feedback from an experienced engineer, mock interviews fill that gap. Either way, record yourself once and listen back.

An eight week plan

What to skip

Skip long video courses on general computer science theory. They are useful learning and poor interview preparation.

Skip collecting question lists you never finish. Skip reading solutions without writing the code yourself afterwards.

Skip guessing at the dress code and the format. Those are settled in the dress code for a Google interview and whether a Google interview is online or offline.

How to Prepare

• Finish one patterns course before adding anything else. Depth in one source beats shallow use of four.
• Practise the online test format. Two unseen problems in 90 minutes, no hints, matches the Google Online Assessment.
• Keep a failure list. Every problem you could not finish goes on it, and you repeat that list weekly.
• Write your stories before the onsite. Start from the most common behavioural interview questions at Google.
• Know what each round asks. See what kind of questions are asked in a Google interview and how long the Google interview process takes.
• Plan a retry from the start. What to do if you failed a Google interview covers the cooldown and the second attempt.