Google Phone Screen Interview Questions

A large number of software engineers and software developers dream of getting a job at Google, given the potential for growth in the company, professionally and financially. However, landing an offer from Google isn’t easy. In fact, landing an interview with Google is difficult, to begin with. With the right strategy in place, though, both outcomes are possible. 

Once your application has been accepted at Google, you’ll move on to the next stage of the company’s hiring process, i.e., the interview process.

Typically, the phone interview is conducted by a hiring manager or technical lead of your prospective team. Although you may receive a few technical questions, your phone interview will be largely behavioral in nature.  

This post on Google Phone Interview Questions will give you the necessary insights to get past the phone interview and advance to the onsite interviews. 

In this article, we’ll cover:

• Google’s Phone Interview Process
• Google Phone Interview Questions
• Tips to Crack Google’s Phone Interview
• How to Prepare for Your Google Interview
  

Google’s Phone Interview Process

The phone Interview round at Google is also known as the technical phone screen. It takes place after your application has been accepted, based on your skills and experience. A recruiter will contact you to schedule the phone interview.

For this round, you can choose a programming language you’re comfortable with. You can expect questions on data structures and algorithms to be solved within a given time period. 

Below is a list of topics to prepare for the phone screen interview:

• Arrays, Strings, and Linked Lists
• Graph Algorithms, including Greedy Algorithms
• Hash Tables and Queues
• Recursion
• Sorting Algorithms — Quicksort, Merge Sort, Heap Sort, etc.
• Trees and Graphs
• Dynamic Programming

During the technical phone screen, you’ll be required to write code and develop relevant test cases using a shared google document.

When asked a question during the phone interview, you’ll be expected to: 

• Discuss a brute force solution 
• Write a bug-free code to execute the solution 
• Answer questions on the concepts you employed 
• Cache intermediate results by making adjustments to your code 
  

After discussing your solution, you’ll be given time to ask the interviewer any questions you may have. Use this opportunity to ask questions about your job role and the daily tasks your role will entail. 

In addition to coding questions, you’ll also be asked questions on your past projects, technical strengths, and workplace-related situations.

How Important Is the Google Phone Interview Round?

Google’s phone interview round precedes the Google onsite interviews. Clearing the phone interview is necessary to move on to the onsite interviews. Prepare thoroughly for the phone interview since a large percentage of applicants are rejected in this round. 

To learn more about the interview process at Google, check out our Google interview guide.

Google Phone Interview Questions

Google’s phone screen interview will feature a mix of behavioral and coding questions. 

Google Phone Interview — Behavioral Questions

1. Why do you want to work at Google?
2. What is your favorite aspect of Google’s culture?
3. How do you maintain productivity at work?
4. How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
5. What challenges can Google’s products face in the future?
   

Recommended Reading: 9 Behavioral Interview Questions Commonly Asked at the Google Interview 

Google Technical Phone Interview — Coding Questions

1. Write a code to find the median of two sorted arrays, ‘X’ and ‘Y,’ of sizes m and n.
2. Find all magic triplets in a given integer array arr of size n. (A magic triplet is a group of three numbers whose sum is zero).
3. For a given sorted array ‘A’ of size mxn, write a code to find the number of elements that are less than or equal to a target element ‘V.’ 
4. Given an array of numbers ‘nums’ of size n, find an array of number products of size n, such that products[i] is the product of all numbers nums[j], where j != i.
5. Given an array of integers ‘arr’ of size n, which is analogous to a continuous stream of integers input, find K largest elements from a given stream of numbers.
6. Given an unsorted array ‘A’ of n number of integers, rotated at a pivot point:
   Write a code to find an integer B and return its index.
   If the integer isn’t found in the array, return the value (-1)
7. Write a code to return the square root of an integer K. 
8. Write a code to find the median of the integers in a matrix M of integers and size bxc. 
9. Given a list of meeting time intervals consisting of start and end times [[s1, e1], [s2, e2], ...] (si < ei), complete the canAttendAllMeetings function. Return 1 if a person can attend all given meetings, else 0.
10. Given an unsorted set of numbers from 1 to N with exactly two numbers missing, find the missing numbers.
    

Read more practice problems and their solutions to prepare yourself for your Google interview. 

Recommended Reading:
Google Interview Questions
Google Leadership Principles Interview Questions

Tips to Crack Google’s Phone Interview

Cracking the technical phone screen at Google requires the right prep strategy, one that’s both structured and comprehensive. Below are some tips to help you get through the phone Interview:

• Brush up on Programming Language Concepts
  

Choose an object-oriented programming language you’re comfortable with. Spend at least a week or two brushing up on important concepts. Enhance your programming language skills to solve tricky and complex coding problems. 

•  Schedule Adequate Time to Prepare 
  

Schedule adequate time to enhance your understanding of concepts in data structures and algorithms. Begin your interview prep at least 8 weeks before your interview. In our experience, two months is the average time required by most engineers to enhance problem-solving skills to meet FAANG interview standards. 

• Identify Problem-Solving Patterns
  

Pattern recognition and application is a useful method to solve unseen problems in the technical phone screen interview. Phone screen interviews focus more on coding skills than design skills.

• Create a Project Portfolio 
  

You can expect project-related questions during your phone interview. If you’re an experienced engineer, create a portfolio of all the notable projects you’ve worked on. Outline your learnings and skills gained from each project. 

• Practice Communicating Your Problem-Solving Approach
  

Letting the hiring manager know that you’ve understood the question asked is an important aspect of problem-solving during the interview. Discuss your problem-solving approach with the interviewer to ascertain if you’re on the right track. You’ll be assessed not only on the solution you arrive at but also on how you arrive at a solution. 

Recommended Reading: How to Prepare for and Crack Phone Screen Interviews at FAANG

How to Prepare for Your Google Interview

If you’re preparing for a Google technical interview, register for our free webinar to find out how you can pace and strategize your prep to ace your interview. 

At Interview Kickstart, we’ve trained 6,000+ engineers for technical interviews at FAANG companies. Our alums have landed lucrative offers at the biggest companies, with an average pay hike of 49%. Check out some reviews from our alums to discover how we’ve helped engineers take their professional careers to the next level. 

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