Upcoming SWE intern @Google’25 | Former SE Intern @Amazon’24

How I secured Google’s SWE Winter Internship 2025 offer

Hi, I am Hrishita Paul, a final-year CSE student at NIT Silchar, graduating in 2025. In this blog, I’m excited to share my journey of securing the 6-month Software Engineering Winter intern 2025 role at Google! 🚀

It all started when I delightedly checked for openings for the Winter Internship roles at Google and decided to fill out my application with a referral. Within a week of applying, I received an email from one of the recruiters to schedule a brief 15-minute session. During this Google Meet session, I was asked basic background details, such as my year of graduation, availability for a 6-month in-person internship, academic record, coding profiles, and my interest in web development.

After this initial call, I received dates for an interview preparation session conducted by Google, which explained the entire interview process and provided tips on how to crack Google interviews.

Technical Interview Round 1

My first technical interview was scheduled in four days after the phone screening(Gmeet discussion) round, amidst my mid-semester exams for the 7th semester. Although I had limited time for preparation, I made sure to brush up on my core concepts in all major data structures.

The first technical interview began with introductions, and the interviewer made me feel comfortable before presenting a coding question with test cases on the shared virtual coding document. The interview was strictly timed for 45 minutes. ⏳ The question involved backtracking. I clarified the question and its constraints, explained my approach, and, upon receiving a green light from the interviewer, I wrote the code while dry-running the test cases. The interviewer was satisfied, and we discussed the time and space complexity.

Next, I tackled a second DSA question on string manipulation. I thought out loud about my approach while coding, and the interviewer guided me while observing my thought process. We concluded this round with a question from my side about Google’s internship.

Technical Interview Round 2

After finishing the first round, I was anxious about whether I would be selected for the second technical interview. I was extremely happy when I received the selection for the second round, scheduled for four days later. However, my interview was postponed and shifted to October 1st.

I prepared thoroughly this time and was presented with a medium-hard difficulty question on strings. The interviewer informed me upfront that there would be no follow-up questions if I could provide the correct approach. Since I had never seen this question before, I started reviewing possible solutions while considering different data structures. I eventually hit the right note with stacks. 🧠 The question was challenging, but I was determined to solve it while dry-running the test cases. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was able to satisfy my interviewer. The round concluded with another question from my side.

Final Result

The anxious wait for the final result took about 17 days. On October 18th, at 10:19 AM, I received a call from my recruiter informing me that I had successfully cleared both rounds and they were extending me an offer. 🎉 I was on cloud nine, reflecting on the times I had lost hope. Yet here I was, successfully landing my dream job at Google.

Tips for Future Candidates

1. Think Aloud: Always verbalize your thought process while coding.
2. Discuss Your Approach: Proceed with coding only after discussing your approach verbally to save time and avoid going in the wrong direction.
3. Stay Calm: Don’t panic while dry-running test cases; consider edge cases as well.

I hope my experience provides some insight into the interview process at Google. Best of luck to all aspiring candidates! 🌟

Attaching a medium blog post link for the detailed interview experience for SWE Winter Internship off-campus at Google, India.

https://medium.com/@reinforcer/my-winter-internship-interview-experience-at-google-42ec1a60f4c6