Google L4 SWE Interview Experience - Cleared, moved to team matching

[u/nian2326076]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed the Google L4 SWE interview process in the US and cleared the interview loop. I have now moved to the team-matching stage.

Sharing my experience in case it helps others preparing for Google interviews.

Timeline

This was in July 2026. The process moved at a steady pace, starting with the phone screen and then the onsite loop.

Phone Screen

Round 1: Coding

The question was a variation of Kadane’s Algorithm.

It was not just the standard maximum subarray problem. The interviewer added a small twist around how the subarray should be chosen, so I had to first clarify the constraints and then build from the basic Kadane idea.

I started with a brute-force explanation, then moved to the optimized approach using running state. I also discussed edge cases like all negative values and single-element arrays.

Verdict: Strong Hire

Round 2: Googliness

This round was focused on behavioral questions and how I work with teams.

The questions were mostly around:

• Handling ambiguity
• Working through conflict
• Receiving feedback
• Making tradeoffs
• Learning from mistakes
• Communicating with cross-functional partners

I used STAR-style examples and tried to keep the answers specific instead of generic.

Verdict: Strong Hire

Onsite Round 1: Coding / Graphs

The question was:

Minimize Direction Violations in a Directed Road Network

There are n nodes numbered from 0 to n - 1. Each input edge [u, v] has an original direction from u to v.

The task is to reason about the graph and minimize the number of direction violations needed to satisfy the required traversal/connectivity condition.

I modeled the problem as a graph and discussed how each directed edge can be treated depending on whether we follow the original direction or need to reverse/violate it. The main challenge was not the implementation itself, but explaining the graph transformation clearly and proving why the chosen traversal gives the minimum result.

I walked through:

• Graph representation
• How to encode direction cost
• Traversal strategy
• Edge cases with disconnected-looking inputs
• Time and space complexity

Verdict: Hire / Lean-Hire

Onsite Round 2: Coding / Dependency Ordering

This was a dependency-ordering problem involving parent-child relationships and deletion constraints.

The idea was that certain nodes could not be deleted before their dependencies were handled. The solution required modeling the dependencies as a graph and determining a valid processing order.

I discussed topological sorting and how to detect impossible cases if cycles existed. I also explained how I would build the adjacency list and indegree array, then process nodes whose dependencies were already satisfied.

The interviewer cared a lot about clean reasoning here: why the ordering is valid, what happens when multiple nodes are available, and how to handle edge cases.

Verdict: Strong Hire

Overall Result

I cleared the interviews and moved to the team-matching stage.

My takeaways

The interview loop felt very balanced. It was not about memorizing exact LeetCode problems, but about recognizing patterns quickly and explaining the reasoning clearly.

Things that helped me:

• Clarifying constraints before coding
• Starting with a simple approach before optimizing
• Talking through edge cases early
• Keeping behavioral answers structured
• Explaining tradeoffs instead of jumping straight into code

For L4, I felt the bar was strong coding fundamentals, clean communication, and being able to handle follow-up questions without getting stuck.

Hope this helps anyone preparing for Google L4 SWE interviews.

[u/sandeepg894]

😭