Google Interview Prep Guide

Technical Solutions Engineer

Google​ ​Cloud Overview

Google Cloud helps millions of organizations empower their employees, serve their customers, and
build what’s next for their business — all with technology built in the cloud. Our products are
engineered for security, reliability and scalability, running the full stack from infrastructure to
applications to devices and hardware. Our teams are dedicated to helping our customers —
developers, small and large businesses, educational institutions and government agencies — see the
benefits of our technology come to life.

The Google Cloud portfolio of products is constantly expanding and evolving, as we externalize the
cutting edge technology we’ve developed to run the world's largest SaaS company, making our
infrastructure, software, and processes available to all. You will have the opportunity to get hands on
with best in class cloud products, including the wide range of IaaS and PaaS services under the Google
Cloud Platform umbrella, the transformational G Suite collaboration and communication products used
by over 3 million businesses, and industry leading Chrome and Android devices.

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Technical Solutions Engineer​ ​Overview
As a Technical Solutions Engineer, you will draw on your technical, communication, and troubleshooting
skills to diagnose and resolve customer’s issues. You’ll help companies get the most value from their
Google Cloud investments. As companies continue to utilize Google’s robust Cloud product area, you
will be their front-line of support, helping them adapt and refine their business processes and improve
their overall experience

During training you will be empowered with a core of the basic tools and values you need to be
successful through a two week-long global training event. Following training, you will most likely work
closely with a team of 3-5 other Technical Solutions Engineers to solve problems of varying technical
difficulties on a weekly basis. Your focus will be on supportability; providing the crucial
engineer-to-engineer support to our customers that promotes their success. As you do so you will
develop an in-depth understanding of Google's product technology and underlying architectures.

This organization supports a follow-the-sun support model; this means you will be expected to work 5
out of 7 calendar days. We target for the majority of TSE worked-hours to be traditional working hours,
based on local office hours, but there will be times where you are asked to work weekends or holidays,
either as an oncall function or staffed weekends or both.

We are looking for somebody who is both Technical and Client Facing. Individuals with the following skill
sets can be a great fit for the position:

1. Strong technical background and understanding of Web Technologies, Linux/Unix, and reading
and debugging code
2. Experience owning and advocating for customer issues or needs as demonstrated through
customer service experience, internships, project work, extra-curricular activities, and/or other
outside interests.
3. Strong problem solving skills and a strong desire to see others be successful.

Why Google? Impact.

Google is and always will be an engineering company. We hire people with a broad set of skills who are
ready to tackle some of technology's greatest challenges and make an impact on millions, if not billions,
of users. At Google, we not only revolutionize search, we work on massive scalability and storage
solutions, large-scale applications and develop entirely new platforms around the world. From AdWords
to Chrome, Android to YouTube, Cloud to Maps, Google is changing the world one technological
achievement after another.

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anybody else.*

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Interview Process
First Round​: You will have one 60-minute ​Google Meet​ interview. This interview will cover Basic
Troubleshooting, Reading and Debugging Code and your self-selected technical area of expertise
(either Platforms, Big Data, Networking or Infrastructure).

Second Round​: You will have three 45-minute ​Google Meet​ interviews.
● The first interview will cover troubleshooting in your self-selected area of expertise and
Customer Focus.
● The second interview will cover additional in-depth knowledge in your self-selected area of
expertise and either Coding in your preferred language (Writing & Testing code) or Systems
Design and Role Interest.
● The third interview will cover Customer Success, ​Googleyness and Leadership.
*Please note, we may request additional interviews if more data is needed to make a decision about
your candidacy

Committee Review: Every candidate at Google goes through a Hiring Committee review stage, from
graduates to Directors. This stage involves putting together a profile of your background, feedback
from the interviews, and possibly internal references. This information is reviewed by a diverse group of
senior Googlers across the business who make a final hiring decision. They ensure our hiring process is
fair and that we’re constantly hiring candidates who can contribute to Google as an organization.

Offer Review: Once all of the information is collected, a decision will be made and if successful, we'll
extend you the offer!

Technical Interviews
Technical Solutions Engineers must have a combination of both business and technical skills, so you
should expect technical questions in your upcoming interview. Your initial technical interview will cover
basic troubleshooting methodology and Reading and Debugging code.

Additionally you will also be assessed on one of the following areas of expertise that you self select:

● Platform - Web development: HTTP(S), how browsers work, APIs, authentication, cookies.
Understanding the architecture of the web and how to optimize web applications. Basic SQL
and relational database administration.
● Big Data - Relational and nonrelational databases, Big Data analytics and frameworks like
MapReduce, Hadoop and Spark. Machine learning/artificial intelligence, like TensorFlow. ( FYI-
Not creating. Working on customer issues using that technology)
● Networking - TCP/IP, UDP, ICMP, IP packets, DNS, OSI layers, load balancing, static routing,
BGP, OSPF in Linux/UNIX.
● Infrastructure - Shell scripting, logging, initialization, software packaging and distribution.
Kernel, libraries, system calls, memory management, permissions, file systems for Linux/Unix or
Windows. Container technologies like Kubernetes and Docker.

We recommend preparing by being ready to clearly express your knowledge and demonstrate your

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skills in one of the technical areas indicated above.

For the troubleshooting portion of the interview expect questions that address your theoretical
knowledge of Front End programming languages (HTML, CSS, or JavaScript), communication protocols
(HTTP and TCP/IP), basic troubleshooting/debugging (i.e something is broken, how do you go about
fixing it), languages/API and other mechanisms that enable the internet to function: HTTP, Browsers,
DNS, HTML/XML, AJAX, HTTP Protocol Basics: ​Part I​, ​Part II​.

You will be given scenarios, again using a combination of behavioral and hypothetical questions where
the interviewers want to see the steps you take to solve a problem. This will give them a good idea of
how you would approach solving problems for clients. Google will also evaluate your ability to read and
debug the code, in the language you are most familiar with, via a Google doc (your “virtual”
whiteboard). Interviewers are looking for a logical and structured approach to problem solving through
web scenarios. Make sure you understand the questions and ask appropriate follow-up questions to the
interviewer if you need clarification. A big part is finding out what the actual problem is and breaking it
down into specifics. Check out ​Life in App Engine Production for a troubleshooting example. We’ve
included some additional links on the last page of this document to deepen your understanding of the
interview questions and process.

Your second round of interviews will also cover either Coding in your preferred language (Writing &
Testing code) or Systems Design and Role Interest.

● Programming ​- Coding in one or more programming languages & knowledge of systems

software, algorithms, and data structures. Expect questions where you’ll need to code on a
shared doc as well as conceptual programming questions. To prepare, check out our
Foundations of Programming​ path in our tech development guide.
● Systems Design - How to scale a system/tool, understanding of architecture / client/server
programming model, knowledge of best practices or experience with API's/Design, Distributed
systems. Discuss system and layer choices, points of failure and discuss scalability
● Role Interest​ - Expect questions about why this role interests you.

Customer Focus/Success
Most of your time as a Technical Solutions Engineer will focus on serving Google Cloud clients in a
technical capacity. A portion of this interview will assess your ability to solve customers’ issues with a
focus on technical accuracy and customer service. You will be presented with a hypothetical, but
common issue that our Cloud customers may encounter and asked to resolve the issue. Be sure to
focus on getting to a workable technical solution, but to also ensure the customer is delighted and
satisfied with the service they’ve received. We are looking for a methodical approach to solving a
problem, with as much detail from you as possible.

Googleyness/Leadership

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anybody else.*

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Regardless of the position a candidate is interviewing for at Google, we always test for leadership and
culture fit. Leadership isn’t necessarily about formally leading a team, but understanding how do you
lead and work through complex challenges. This interview will cover behavioral and hypothetical
questions (similar to the problem solving interview) that will assess your leadership skills,
communication, and overall culture fit: How do you work as an individual versus with a team? How do
you push yourself out of your comfort zone? How do you work when there's not a lot of direction? They
are looking for specific examples in your answers.

The best way to prepare is to make a short list of things you’ve accomplished and times you’ve
demonstrated leadership and strong communication skills. When telling your stories, think about: What
were the specific challenges/hurdles? What data did you need to gather to solve the problem? Who
were the stakeholders? What was the outcome and impact? How did you get the job done, while
working as a team? The how is as important as the solution. This gives you a chance to showcase your
ability to step up and lead.

We also want to see that you bring creativity, sincerity and passion to your work. Demonstrate that you
communicate openly and act ethically; can thrive in Google's fast-paced, rapidly changing environment;
and are willing to "roll up your sleeves" and get things done. We are looking for folks who are active and
collaborative rather than competitive, and curious and embracing of diversity rather than just being
"smart."

General Problem Solving Tip for all Interviews

Our interviews are meant to give us a better idea of how you approach and solve problems. You will ​not
be asked “brainteasers”, but you will be asked both behavioral and hypothetical questions. ​Behavioral
questions are aimed to learn more about your previous experiences, giving us the opportunity to
connect your current skills with the role. (Example: “Tell me about a time when…”). Hypothetical
interview questions to give us a better picture on how you think and approach potential problems you
may face in the role. (Example: “What would you do if…”, “Imagine you were…”).

Behavioral Questions Interview Tips

● Clarify: ​You are welcome to ask follow up questions if you do not understand the question or
need additional information.
● Situation: ​Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish.
You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have
done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This can be
from a previous job, a volunteer experience, or relevant event.
● Task: ​What goal were you working toward? Outline the quantitative or qualitative outcomes
you had to achieve.
● Action: ​Describe the actions you took to address the situation. What specific steps did you
take and what was your particular contribution?
● Results: ​Describe the outcome of your actions. How did the project or situation end? What did
you accomplish?

Hypothetical Questions Interview Tips

● Clarify: ​Many of the questions will be deliberately open-ended to provide insight into what

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 categories and information you value within the scenario. We’re looking to see how you engage
with the problem and your primary method for solving it. Be sure to ask clarifying questions to
gather additional information before you walk through your thought process.
● Explain: ​We want to understand how you think, so explain your thought process and decision
making throughout the interview. Apply the project management framework you see fit and
explain how you would deal with ambiguous situations and problems. It may be helpful to give
examples of projects you were the end-to-end owner and discuss how you used data
effectively to move critical decisions forward.
● Improve: ​Think about ways to improve the solution you present. It’s worthwhile to think out
loud about your initial thoughts to a question. In many cases, your first answer may need some
refining and further explanation.
● Example Question: ​You’re asked to plan a fundraiser for a local non-profit. Walk me through
how you would do this.

High Level Tips

● Your interviewer may give you hints to guide you along. A few hints are a normal part of the
process so don’t get discouraged if you find your interviewer giving them.
● Be sure to ask clarifying questions to avoid any misunderstanding. In short, restate the
interviewer's question, confirming that you understand the problem, and describe how you plan
to solve the problem and why.
● Remember to communicate your thought process to the interviewer while solving the problem.
It's helpful for the interviewer to understand how your mind works when approaching a
problem.
● Be prepared to describe in detail projects that you’ve worked on in the past - specifically where
you’ve had to overcome challenges.

*A reminder that all of the information in this document is confidential. Please do not share this with
anybody else.*

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Additional Resources
Google Cloud
About Google Google Cloud
Company - Google Working on the Google Cloud Team
The Google story Google Cloud Platform
Google Products Google Cloud Technical Solutions and Sales
Github: Google Style Guide
Teams
Life @ Google
Developing supportability for a public cloud
Cloud Technical Account Managers
Interview Prep Cloud Consulting
How we hire
GCP for Students Seminar
CodeJam: Practice & Learn
Troubleshooting and Scripting Cloud Supportability
Technical Development Guide

Books
Cracking the Coding Interview
Gayle Laakmann McDowell
Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing
Your Next Job
John Mongan, Eric Giguere, Noah Suojanen, Noah
Kindler
Programming Pearls
Jon Bentley
Introduction to Algorithms
Thomas Cormen, Charles Leiserson, Ronald
Rivest, Clifford Stein

*A reminder that all of the information in this document is confidential. Please do not share this with
anybody else.*

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