interview prep

How to Prepare for Google SWE Interview in 2026

Scout Editorial Team

31 December 2025 • 6 minute read

Google interview prep — Photo by Annie Spratt / Unsplash

So you matched with a Google SWE job on Scout, congrats! 🎉 The Google loop still centers on coding, system design, and Googliness—with high expectations on clarity, tradeoffs, and safety when using AI. Use this playbook to prep efficiently and show up confident.

We'll cover the loop, best practice resources (CTCI, NeetCode, Grind75, DDIA), and behavioral stories aligned to Googliness.

Keep the pipeline warm

Keep interviewing through Scout's curated roles here to maintain leverage and reps.

Step 1: Know the Google loop

Typical sequence (varies by level/team):

Recruiter screen: Role fit, location, comp bands, timing.
Technical screens (2x): 45 minutes each; expect medium/hard DSA; clarity and testing matter.
Onsite (virtual/in-person): 2 coding, 1 system design (mid/senior), 1 behavioral/Googliness, sometimes a team match.

PRO TIP

Ask which team and level you’re interviewing for and whether the design round is required at your level.

Step 2: Coding, design, behaviorals

Tighten prep with curated resources and time-boxed practice.

Coding: Grind75 for cadence; NeetCode patterns; CTCI for depth. Aim for 1–2 problems/day across arrays/strings, trees/graphs, DP. Explain aloud, write tests—no AI during the round.
System design (mid/senior): Read Designing Data-Intensive Applications; skim System Design Primer; practice 35–40 minute runs on search/autocomplete, news feed, maps/geo, and rate limiter. Use AI to critique notes; present without it.
Behaviorals (Googliness): Humility, collaboration, user focus, bias for action with safety, and ethical AI. Prepare 8–10 STAR stories: conflict, failure, mentoring, leading without authority, shipping impact, AI safety checks.
Mock weekly: 1 coding + 1 design + 1 behavioral; record for pacing and clarity.

PRO TIP

Keep a patterns/design template: clarify goals → APIs/data → storage → caching/queues → scaling/partitioning → failures/observability → costs/latency.

Final tips: Day-of execution

Show signal early and often.

🧭 Clarify first: restate problem, constraints, and examples.
🧪 Narrate: edge cases, complexity, and small tests aloud.
🤝 Show Googliness: collaboration, user focus, and thoughtful AI usage with safety/ethics.

PRO TIP

If stuck, share your plan, try a simpler version, and explain how you’d validate—partial signal beats silence.

With focused prep, strong fundamentals, and clear communication, you'll show up ready to land your Google SWE offer in 2026. You've got this. 🚀

Table of contents

Intro Step 1: Know the Google loop Step 2: Coding, design, behaviorals Final tips: Day-of execution

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