Software Engineer(Internship) applicants have rated the interview process at Google with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 69% positive. To compare, the company-average is 61.5% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer(Internship) roles take an average of 47 days to get hired, when considering 631 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Google overall takes an average of 38 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Google as a Software Engineer(Internship) according to 631 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 42%
Presentation: 19%
One on one interview: 16%
Skills test: 10%
Drug test: 3%
IQ intelligence test: 3%
Other: 2%
Background check: 2%
Personality test: 2%
Group panel interview: 1%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Google in Sep 2018
Interview
A recruiter contacted me to know if I would be interested in an internship position. A few follow-up emails later (discussing my background, current position and grades) I was suggested to have a call and discuss in more details. The recruiter was super nice and friendly, definitely on the side of interviewee! I wasn't however a good match for a software engineering internship as my main focus is Data Science. (Yes, you still go through a software engineering internship hiring process if you're a Data Scientist) I definitely plan to improve my Software Engineering skills and re-apply. My recruiter proceeded with a follow up email providing a vast amount of very useful material and tools for development. Overall, I am very satisfied with my experience and look forward to try again.
As expected from a Google interview, it consists of a phone interview and a technical interview. In my opinion, with the skill level Google is looking for, the interview is fair and accurately tests the ability of a candidate. I imagine the interview for full-time positions is harder, but as an intern, I felt that it was the right amount of difficulty and complexity.
there is no online assessment, very simple phone call, then two technicals. technicals are not difficult by any means. then you get put into team matching, after a couple months
I applied online. I interviewed at Google (Sydney) in Jun 2026
Interview
Resume screening and then two 2 rounds of technical interviews, on an elimination basis. Interview done on google docs with no IDE, dsa leetcode style question. May be asked follow up questions on how to optimise your solution or on how you would code up a solution to a similar problem.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
DSA tree question, medium-hard leetcode difficulty.