# Interviewing Experience at Google - Application Engineering Intern

It was a cold winter night of November when I was scrolling through my LinkedIn and a mail popped up on my cell phone.

The subject said, "**2021 Application Engineering Internship Opportunity with Google India!**".

At first, I was like, "**Ahh.. this seems interesting. Let’s give it a read.**"

> Neither I had applied nor been referred to this role. It was just sheer luck that the recruiter found me interesting and decided to shoot me an email.

## Application Engineering? What’s that? 💼

It was not the first time I was hearing the term **Application Engineering**, but my initial perspective about the role was a bit off. Like, everyone, I was applying only for SWE roles till now, never thought of going in the AE direction.

When I dug deeper into the role and read more about it, not only I found it **more exciting** than generic SWE roles, also I found it to be **more aligned** with **my interests** and **my career perspective**.

Application Engineering is more **business-aligned** and generally focused on building products for fellow **Googlers** rather than for public release.

## Recruitment Process 📃

Let’s dive straight into the process step by step

*   Application Review & Shortlisting
*   2 x Hangout Interviews
*   Hiring Committee (HC) Review
*   Offer Review & Extend

## Application Review & Shortlisting 👀

When I got the initial email to check my interest in the role, I was asked to fill an **Interview Availability Form**.

The form asked for the times when I’m available to take the interviews in a span of 10 days in the second week of December along with my preferred programming languages.

> I wasn’t shortlisted till this time. Interviews will only be scheduled if I’m shortlisted for further interaction based on feedback from hiring teams.

Two days later, I got a mail saying I've been shortlisted for the interviews and mandatorily need to take part in an **Interview Prep Session**. The session took place in the next week.

## 2 x Hangout Interview 👔

Following the Interview Prep Session, I got the invitations for the interviews.

The interviews were scheduled on the very first day of the availability I gave. Both the interviews were **back to back** with some rest between them. Along with the schedule, they shared the links to separate **Interview Documents**.

Both the interviews were approximately 1 hour each and were done via **Google Meet**.

### Coding Interview

> **Result:** Positive  
> **Experience:** Good

### Application Design Interview

> **Result:** Positive  
> **Experience:** Average

## Hiring Committee (HC) Review 🕒

A couple of days after the interviews, the recruiter emailed notifying me that I’ve done well in my interviews and they would be moving me to the next stage, **Intern Hiring Committee Review**.

> Here I was also asked to confirm my graduating year and send the latest copies of resume and academic transcripts.

## Offer! — the YaY moment! 🥳

Around a week later, the recruiter notified me that I've cleared the hiring process and they would like to extend an internship offer to me.

> I was given 48 hours to accept the offer.

## Are you interviewing? Here’re some tips.

### Before Interviews

*   Go through all the resources provided by hiring teams.
*   Research about the company. Make sure you know their values.
*   Prepare answers to general questions beforehand.
*   Go through your resume. Make sure you know, what they know about you.

### During Interviews

*   Be on time. Join the call 5 minutes before the scheduled time.
*   Dress formally. Just because it’s virtual, doesn't mean it's casual.
*   Let the interviewer know your thought process. Keep talking.
*   Ask clarifying questions, and make use of what the interviewer gives you.

### After Interviews

*   Ask follow-up questions relevant to the job.
*   Ask the interviewer for honest feedback.
*   Give closing greetings to the interviewer.

## Looking for resources? Here're some. 🚁

%[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKu_SEDAykw]

%[https://www.interviewbit.com/google-interview-questions/]

%[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0163cssUxLA]

%[https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/top-10-system-design-interview-questions-and-answers/]