How to Crack FAANG Interviews (Part - 3)

Last month, I interviewed at Google, and the entire process challenged how I think about algorithms, systems, and structured problem-solving.

FAANG interviews are tough, but they're not unpredictable.

If you understand what each company prioritizes (e.g., Google = recursion, trees, DP-heavy), you can create a strategy that’s not just efficient but effective.

This isn’t about grinding 300+ problems randomly.

It’s about solving the right patterns, using real interview tags, and following a 5-week plan based on what companies actually ask.

In Part 3, we’ll break down Google

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Google

Key Question Patterns & Company Focus

• Graphs & Trees (search indexing, map routing)

• Dynamic Programming & Bit Manipulation (low-level, large-scale optimizations)

• Hash Tables & Arrays/Strings (quick lookups, large data sets)

• Mathematical Puzzles & Number Theory (common in Google interviews)

• Depth & Rigor: Google expects deep edge-case reasoning, proofs of correctness, and discussing trade-offs.

Resource List

• Books

  • Cracking the Coding Interview

  • Elements of Programming Interviews (EPI)

• Online Platforms & Tags

  • LeetCode “Google” Tag

  • Google Tech Dev Guide

• Articles & Blogs

  • “How to Prepare for Google SDE Interviews”

• YouTube Channels & Playlists

  • NeetCode (@NeetCode) – search “NeetCode Google”

  • TechLead (@TechLead) – search “TechLead Google interview tips”

5-Week Training Plan

Week 1 – Arrays, Strings & Bit Manipulation

• Goals

  • Master fundamental array & string operations (two-pointer, sliding window)

  • Cover bitwise operators (XOR, shifts, bit masks) in common puzzles

• Problems (12 Easy/Medium)

  1. Two Sum

  2. Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters

  3. Container With Most Water

  4. 3Sum

  5. Valid Sudoku

  6. Group Anagrams

  7. Count Bits (Number of 1 Bits)

  8. Single Number

  9. Missing Number

  10. Reverse Bits

  11. Valid Palindrome

  12. First Unique Character in a String

• Study Actions

  1. Practice common bitwise patterns (XOR swap, bit counting)

  2. Time solves: Easy ≤ 10 min, Medium ≤ 20 min

  3. For each problem, write expected bit operations (e.g., mask = mask << 1 | bit)

Week 2 – Trees & Binary Search Trees

• Goals

  • Master binary tree traversals, BST invariants, balanced vs. unbalanced trade-offs

  • Prepare to discuss tree height, recursion depth, tail recursion

• Problems (10 Medium)

  1. Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree

  2. Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree

  3. Validate Binary Search Tree

  4. Find Mode in Binary Search Tree

  5. Convert Sorted Array to Binary Search Tree

  6. Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum

  7. Populating Next Right Pointers in Each Node

  8. Diameter of Binary Tree

  9. Binary Tree Level Order Traversal

  10. Symmetric Tree

• Study Actions

  1. Draw random BSTs and manually verify inorder is sorted

  2. Write down conditions for balanced vs. unbalanced; discuss space trade-offs

Week 3 – Graphs & BFS/DFS

• Goals

  • Master adjacency list/matrix, BFS/DFS on directed/undirected graphs

  • Cover cycle detection, topological sort, shortest path (Dijkstra, Bellman-Ford)

• Problems (10 Medium/Hard)

  1. Number of Islands

  2. Course Schedule

  3. Alien Dictionary

  4. Clone Graph

  5. Graph Valid Tree

  6. Word Ladder

  7. Minimum Height Trees

  8. Cheapest Flights Within K Stops

  9. Network Delay Time

  10. Redundant Connection II

• Study Actions

  1. Write both DFS (recursive) and BFS (queue) from scratch in ≤ 20 minutes each

  2. For each problem, annotate when to use adjacency list vs. matrix

Week 4 – Dynamic Programming & Bitmask DP

• Goals

  • Master 1D/2D DP, bitmask DP for small n (≤ 20)

  • Cover DP on trees (Tree DP) commonly asked by Google

• Problems (10 Medium/Hard)

  1. Longest Increasing Subsequence

  2. Coin Change

  3. Word Break

  4. Partition Equal Subset Sum

  5. Edit Distance

  6. Unique Paths

  7. Bitwise AND of Numbers Range

  8. Single Number

  9. Subset Sum (Partition Equal Subset Sum)

  10. House Robber II

• Study Actions

  1. Write bitmask DP for TSP-style problems (n ≤ 20) on paper

  2. Identify when recursion + memoization is faster than bottom-up

  3. Discuss space reduction (rolling arrays) for 2D DP

Week 5 – Mock Interviews & Feedback Loop

• Goals

  • Simulate 3 timed “Google” mocks (45 minutes each)

  • Emphasize proof of correctness and discussion of edge cases/optimizations

• Actions & Platforms

  1. Peer Mock: Rotate roles; maintain strict time

  2. Online Mock:

     • Pramp – search “Google”

     • Interviewing.io – filter “Google”

  3. Self-Review:

     • List problems that took > 30 minutes

     • Re-solve those in ≤ 25 minutes

     • Record a 2-minute “proof sketch” audio explaining time/space trade-offs

Final Thoughts

The truth is that every FAANG company follows a repeatable pattern, once you study their previous interviews and product-specific needs.

Use this breakdown like a GPS: you still have to drive, but you’ll always know the fastest route.

Until next week,

Jugaldb