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Google Data Engineer Interview Questions

Review this list of 22 Google Data Engineer interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    44 answers
    +39

    "You shouldn't hire me if you're looking for someone to simply write code in large volumes without considering the bigger picture. I'm someone who thrives on solving root problems, building, cohesive systems, and ensuring stakeholder alignment. If the priority is speed over thoughtful analysis, I might not be the best fit. However, if you're looking for someone who can drive meaningful and scalable solutions, collaborate effectively, and contribute to long-term success, then I believe I'd bring s"

    Nicola R. - "You shouldn't hire me if you're looking for someone to simply write code in large volumes without considering the bigger picture. I'm someone who thrives on solving root problems, building, cohesive systems, and ensuring stakeholder alignment. If the priority is speed over thoughtful analysis, I might not be the best fit. However, if you're looking for someone who can drive meaningful and scalable solutions, collaborate effectively, and contribute to long-term success, then I believe I'd bring s"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    105 answers
    Video answer for 'Tell me about a time you made a mistake.'
    +94

    "Let me tell you about a time where a website I managed suddenly showed slow performance and the mistake on our side was it was unnoticed until a user reported the issue to management. As a PM for that project, I took full responsibility of the situation and worked with the engineering team to quickly resolve it. This mistake taught me the importance of focusing and monitoring non functional requirements as well in addition to new feature development /adoption where I was mostly spending my time"

    Sreenisha S. - "Let me tell you about a time where a website I managed suddenly showed slow performance and the mistake on our side was it was unnoticed until a user reported the issue to management. As a PM for that project, I took full responsibility of the situation and worked with the engineering team to quickly resolve it. This mistake taught me the importance of focusing and monitoring non functional requirements as well in addition to new feature development /adoption where I was mostly spending my time"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +8 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    39 answers
    Video answer for 'Edit distance'
    +32

    "from collections import deque def updateword(words, startword, end_word): if end_word not in words: return None # Early exit if end_word is not in the dictionary queue = deque([(start_word, 0)]) # (word, steps) visited = set([start_word]) # Keep track of visited words while queue: word, steps = queue.popleft() if word == end_word: return steps # Found the target word, return steps for i in range(len(word)): "

    叶 路. - "from collections import deque def updateword(words, startword, end_word): if end_word not in words: return None # Early exit if end_word is not in the dictionary queue = deque([(start_word, 0)]) # (word, steps) visited = set([start_word]) # Keep track of visited words while queue: word, steps = queue.popleft() if word == end_word: return steps # Found the target word, return steps for i in range(len(word)): "See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    70 answers
    +62

    "I most want to communicate a few principals of conflict resolution that I believe were integral in this situation, which are mutual respect, a results orientation, an unwavering focus on the user. To that end, here’s how I’d like to structure this answer: First, I’ll tell you about the project we were working on, to provide some background for you. Second, I’ll describe the disagreement. Third, I’ll describe how we arrived at a solution, and finally, I’ll discuss how those 3 conflict resolut"

    Ross B. - "I most want to communicate a few principals of conflict resolution that I believe were integral in this situation, which are mutual respect, a results orientation, an unwavering focus on the user. To that end, here’s how I’d like to structure this answer: First, I’ll tell you about the project we were working on, to provide some background for you. Second, I’ll describe the disagreement. Third, I’ll describe how we arrived at a solution, and finally, I’ll discuss how those 3 conflict resolut"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +7 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    43 answers
    +38

    "Was this for an entry level engineer role?"

    Yeshwanth D. - "Was this for an entry level engineer role?"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +4 more
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  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    125 answers
    Video answer for 'Tell me about yourself.'
    +117

    "As you know, this is the most important question for any interview. Here is a structure I like to follow, Start with 'I'm currently a SDE/PM/TPM etc with XYZ company.... ' Mention how you got into PM/TPM/SDE field (explaining your journey) Mention 1 or 2 accomplishments Mention what you do outside work (blogging, volunteer etc) Share why are you looking for a new role Ask the interviewer if they have any questions or will like to dive deep into any of your experience"

    Bipin R. - "As you know, this is the most important question for any interview. Here is a structure I like to follow, Start with 'I'm currently a SDE/PM/TPM etc with XYZ company.... ' Mention how you got into PM/TPM/SDE field (explaining your journey) Mention 1 or 2 accomplishments Mention what you do outside work (blogging, volunteer etc) Share why are you looking for a new role Ask the interviewer if they have any questions or will like to dive deep into any of your experience"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +14 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    60 answers
    Video answer for 'What is the project you are most proud of?'
    +53

    "I was working for my friend building streams at venues across the Chicago land area for FGC (fighting game tournaments), I adjusted and engineered his equipment to be set up permanently that's until covid came around at least. I used OBS to give visual appearances to stream watchers. So we're talking about subscribe, follow, and donation notifications and things of that nature for viewers to know they contributed in one of those ways. I set up proper sign-up scheduling for participants to lock t"

    Ayinde B. - "I was working for my friend building streams at venues across the Chicago land area for FGC (fighting game tournaments), I adjusted and engineered his equipment to be set up permanently that's until covid came around at least. I used OBS to give visual appearances to stream watchers. So we're talking about subscribe, follow, and donation notifications and things of that nature for viewers to know they contributed in one of those ways. I set up proper sign-up scheduling for participants to lock t"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +13 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers

    "For any project based questions, it is important to structure your response clearly, showcasing your thought process, technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and how your work added value. Besides the STAR method, you can also use this kind of framework: 1. Start by selecting a relevant project (related to the role) Give the project background and what specific problem it solved. 2. Align the project's objective and your role Be specific about your role: were you the le"

    Malay K. - "For any project based questions, it is important to structure your response clearly, showcasing your thought process, technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and how your work added value. Besides the STAR method, you can also use this kind of framework: 1. Start by selecting a relevant project (related to the role) Give the project background and what specific problem it solved. 2. Align the project's objective and your role Be specific about your role: were you the le"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +8 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    13 answers
    Video answer for 'Tell me about a time when you improved a complex process.'
    +10

    "This is the answer I have prepared. Please let me know your comments and how I can improve the answer. I have worked on many process improvement initiatives and projects. I want to share an initiative that I led and delivered while at my previous employer. It had a great impact on over 60 programs and projects across teams in six different countries. Analysts and program managers used to generate a monthly program performance report that deals with all aspects, including schedule, risks, costs"

    Balaji G. - "This is the answer I have prepared. Please let me know your comments and how I can improve the answer. I have worked on many process improvement initiatives and projects. I want to share an initiative that I led and delivered while at my previous employer. It had a great impact on over 60 programs and projects across teams in six different countries. Analysts and program managers used to generate a monthly program performance report that deals with all aspects, including schedule, risks, costs"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    16 answers
    Video answer for 'Given an integer array nums and an integer k, return true if nums has a subarray of at least two elements whose sum is a multiple of k.'
    +12

    "Would be better to adjust resolution in the video player directly."

    Anonymous Prawn - "Would be better to adjust resolution in the video player directly."See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    34 answers
    +28

    "Idea for solution: Reverse the complete char array Reverse the words separated by space. i.e. Find the space characters and the reverse the subarray between two space characters. vector reverseSubarray(vector& arr, int s, int e) { while (s reverseWords(vector& arr ) { int n = arr.size(); reverse(arr, 0, n - 1"

    Rahul M. - "Idea for solution: Reverse the complete char array Reverse the words separated by space. i.e. Find the space characters and the reverse the subarray between two space characters. vector reverseSubarray(vector& arr, int s, int e) { while (s reverseWords(vector& arr ) { int n = arr.size(); reverse(arr, 0, n - 1"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    55 answers
    Video answer for 'Merge Intervals'
    +47

    "const mergeIntervals = (intervals) => { const compare = (a, b) => { if(a[0] b[0]) return 1 else if(a[0] === b[0]) { return a[1] - b[1] } } let current = [] const result = [] const sorted = intervals.sort(compare) for(let i = 0; i = b[0]) current[1] = b[1] els"

    Kofi N. - "const mergeIntervals = (intervals) => { const compare = (a, b) => { if(a[0] b[0]) return 1 else if(a[0] === b[0]) { return a[1] - b[1] } } let current = [] const result = [] const sorted = intervals.sort(compare) for(let i = 0; i = b[0]) current[1] = b[1] els"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +6 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    15 answers
    +10

    " function climbStairs(n) { // 4 iterations of Dynamic Programming solutions: // Step 1: Recursive: // if (n <= 2) return n // return climbStairs(n-1) + climbStairs(n-2) // Step 2: Top-down Memoization // const memo = {0:0, 1:1, 2:2} // function f(x) { // if (x in memo) return memo[x] // memo[x] = f(x-1) + f(x-2) // return memo[x] // } // return f(n) // Step 3: Bottom-up Tabulation // const tab = [0,1,2] // f"

    Matthew K. - " function climbStairs(n) { // 4 iterations of Dynamic Programming solutions: // Step 1: Recursive: // if (n <= 2) return n // return climbStairs(n-1) + climbStairs(n-2) // Step 2: Top-down Memoization // const memo = {0:0, 1:1, 2:2} // function f(x) { // if (x in memo) return memo[x] // memo[x] = f(x-1) + f(x-2) // return memo[x] // } // return f(n) // Step 3: Bottom-up Tabulation // const tab = [0,1,2] // f"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    5 answers
    +2

    "WITH RECURSIVE fibonacci_series AS ( SELECT 1 AS n, 0 AS fib1, 1 AS fib2 UNION ALL SELECT n + 1 AS n, fib2 AS fib1, fib1 + fib2 AS fib2 FROM fibonacci_series WHERE n < 20 -- Limit the series to 20 numbers ) SELECT n, fib1 AS fib FROM fibonacci_series ORDER BY n; `"

    Yashasvi V. - "WITH RECURSIVE fibonacci_series AS ( SELECT 1 AS n, 0 AS fib1, 1 AS fib2 UNION ALL SELECT n + 1 AS n, fib2 AS fib1, fib1 + fib2 AS fib2 FROM fibonacci_series WHERE n < 20 -- Limit the series to 20 numbers ) SELECT n, fib1 AS fib FROM fibonacci_series ORDER BY n; `"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Coding
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers
    Video answer for 'Design a high-tech gym.'
    +1

    "[2:53 pm, 02/12/2021] Mayank: Before we deep dive into brainstorming the solution I go ahead and make few assumptions for clarifying questions: Step-1- Framing a problem 🎯Why users go to gym? To relieve stress by doing exercise To maintain their body To reduce their weight To remain active To make good physique 🎯Who goes to gym? Couples Group of friends Individuals Here we are trying to design high tech gym so it means we are looking to create good experience-and"

    Mayank S. - "[2:53 pm, 02/12/2021] Mayank: Before we deep dive into brainstorming the solution I go ahead and make few assumptions for clarifying questions: Step-1- Framing a problem 🎯Why users go to gym? To relieve stress by doing exercise To maintain their body To reduce their weight To remain active To make good physique 🎯Who goes to gym? Couples Group of friends Individuals Here we are trying to design high tech gym so it means we are looking to create good experience-and"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Product Design
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    12 answers
    Video answer for 'Generate Parentheses'
    +8

    " O(n) time from typing import List def generate_parentheses(n: int): res = [] def generate(buf, opened, closed): if len(buf) == 2 * n: if n != 0: res.append(buf) return if opened < n: generate( buf + "(", opened + 1, closed) if closed < opened: generate(buf + ")", opened, closed + 1) generate("", 0, 0) return res debug your code below print(generate_parentheses(1"

    Rick E. - " O(n) time from typing import List def generate_parentheses(n: int): res = [] def generate(buf, opened, closed): if len(buf) == 2 * n: if n != 0: res.append(buf) return if opened < n: generate( buf + "(", opened + 1, closed) if closed < opened: generate(buf + ")", opened, closed + 1) generate("", 0, 0) return res debug your code below print(generate_parentheses(1"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    13 answers
    Video answer for 'Merge k sorted linked lists.'
    +7

    "A much better solution than the one in the article, below: It looks like the ones writing articles here in Javascript do not understand the time/space complexity of javascript methods. shift, splice, sort, etc... In the solution article you have a shift and a sort being done inside a while, that is, the multiplication of Ns. My solution, below, iterates through the list once and then sorts it, separately. It´s O(N+Log(N)) class ListNode { constructor(val = 0, next = null) { th"

    Guilherme F. - "A much better solution than the one in the article, below: It looks like the ones writing articles here in Javascript do not understand the time/space complexity of javascript methods. shift, splice, sort, etc... In the solution article you have a shift and a sort being done inside a while, that is, the multiplication of Ns. My solution, below, iterates through the list once and then sorts it, separately. It´s O(N+Log(N)) class ListNode { constructor(val = 0, next = null) { th"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Clarification questions What is the purpose of connecting the DB? Do we expect high-volumes of traffic to hit the DB Do we have scalability or reliability concerns? Format Code -> DB Code -> Cache -> DB API -> Cache -> DB - APIs are built for a purpose and have a specified protocol (GET, POST, DELETE) to speak to the DB. APIs can also use a contract to retrieve information from a DB much faster than code. Load balanced APIs -> Cache -> DB **Aut"

    Aaron W. - "Clarification questions What is the purpose of connecting the DB? Do we expect high-volumes of traffic to hit the DB Do we have scalability or reliability concerns? Format Code -> DB Code -> Cache -> DB API -> Cache -> DB - APIs are built for a purpose and have a specified protocol (GET, POST, DELETE) to speak to the DB. APIs can also use a contract to retrieve information from a DB much faster than code. Load balanced APIs -> Cache -> DB **Aut"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Concept
    +5 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "Hadoop is better than PySpark when you are dealing with extremely large scale, batch oriented, non-iterative workloads where in-memory computing isn't feasible/ necessary, like log storage or ETL workflows that don't require high response times. It's also better in situations where the Hadoop ecosystem is already deeply embedded and where there is a need for resource conscious, fault tolerant computation without the overhead of Spark's memory constraints. In these such scenarios, Hadoop's disk-b"

    Joshua R. - "Hadoop is better than PySpark when you are dealing with extremely large scale, batch oriented, non-iterative workloads where in-memory computing isn't feasible/ necessary, like log storage or ETL workflows that don't require high response times. It's also better in situations where the Hadoop ecosystem is already deeply embedded and where there is a need for resource conscious, fault tolerant computation without the overhead of Spark's memory constraints. In these such scenarios, Hadoop's disk-b"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Pipeline Design
  • Google logoAsked at Google 

    Permutations

    IDE
    Medium
    3 answers

    "function permute(nums) { if (nums.length <= 1) { return [nums]; } const prevPermutations = permute(nums.slice(0, nums.length-1)); const currentNum = nums[nums.length-1]; const permutations = new Set(); for (let prev of prevPermutations) { for (let i=0; i < prev.length; i++) { permutations.add([...prev.slice(0, i), currentNum, ...prev.slice(i)]); } permutations.add([...prev, currentNum]); } return [...permutations]"

    Tiago R. - "function permute(nums) { if (nums.length <= 1) { return [nums]; } const prevPermutations = permute(nums.slice(0, nums.length-1)); const currentNum = nums[nums.length-1]; const permutations = new Set(); for (let prev of prevPermutations) { for (let i=0; i < prev.length; i++) { permutations.add([...prev.slice(0, i), currentNum, ...prev.slice(i)]); } permutations.add([...prev, currentNum]); } return [...permutations]"See full answer

    Data Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +3 more
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