Google Engineer reveals his darkest secrets

What It's Really Like to Work at Google

In this video, the speaker shares their experience of working at Google and provides insights into what it takes to get hired by a top tech company like Google. They also discuss the importance of problem-solving skills over programming skills.

Getting Hired by Top Tech Companies

• The speaker used to wonder why they were rejected by every tech company they applied to.

• Media often portrays that you have to be in the top 1% to be hired at Google or any other big tech company.

• The speaker believes that getting hired has more to do with problem-solving skills than programming skills.

• A good software engineer has a deep understanding of product and what users want.

How To Get Hired By Top Tech Companies

• Being a great programmer can help accelerate your career as a software engineer, but you can always compensate for your programming by being a better problem solver.

• Lack of trying is the main difference between people who get in and those who don't.

• Stop talking yourself out of applying for these jobs because they are hard. Keep trying and you will eventually succeed.

Interviewing for Top Tech Companies

• When interviewing for Google or any other big tech company, specific questions based on data structures and algorithms are asked.

• Leetcode is a popular website that helps practice these types of questions.

Conclusion

• The speaker shares their experience of getting hired by Google after multiple attempts and emphasizes the importance of problem-solving skills over programming skills when it comes to getting hired by top tech companies.

How to Crack Tech Interviews

In this section, the speaker talks about how you don't have to give a perfect answer for hard problems in tech interviews. He also emphasizes that luck plays a role in getting selected and shares his experience of interviewing at Google multiple times.

Importance of Luck in Tech Interviews

• Luck plays a significant role in getting selected for tech interviews.

• Candidates who get selected are generally luckier than others in the pool.

• If skill played 95% role and luck was only responsible for the other 5%, there’s an 85% chance that the person who got selected this time would not get selected next time they give the same exam.

• The speaker shares his personal experience of not making it through Google's interview process despite having good skills.

Simplifying Your Approach to Getting Hired

• Simplicity wins when it comes to getting into big tech companies like Google.

• All you need is to pick something that you really like, build a lot of interesting projects using it, and become an expert at this one thing.

• Doing this will get you an interview, and at that point, it’s all about your interviewing skills and a little bit of luck.

Working at Google

• While Google has some of the best perks for its employees, focusing on these things over-glamorizes the job itself.

• There’s a constant feeling of not being good enough when you join, but working alongside smart coworkers helps you become a better software engineer.