CrackingWalnuts
Checked 3 August 2026. Google states that a committee decides and names the four attributes it scores. Round counts and timeline are commonly reported by candidates, not published. Source: careers.google.com/how-we-hire.
| Round | Duration | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Screen (Coding) | 45 min | One medium problem with complexity analysis required. |
| Coding Round 1 | 45 min | Algorithm problem. Often DP, trees, or graphs. |
| Coding Round 2 | 45 min | Different problem space. |
| Coding Round 3 | 45 min | Often a harder follow-up problem. |
| Googleyness and Leadership | 45 min | Six attributes probed via stories. Lighter expectations than L5. |
Targeted guidance per round in this loop. Each section links to the matching track on the site. There is no shortcut list, the bar moves loop to loop, so build the pattern recognition and the stories from real practice.
Work the pattern templates until the recognition is instant. Trace one mock problem per pattern. Practice stating time and space complexity out loud before you write code.
Senior bar. The rubric shifts from execution to ownership at scope, judgment, cross-functional impact, and being calibrated on what is hard. Every story needs alternatives considered and what you would do differently. Googleyness (humility, conscientiousness, comfort with ambiguity) is the framework to map stories to.