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Google QA Interview Questions & Prep Guide (1970)

Google hires QAs as Software Engineers in Test (SETs). The loop mirrors SWE rounds with one bar-raiser focused on testing strategy. Here's what you'll face and how to prepare.

Last updated: June 1970

Google SET loop

RoundFocusDuration
Phone screenData structures + 1 testing scenario45 min
Coding 1Algorithms (medium LeetCode)45 min
Coding 2OOP + test design45 min
System designTest infra at scale45 min
Behavioral / GoogleynessLeadership principles45 min

Sample questions reported by candidates

  • Design a test framework for Google Maps' search box across 100+ locales.
  • Implement an LRU cache and write its full test suite.
  • Given a flaky test, walk through your triage in production.
  • How would you test YouTube's auto-captioning pipeline?
  • Explain a time you pushed back on a tight deadline to protect quality.

6-week prep plan

Weeks 1-2: 100 LeetCode mediums (arrays, strings, hashmaps). Weeks 3-4: Cracking the Coding Interview chapters 1-9 + Google SRE book chapter 17 (testing). Weeks 5-6: 8 mock interviews + 1 system design per day on test infrastructure.

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