Strategic Cloud Engineer, Looker BI

Google

Given an unsorted array of integers, write a function to sort the array in ascending order using the merge sort algorithm. Explanation of Merge Sort:** Briefly explain the merge sort algorithm, highlighting its divide-and-conquer approach. Implementation:** Provide a step-by-step implementation of the merge sort algorithm. This includes: A mergeSort function that recursively divides the array into smaller subarrays. A merge function that merges two sorted subarrays into a single sorted array. Example:** Input array: [38, 27, 43, 3, 9, 82, 10] Expected output: [3, 9, 10, 27, 38, 43, 82] Efficiency:** Discuss the time and space complexity of merge sort. Why is merge sort considered an efficient sorting algorithm? How does it compare to other sorting algorithms like bubble sort or quicksort in terms of performance (best, average, and worst-case scenarios)? Constraints:** You are not allowed to use built-in sorting functions. The array can contain positive and negative integers. The solution must be implemented in a language of your choice (e.g., Python, Java, C++). Follow-up:** How would you modify the merge sort algorithm to sort the array in descending order? Could you implement an iterative version of merge sort instead of the recursive one? What are the trade-offs?

Google

Let's design a prototype for a system that answers questions based on financial documents. To make this concrete, imagine a user needs to quickly find information within a company's annual report (a PDF containing financial statements, management discussion, etc.). The user might ask questions like: What was the company's revenue for the last fiscal year? What were the primary risks identified by management? How did operating expenses change compared to the previous year? Describe your approach to building a prototype that can accurately and efficiently answer these types of questions. Consider aspects such as: Document ingestion and processing:** How would you load and pre-process the financial documents (e.g., PDF parsing, text extraction)? Information retrieval:** What techniques would you use to identify the relevant sections of the document that contain the answer? Question answering:** How would you extract the answer from the relevant text (e.g., using rule-based methods, machine learning models)? Data storage:** How would you store the information from the documents to allow for efficient querying? User interface:** How would the user interact with the system to ask questions and receive answers? Evaluation:** How would you evaluate the performance of your prototype?

Google

Why do you want to work for Google? To provide a more comprehensive answer, consider these points: Google's Mission and Values: How do Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful align with your own values and career aspirations? Can you provide specific examples of Google's products or initiatives that resonate with you and explain why? Google's Culture of Innovation: Google is renowned for its innovative culture. What aspects of this culture appeal to you most? For instance, are you drawn to Google's emphasis on experimentation, its commitment to open-source projects, or its support for employee creativity through initiatives like 20% time? How do you believe you would contribute to and thrive in such an environment? Opportunities for Growth and Learning: Google offers numerous opportunities for professional development and learning. Are there specific technologies, teams, or projects at Google that you are particularly interested in? Have you researched specific Google teams doing work that aligns with your interests and skills? How do you envision your career progressing at Google, and what skills or knowledge do you hope to gain? Impact and Scale: Google's products and services have a global impact, reaching billions of users. How does the opportunity to work on projects with such a wide reach motivate you? Can you provide examples of how you would approach challenges related to scalability, reliability, and user experience in a global context? Specific Skills and Contributions: What specific skills and experiences do you bring that would make you a valuable asset to Google? Highlight your technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, teamwork skills, and any relevant accomplishments. For example, can you discuss a time when you successfully tackled a challenging technical problem or collaborated effectively on a complex project? By addressing these points with specific examples and demonstrating a genuine interest in Google's mission, culture, and opportunities, you can provide a compelling and insightful answer to the question of why you want to work there.