When I was interviewed for a job at Google I was told there would be 5 different interviews measuring 5 different things: Pure Algo (which I view as "let's see

When I was interviewed for a job at Google I was told there would be 5 different interviews measuring 5 different things: Pure Algo (which I view as "let's see that your CS grades were earned and not bought") Pure Coding (let's see if you have a reasonable coding style and design and are proficient with at least one language) Algo & Coding (a bit of both that makes sure you can solve a simple problem and code it [i.e. work entirely through a problem]) Software Design (so more on your skill in designing code - finding the right abstractions and interfaces etc.) Systems Design (your ability to design complete, large scale systems at a very high level) And this is more or less what I got, which seemed fair and logical to me. I agree that it is not tailored to the interviewee's individual skills (for example, your special training in cyber security is unlikely to give you an extra edge), but it makes sense for "good overall software engineer", and if you aren't also a good overall software engineer in addition to your special training in cyber security, then you are probably not what Google is trying to find. Also, it does look at your skills in coding and design which are both non-algorithmic. Now whether or not this experience is shared with other interviewees, or matches what you are looking for is something else :X