Waymo Internship Interview Experience and Questions
Question Details
Round 1
Context The session began with a discussion regarding project background, followed by a coding challenge.
Problem Statement Given a list of tasks, where each task has a specific ID
Full Details
Round 1
Context The session began with a discussion regarding project background, followed by a coding challenge.
Problem Statement Given a list of tasks, where each task has a specific ID, deadline, and reward, determine the execution order that maximizes the total profit within the given time limits.
Solution Approach The problem is best solved using a greedy strategy: 1.
Sort: Arrange all tasks in descending order based on their reward value. 2.
Schedule: For each task, check for available time slots starting from the task's deadline and moving backward. 3.
Assign: If an empty slot is found, schedule the task in that slot. If no slot is available before the deadline, skip the task.
Round 2
Behavioral Assessment The first half of the interview focused on collaboration and influence within a team setting. Key scenarios discussed included: * Handling disagreements among team members. * Influencing project progress without possessing direct authority. * Strategies for unblocking a project that has stalled.
Problem Statement Write a function that accepts a data stream and an integer parameter, $n$. The output relies on the sign of $n$: * If $n > 0$:
Output the first $n$ elements of the stream. * If $n < 0$:
Output the last $|n|$ (absolute value of $n$) elements of the stream.
Solution and Optimization To handle the requirement for $n < 0$ efficiently, especially when dealing with very large data streams, memory usage must be minimized. The optimal solution involves using a circular buffer of fixed length $|n|$. This allows the system to store only the most recent chunk of data necessary for the output, discarding older elements as new ones arrive.
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a waymo interview for a swe role (intern level) during the behavioral round reported in 2025.
It covers the following topics: Greedy, Behavioral .
Topics
More Waymo Interview Questions
About Waymo Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at Waymo. LeakCode aggregates interview reports from 10+ sources, including 1Point3Acres, Glassdoor, LeetCode Discuss, Blind, Reddit, Indeed, and Nowcoder. Each report is translated where necessary, deduplicated against existing entries, and tagged by company, role, round type, and reporting date.
Use this question as one calibration data point, not a memorization target. Companies typically rotate their question pools every 2-4 months; the exact wording of a 2024 question may differ from what you encounter today. The underlying pattern, difficulty level, and follow-up depth at Waymo are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the Waymo interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or two technical phone screens, and a 4-5 round on-site loop covering coding, system design (at L4+ levels), and behavioral. Reports tagged on LeakCode show the round-by-round distribution and typical difficulty calibration. To browse questions filtered by round type and seniority, use the company hub linked above.
How To Practice This Type of Question
Solve similar problems on LeetCode under timed conditions (25-35 minutes per medium difficulty). The goal is pattern recognition: recognize the underlying technique (sliding window, two-pointer, BFS, memoized recursion, etc.) within 60-90 seconds of reading. Strong candidates verbalize their hypothesis out loud before coding, then iterate based on feedback. Weak candidates dive into implementation immediately, lose time on the wrong approach, and run out of time for follow-ups.
Companies update their question pools every 2-4 months. The exact wording of any given question may have been retired by the time you interview. Focus your prep on the pattern, not the specific problem. The patterns that appear in Waymo reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your Waymo Round
Apply the standard interview round template: clarify requirements (2-3 minutes), state your approach out loud and confirm direction with the interviewer (3-5 minutes), code with narration (15-25 minutes), test with concrete examples including edge cases (5 minutes), discuss optimization or trade-offs if time permits (5 minutes). This template is universally accepted across FAANG and adjacent companies; deviating from it produces weaker interviewer feedback signal.
The single most predictive failure mode in Waymo reports tagged "no hire": not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers are explicitly trained to weight this. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's written notes.