Google 2026 New Grad R1: L/R Piece Transformation With Barriers and BQ

Role: Software Engineer, New Grad / Early Career
Result: Final outcome not disclosed
Report time: March 2026

R1 contained a behavioral interview followed by a coding interview.

Behavioral interview

Questions included:

• Helping peers who are underperforming
• The candidate's most challenging project
• Their greatest achievement outside of work

When the candidate checked whether the final question really meant outside of work, the interviewer confirmed that it did.

Coding: directional pieces with barriers

The base problem was a variation of LeetCode 2337. A board contains L pieces that move only left and R pieces that move only right.

The follow-up introduced an immovable | barrier. No piece may cross a barrier, and barriers never move.

Practice: Transform L/R Pieces With Barriers

The candidate clarified in the comments that this was an Early Career campus application submitted the previous year, not the separate Early Career opening posted that March.