Google Early Career Phone Screen: Heap Optimization From N Log N to N Log K

Role: Software Engineer, New Grad / Early Career
Result: Passed the phone screen
Report time: July 2025

The interviewer arrived about ten minutes late. The problem was unfamiliar at first and was linked to a GeeksforGeeks page, but the legacy source retained only the site's homepage rather than the exact exercise.

Recoverable solution progression

The source preserves these facts:

• A parameter k is much smaller than n.
• The candidate first asked whether calling the language's sort function was allowed.
• They estimated sorting at O(n log n).
• The interviewer asked for a faster approach.
• The candidate used a heap plus a temporary array to reach O(n log k).
• A space follow-up led them to remove the temporary array and make the solution in-place or lower-space.

The actual input and required output are missing, so several different heap problems could fit those same complexity clues. No exact practice link is asserted.

The candidate received the pass notification two days later and confirmed this was an Early Career interview.