Google PhD New Grad VO: Return N Numbers That Sum to K

Role: Software Engineer, PhD New Grad
Result: Final outcome not disclosed
Report time: September 2025

Coding: construct N numbers summing to K

The interviewer gave integers N and K and asked the candidate to return N numbers whose sum is K.

The candidate first used backtracking. When asked to optimize, they considered memoization, became stuck for about ten minutes, and eventually completed a dynamic-programming solution.

The interviewer offered little interaction or guidance and said that getting stuck was normal. The candidate left expecting rejection despite finishing the code.

Missing contract details

The source does not say:

• Whether values must come from a supplied array
• Whether values must be distinct
• Whether values are positive or bounded
• Whether order matters
• Whether all solutions or one solution are required

A commenter guessed LeetCode 216, but the candidate did not confirm it. Those missing rules change the task fundamentally, so no practice link is asserted.