From Web Engineer to Google: One Man’s Complete Interview Roadmap

John Washam, a web engineer who started his career in 1997 and later became an AWS technical specialist in 2017, authored a highly popular Google interview preparation tutorial that has earned nearly 100,000 stars on GitHub. The guide has recently been translated into Chinese, allowing anyone to benefit from his extensive study plan.

Why Write This Tutorial

Although Washam lacks a formal computer‑science degree, his early fascination with computers led him to work on web and server development. Determined to work at Google, he gathered a wide range of computer‑science knowledge and resources shared by Google employees, organizing them into a systematic guide.

Learning Resources

Washam recommends starting with a programming language commonly used at Google—C++, Java, or Python—while also being familiar with JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, and HTML. He then advises studying hardware fundamentals, algorithm complexity (Big‑O), data structures, trees, sorting, and graph theory.

Further topics include recursion, dynamic programming, combinatorics, probability, NP‑complete problems, caching, threads and processes, system design, scalability, and data processing. To retain this breadth of knowledge, he suggests using flashcards, both plain and code‑based.

Beyond core programming, Washam adds optional material such as Emacs/Vim, Unix command‑line tools, and cryptography to boost developer efficiency.

Career Background

Washam’s path includes early programming in BASIC, military service as a programmer and Korean language trainee, self‑learning web technologies (Perl, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL), and founding three companies, two of which remain operational.

In 2016, recognizing gaps in his skill set, he shifted focus from web development to software engineering, dedicating 8‑12 hours daily for eight months to prepare for Google interviews.

Why Google?

Google’s high hiring bar and reputation for hiring intelligent, creative engineers attracted Washam. He believed that aiming for such a demanding goal would also open doors to entry‑level software engineering roles elsewhere.

This is a new world for me; I’m just starting. I’m not afraid of making mistakes, and I want to learn everything I can to become a valuable team member.

Despite intensive preparation, Washam did not receive an offer from Google in January 2017, but he joined AWS in March 2017, illustrating that the rigorous study still paved the way for a successful software engineering career.