Google Is Bringing Back In-Person Interviews — Here’s How to Actually Be Ready

How to prepare for Google Software Engineer, SDE, Senior Engineer interviews?

Hello guys, for years, remote interviews became the default for tech roles like Software Engineers, Senior Software Engineers, Programmers and Developers.

Whiteboards went digital. Tools like Miro replaced markers. And many engineers quietly leaned on AI helpers to get through online technical rounds.

But that era might be ending. Last week, Google announced that it’s reinstating at least one in-person round for technical hires, bringing back the classic whiteboard format that once defined FAANG interviews.

The reason? A growing concern around AI-assisted shortcuts. It’s not hard to imagine — LLMs can now solve many coding and design prompts instantly.

That means recruiters are looking for something deeper: reasoning, communication, and confidence under pressure.

This shift marks a return to real-time thinking — the kind of mental muscle that only consistent practice can build.

Why This Change Matters?

The return of in-person interviews highlights three major shifts in what companies now value:

1. Back to fundamentals.
No tool can replace your ability to reason from first principles. You’ll need to think through data models, APIs, trade-offs, and scalability without autocomplete or a “generate solution” button.

2. Stronger communication.
Explaining your design choices clearly and logically now matters as much as the design itself. You’ll be expected to defend your architecture, discuss alternatives, and justify trade-offs — all while thinking aloud.

3. Real confidence under pressure.
When you’re at the whiteboard, you don’t get a second tab for ChatGPT or Copilot. You need calm, practiced confidence — and that comes only from consistent, structured rehearsal.

How to Prepare for This New Reality?

As in-person technical interviews make a comeback, your preparation strategy needs to evolve beyond just solving problems online.

The new reality demands depth, communication clarity, and real-world practice — not just memorization or tool-assisted answers. To truly be ready, you need a mix of concept mastery, structured practice, and realistic mock interview exposure.

That’s where platforms like Bugfree.ai, ByteByteGo, Codemia, and Exponent come in — each addressing a crucial part of your system design and interview readiness journey.

Bugfree.ai is one of the most practical tools for hands-on learning. With 150+ real-world system design challenges — from URL shorteners to distributed tracing — it lets you walk through interactive, step-by-step design flows that cover everything from requirements and APIs to trade-offs and scalability.

Master System Design & Behavioral Interviews Like Leetcode

You get instant AI-driven feedback and FAANG-level walkthroughs, helping you close knowledge gaps fast and build real design confidence.

Meanwhile, ByteByteGo (50% OFF on lifetime plans) helps you rebuild your system design fundamentals visually.

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Its animations, architecture diagrams, and deep-dive explanations make even complex distributed systems easy to grasp — a must-have when you’re expected to explain designs confidently on a whiteboard.

Codemia.io (60% OFF) complements that by simulating real-time design interviews. It trains you to think aloud, structure your solutions, and reason through trade-offs — precisely the skills hiring managers look for in face-to-face interviews.

Codemia | Master System Design Interviews Through Active Practice

Finally, Exponent (70% OFF) bridges the gap between preparation and performance. You can schedule mock interviews with real FAANG engineers, get personalized feedback, and build the poise and communication habits that make the difference between a good answer and a great impression.

Membership and Pricing – Exponent

In short, Bugfree.ai gives you the repetition, ByteByteGo strengthens your conceptual foundation, Codemia.io hones your communication and reasoning, and Exponent prepares you for the real stage.

Together, they form a complete ecosystem for thriving in this new hybrid interview era — where what matters most isn’t just knowing the answer, but being able to explain, justify, and design it confidently under pressure.

If you want to be ready before walking into your first in-person interview, check it out here — ByteByteGo (50% OFF on lifetime plans)

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The Bottom Line

This isn’t just about Google. When one tech giant changes its process, others often follow. We may soon see a full return of in-person interviews at major companies — with a renewed focus on raw problem-solving and clarity of thought.

If you’ve been relying on shortcuts, now’s the time to rebuild your fundamentals and practice under realistic conditions.

Start by:

Learning deeply with ByteByteGo
Practicing actively with Codemia.io
Testing yourself with Bugfree.ai
Polishing delivery with Exponent

That’s the formula to walk into any room — digital or physical — and show you can design systems, reason clearly, and think like an engineer again.

All the best for your Google System Design interview in 2026!!

Other System Design and Coding Interview and Resources you may like

All the best for your Google and FAANG job hunt journey, if you have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

P. S. — If you just want to do one thing at this moment, join ByteByteGo and start learning software architecture fundamentals and you will thank me later. It’s one of the most comprehensive resource for coding interview now.

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Google Is Bringing Back In-Person Interviews — Here’s How to Actually Be Ready was originally published in Javarevisited on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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