Google Cloud Interview Questions
Practice GCP questions covering Compute Engine, BigQuery, Cloud Functions, Kubernetes Engine, and Google's cloud architecture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What GCP services should I focus on for interviews?
Core services include Compute Engine, Cloud Functions, GKE, Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Pub/Sub, Cloud Run, and IAM. GCP is known for its data and ML capabilities, so BigQuery, Dataflow, and Vertex AI are often highlighted.
Is GCP knowledge valuable if a company uses AWS?
Yes. Cloud concepts are transferable across providers. Understanding GCP shows breadth of cloud knowledge. Many companies are multi-cloud, and interviewers value candidates who can compare trade-offs between providers.
What makes BigQuery different from other data warehouses?
BigQuery is serverless, meaning no infrastructure to manage. It uses columnar storage and supports SQL, handles petabyte-scale queries in seconds, and charges per query scanned. Its separation of storage and compute allows independent scaling. It is a strong choice for analytics-heavy interview scenarios.
How does GKE compare to running Kubernetes yourself?
GKE is a managed Kubernetes service that handles the control plane, upgrades, scaling, and monitoring. Self-managed K8s requires you to maintain etcd, API servers, and node management. GKE reduces operational overhead while providing full Kubernetes compatibility and Google's network infrastructure.
What is Cloud Run and when should I use it?
Cloud Run is a serverless platform for running containers. It automatically scales from zero and charges only for requests. Use it for stateless HTTP services, APIs, and web apps where you want container flexibility without managing infrastructure. It is simpler than GKE for single-service deployments.
How does GCP handle identity and security?
GCP uses IAM with roles and policies, service accounts for machine identity, VPC for network isolation, Cloud KMS for encryption, and Security Command Center for threat detection. Understanding the principle of least privilege and service account best practices is important for interviews.