Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 152 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Which role are you interviewing for?
30 roles · 152 reportsCandidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Software Engineer
Senior Average Positive experience No offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Technical screen Onsite Panel Presentation Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding System Design Behavioral Presentation
The interview process was pretty standard: first, a recruiter screen, then an HM interview, followed by a VP interview with three technical rounds and an 'ask me anything' round. Lastly, there was a recruiter sync. Roopali, the recruiter, was fantastic. She kept me in the loop about everything - decisions, timelines, what's next. It felt really open and organized. She was always quick to respond, professional, and really supportive, so I knew where I stood. Big plus, she didn't ghost me, which is rare these days. Her communication made the whole thing smooth and positive. If you get her, you're in good hands!
Confirmed questions6 questions
- Can you discuss your background?
- Walk me through your projects.
- Describe a time you had to handle conflict.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Investment Attorney
Mid Average Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
The interview process was terrible. The interviewer claimed to know about legal issues even though they weren't a licensed lawyer. CZI's website is really misleading, mostly talking about their past philanthropic work from 2015-2022. One CZI project had a community board that CZI later ended. Honestly, CZI lacks basic honesty and transparency, and it seems to reflect how out of touch its founders are. CZI's mission has changed a lot since it started; now they want to end all diseases by the end of this century. They've made billions from regular people and are using that money for humanity's future, not for people today. CZI has basically abandoned the Facebook users who funded it. CZI also demands complete secrecy from employees, which is mentioned on their site. Companies with extreme privacy and secrecy demands sometimes break basic employment and free speech laws. I don't know how CZI lawyers can take themselves seriously when their employer acts like it's above the law.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you tell me what you know about CZI and what its objectives are?
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Data Scientist
Mid Average Positive experience No offer 1 round
Interview process
Technical screen
Interview formats
Technical Coding
The interview process at CZI involves a technical screening conducted by Karat. This was my first time with Karat, and I found it to be an excellent experience. Karat interviewers are objective and focused on the interview, so you don't feel like you're taking up their time. They are impartial, patient, and stick to the planned agenda. It would be great if all companies used Karat, as it would significantly improve the interviewee experience, irrespective of the outcome. Hats off to CZI and Karat.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- They asked general ML questions.
- They asked me to code a solution to a problem.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
AI/ML Engineer
Senior Difficult Positive experience Accept offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Coding Technical System Design Behavioral
The whole thing was super smooth and took about 5-6 weeks. I applied online and got a call in about a week. Then I had a coding round and a hiring manager round. After that, I went onsite for more coding, system design, and a deep dive into my past work. They also had a behavioral round to see how I work with others. All the interviewers were great, explaining the job well and making me feel relaxed so I could do my best. Big thanks to my recruiter, Roopali Srivastava, for keeping things moving and always being there to answer my questions.
Confirmed questions5 questions
- Basic coding skills will be tested.
- Coding in your specific domain will be assessed.
- System design capabilities will be evaluated.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative interview reports.
“Given a list of pairs of running times (int start, int end) for programs, what is the maximum number of programs that were running simultaneously?”
Read reports →“Write a function to figure out the optimal next move in a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.”
Read reports →“Can you create a function to check if a Sudoku board is valid?”
Read reports →“Can you create a function to determine the next best move in Tic-Tac-Toe?”
Read reports →“What is the minimum number of meeting rooms required to accommodate a given set of meetings with specified start and end times, without any overlaps?”
Read report →“Can you name some potential memory leaks that can occur during garbage collection?”
Read report →“Given a delimited string with nested data, how would you reorganize and sort it?”
Read report →“Can you explain concepts related to hash maps and how to print duplicate files on the same line?”
Read report →“Could you write SQL queries to list books on a specific shelf or of a certain topic, given the 'books' and 'shelves' tables?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 152 Chan Zuckerberg Initiative interview reports.