Zalando Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was quite long, spanning about four months and involving five distinct stages. Although I made it to the final round, the position was ultimately given to someone already working at the company. On a positive note, I really liked the recruiter and the team members, and communication was mostly good. The recruiter was always available to answer questions and provide support. Everyone seemed professional and nice. However, they initially said there wouldn't be a case study, but that changed right before the last stage. I prepared a case study in a week, only to find out the job went to an internal candidate familiar with Zalando's processes, which felt like a waste of time. I would have enjoyed working there, and the people I met confirmed that. Still, the whole experience was draining, and I'm not sure I'd do such a long and tough interview process again.

I got lucky and went straight to the final round because of a career fair, and since I was also a final round candidate for a full-time role, I used that connection to get to the final round which involved a 1-hour case study interview. I presented it thoroughly and answered all questions. The vetting process is quite thorough; as a previous candidate, I skipped some initial rounds. Case study prep was still key though. Usually, there are about 3 rounds for selection. I think I did well because I prepared extensively for the case study. The final panel had 2 Senior Team Members who are very experienced and will really dig into your on-the-job decision-making skills, your drive to join the company, and your understanding of Zalando's culture – basically, fit questions too.

Scheduling was straightforward and quick. It involved 3 rounds: first, a standard HR screening call. Then, a case study was given, to be completed in Excel. The final round was an interview with the team leads. The case study was easy and mainly assessed how I think and my analytical skills, although it was a bit overwhelming with all the KPIs and data provided. After the final round, there was no communication for two months, even after I followed up, which wasn't a great candidate experience.

So I had this interview process for a Senior React Native Developer role. It started with an HR call, then a Hiring Manager call, followed by 3 more rounds. The first was a coding round where they asked me to build a webpage, which felt weird for a React Native mobile role. Then a System Design round, which was good, they asked about migrating a brownfield app to a greenfield. The last round was a General Tech interview with a web engineer, and the questions were about web technologies like how a URL works and how to optimize webpage performance. I did my best, got the offer, but then HR tried to lowball me with a mid-level offer, even after I pointed out issues with their interview questions. Good luck to them, and to anyone interviewing here - be ready for web stuff!