Zillow Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I went through their whole interview process, which had seven interviews. They kept canceling interviews last minute and rescheduling, and then ghosted me. It's ironic because they talk about their core values and culture all the time, with each interview focusing on a specific value. But their actions don't match their words. When I asked for an update on their decision, I got no response. I've seen online that this is typical for them, and I just experienced it myself. They should at least send an update after taking up so much of a candidate's time instead of leaving them hanging.

First, there was a recruiter call, followed by an interview with the hiring manager. After that, it's either a rejection or you move on to the next step. It's a really straightforward process, and they're great at scheduling interviews. Even if something comes up, they'll make sure to let you know.

The recruiter reached out via a third-party marketplace. I was interested because I liked Zillow's work, despite recent layoffs. The next step was a technical screening. The interviewer spent over two minutes introducing himself and boasting about his FAANG background, but he started interrupting me within seconds of my own introduction, which was a red flag. Then came the coding challenge with two questions: one easy LeetCode problem and one medium. There was confusion about whether to start coding after finalizing the pseudocode, and we kept misunderstanding each other's expectations. The interview wasn't interactive; the interviewer posted the question and muted himself, requiring me to constantly ensure we were having a two-way conversation. While this is a coding round focused on collaboration, not everyone is familiar with a random web IDE, and we would prefer to brainstorm the question and clarify expectations within the hour rather than being rushed. Companies don't need interviewers to explain their culture or team; candidates can find that out through the interview process and Q&A. I've had tech interviews with engaging interviewers who created a great experience, but this wasn't one of them. I don't care if leaders are ex-FAANG or Tesla if they lack people skills; I would refuse to work there.