Zipcar Interview Questions
& Process

First hr call then hm call. Easy leetcode problem and then a medium one with a senior SWE. After that, another round with the HM, who just asked about my resume experience. No system design round.

I came into the interview as a junior engineer with no experience - the interviewer seemed to scoff at this. The recruiters description of the interview was a bit misleading as I was told not to worry about a technical challenge, but then I was asked to share my screen and do a leetcode challenge. I was surprised and nervous, and it didn't seem to vibe well with the interviewer. This was probably due to my lack of experience not matching their expectations. I was asked very specific questions about my role on an agile team that would only be easy to answer if I had real production experience, which I didn't have being fresh out of school.

The interview process was fine - everyone was friendly, the questions were straightforward, etc. I really like Zipcar as a company and their products. The primary reason that I consider this as a negative candidate experience is because I gave a total of five interviews over a period of several weeks and after that, I was completely ghosted. Zipcar never followed up as promised after the interviews and Zipcar did not respond to my two attempts to follow up. In my recent job search, this was by far the most egregious treatment I experienced as a candidate. After spending so much time with Zipcar, a decision or at least a reply (eg, a simple ‘no thank you’ or ‘ you weren’t selected’) is deserved.

I applied online and about a week later, I got a phone interview. It was about twenty minutes long and the interviewer was from HR at Zipcar's headquarters in Boston. I was supposed to have a second interview, and it was briefly scheduled. But then there was a sudden delay. When I pressed them, they said other candidates would be interviewed first. About two minutes of the interview was spent by the recruiter talking about how Zipcar is invested in the LGBT community and how they sponsor parades and it is a key marketing strategy for the company. I kept thinking, "Has he ever been to one of these parades?" "Does he think, I'm gay?" "Does he think everyone from San Francisco is gay?" I'm a local born in San Francisco and I grew up here, I don't understand why someone's sexuality is a marketing strategy. I also don't think it is a wise idea for corporations to spend marketing dollars on a parade where naked people do things in the street and I have to make sure my children are out of town for the weekend. I understand marketing strategy, branding, and how to run a fleet of rental cars, and I also understand hi-tech, etc... My perspective after this interview is that Zipcar (like many companies today) needs better leadership and direction.