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      Zillow

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      Senior Software Development Engineer Interview

      Sep 1, 2015
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Seattle, WA
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Easy interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Zillow (Seattle, WA)

      Interview

      In a nutshell, Zillow is a joke. For those looking for more details, read on. First, a bit of background info. I have close to 15 years of server side Java development experience, with focus on design, architecture, distributed systems, latency and throughput optimizations, scalability and fault tolerance. Writing code is what I do for a living, and I have made a pretty good living doing it because I am good at what I do, and I have done it working for successful companies throughout my career. So hopefully that puts to rest any doubts regarding my suitability for their open dev jobs. Now, on to what happened with the company. My first experience with them was late last year when they contacted me in connection with my application to one of their open positions. Long story short, timing wasn't right and I couldn't move forward with them. Recently, I decided to send in my resume again through their general HR inbox, and got their canned annoying response generated by Jobvite. So then I sent the resume directly to the email address of the recruiter I had dealt with last year. This time, I got a bite and after a short conversation with the HR person, I was sent a link to their coding test on HackerRank. They give you 48 hours to complete the test once it begins, and it consisted of two problems. The first one was preposterously simple, and the second one was moderately difficult but if you know what to consult with (hint: JDK source code), then it really just boils down to understanding the problem and customizing the existing, well known logic to the specific problem. So I completed both problems, well within the time allotted, tested against not just provided sample input but also with my custom test cases and made sure everything worked. Today I get a reply from their Jobvite box that says exactly this: "Thank you for your interest in Zillow and especially for the time you took to complete the coding test. As promised, I sent your solution & resume to the hiring manager. Unfortunately, we have decided not to move forward with your application to the next step. We wish you well in your pursuit of a new position and thank you again for your time." WTF??? Did anyone even bother to read the code, or run it? Or did they search for and not find specific keywords on my resume AFTER having me waste my time on their coding test? Clearly, someone at Zillow has their head where the sun don't shine...

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Write a function that takes a string and produces a signed 64 bit integer (long) that the string represents, i.e. long parseLong(String). You can assume the input is in base 10.
      Answer question
      5
      avatar
      Zillow response
      10y
      Since you took the time to complete the coding test and have some questions about the process we follow, let me try to address some of them. One of the advantages of using HackerRank is that the code test platform allows the candidate to code, compile and test their code. We provide a few simple tests to the candidate and they can run their own tests as desired. When the code is submitted, a more complete set of tests is run against the submitted code. These results and the submitted code are provided to us for final review. I can assure you that each code assessment is reviewed by one of our senior engineers or hiring managers. We realize that candidates take a few hours of their busy days to complete the test. We certainly appreciate the interest and time commitment and want to ensure everyone is fairly evaluated. I am sorry you disagree with our assessment of your submitted code and our decision not to move forward. We will continue to review and tweak our recruiting process. In that regard, I appreciate your feedback. - David Beitel, Zillow CTO

      Other Senior Software Development Engineer interview reviews for Zillow

      Senior Software Development Engineer Interview

      Aug 31, 2019
      Anonymous employee
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Zillow

      Interview

      - Informational call with recruiter - Technical phone screen with hiring manager (60 min) - Onsite interview: 5 technical interviews + (non-scored) lunch interview Most of the interviews were with potential teammates or adjacent teams. Each interview was pretty well-structured: "I'm going to start by X, then Y, then Z, then leave time for your questions at the end." Each interview included a "culture fit" question as well; together, these mean that the coding portion of the hour was smaller than at some other companies.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Every technical interview included a "culture fit" question. Ex: What was a time you made an unpopular decision?
      1 Answer
      14
      avatar
      Zillow response
      6y
      I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your interview experience. I wish you best of luck in your new position with us! - Annie Rihn

      Senior Software Development Engineer Interview

      Jun 20, 2019
      Anonymous interview candidate
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Zillow

      Interview

      Never heard results or feedback. I will assume they are too busy solving the world's critical virtual home tour problems to show common courtesy. Interviewer was late. Interviewer made sure to let me know three times that their title was Director and the position was in the group he "owned". Tech question was from the '90's, probably as long as he has been asking it. Too busy to answer my questions because his next meeting was "far away". Ballmer-era spinout with antiquated engineering. Bullet dodged.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Mastermind
      1 Answer
      avatar
      Zillow response
      6y
      I'm very sorry to hear this was your experience with us. Could you please email me more specific information at annie@zillowgroup.com so that we can look into this further ? - Annie Rihn

      Senior Software Development Engineer Interview

      Sep 13, 2018
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Seattle, WA
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Zillow (Seattle, WA)

      Interview

      1. Introductions 2. Interviewer will offer two timed brain teasers and give the interviewee a couple minutes to offer a solution. If the interviewer agrees with your solution then interviewee will have a few minutes to then code the agreed solution. Interviewee must work fast given the limited amount of time. 3. Final questions

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Interviewer will offer two brain teasers that interviewee must code and solve
      1 Answer
      2
      avatar
      Zillow response
      7y
      Thank you for sharing your interview feedback with us. If you have additional insight around your negative experience, please feel free to reach out to me at annie@zillowgroup.com

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